ABSTRACT Incremental democratic decline is evident in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), but measures of democracy conceal an uneven subnational distribution of autocratization. So far there has been limited research on the drivers and constraints to subnational autocratization. This paper aims to contribute to the literature on power-sharing by exploring instances of illiberal politics enacted by parties in government at the subnational level in BiH. Evidence is gathered through semi-structured interviews and analysis of three specific cases of illiberal politics. We find that the political contest in BiH is purposefully contained within ethnic and subnational boundaries and constrained through several layers of institutionalized multilevel and ethnic checks and balances. The main drivers of subnational autocratization are opportunities that arise from the institutional framework established during early democratization and postwar structures that blend executive dominance with economic power and informal party networks, and occasionally from an individual actor’s perceptions of threat. Democratization in BiH will need to address subnational politics and deep-rooted power structures if it is to be successful.

中文翻译：

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波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那的次国家竞争性威权主义和权力共享

摘要在波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那（波黑），民主的逐步衰落是显而易见的，但是民主的措施掩盖了独裁国家在地方以下分布不均的情况。迄今为止，关于地方专制化的驱动因素和制约因素的研究很少。本文旨在通过探讨波黑国家以下各级政府在政党制定的非政治政治实例，为有关权力共享的文献做出贡献。通过半结构化访谈和对三个非典型政治案件的分析收集了证据。我们发现，波黑的政治竞赛是有目的地包含在族裔和国家以下的边界内，并受到几层制度化的多层次和族裔制衡机制的限制。地方民主化的主要驱动力是机遇，这些机遇源于早期民主化期间建立的体制框架和战后结构，这些结构将行政控制权与经济实力和非正式政党网络融合在一起，有时还来自单个参与者对威胁的感知。如果波黑民主化要取得成功，就必须解决地方政治和根深蒂固的权力结构。