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CONTENTS/ İÇİNDEKİLER
The Relatedness of Social Contract Theory in Understanding the Rising Trends of Violent Revoluion and Terrorism in Developing Countries
Chigozie Enwere 1-17
Democraizaion in the Balkans: Evaluaing the Criteria of Electoral Process
Salih Özcan & Gloria Shkuri 19-37
Reconsidering Organizaional Commitment Construct: Empirical Test Of Acceptance Band
Setyabudi Indartono 57-74
Örgütsel Kimlik Algısı, Örgütsel Bağlılık ve Örgütsel Vatandaşlık Davranışı Arasındaki İlişkinin Belirlenmesine Yönelik Bir Araşırma
Şirin Atakan Duman & Ayşın Paşamehmetoğlu & Ahmet Burak Poyraz 75-89
The Relaional Analysis and Efect Of Risk Management Techniques On Project Outcomes In Development Sector: A Case Of NGOs & INGOs In Pakistan
Aif Habib & Sobia Rashid 91-105
Poliik Yolsuzluk ve Yasadışı Uyuşturucu Ticareine Etkisi: Uygulamalı Bir Çalışma
The Relatedness of Social Contract Theory in Understanding
the Rising Trends of Violent Revoluion and Terrorism in
Developing Countries
Chigozie Enwere*
Abstract
The modern naion-states in their quest to bring into line the ideals of Neo-capitalism to compliment democraic governance create socio-poliical conlicts. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the conceptual relevance of Social Contract theory in understanding the relaionship between poliical absoluism and the sudden rise of violent revoluions and regime change in developing countries. The challenge facing developing countries is the adopion of Hobbes “Leviathan” state structure in democraizaion process, resuling in muli-dimensional poliical violence and revoluion. In analyzing these variables, a historical-analyical approach is used while qualitaive tools are used in data collecion and analysis. The study reveals that the use of state terror by modern naion states in the preservaion of naional security is a catalyst that drives terrorism and revoluions. Therefore, increase in Hobbes poliical absoluism and states’ use of force brings about a corresponding rise in terrorism and revoluion. Similarly, the neglect of economic aspect of Locke’s Social Contract theory in developing naions creates poverty and corrupion that simulates the use of violence to correct perceived inequaliies and oten overthrow governments. We conclude that the quest for acquisiion of private property through the adopion of Hobbes Leviathan state is the catalyst that simulates poliical violence in developing countries.
Key Words: Neo-Capitalism, Social Contract, Leviathan, Terrorism, Regime Change.
Introducion
However exclusive allocaion of state resources has created structural inequaliies and class struggle in African states. The authoritarian elites like the ‘Prince’ in Machiavelli’s thesis use state power to exploit and conquer the people in order to maintain the hegemony and dominaion of ‘the haves’ over the ‘have not’. They employ violence, falsehood, murder, terrorism, arrogance, cruelty and fraud as elements of naional security in their atempt to safe guard the state against the use of reprisal violence by the ‘have not’ This has increased the level of decadence and decepion in the acts of governance and in the ideals of naional security postures.
However, in the event of poliical villainy and decadence in the maintenance of naional security and order, Thomas Hobbes encourages the people to change such system of government while John Locke presses on the people to over throw such government. For this reason, Karl Marx postulated that all history is the history of class struggle aimed at overthrowing regimes, whose interest is to promote and maintain inclusive exploitaion. This straggle is relected and expressed between the Roman Lord and slave, medieval Lord and self, modern bourgeoisie and proletariat or the few rich and extreme poor.
These struggles have destabilized and destroyed the postures of naional security and created doubts about the real intent of the objecives of naional security. Therefore, the history of naion-states is the history of class struggle, expressed in terms of revoluion, violence and terrorism which determine and inluences the strategies, posture and contextual goals of naional security. However, terrorism evolves within a social context which provides the framework for violent struggle in the allocaion of economic values in Nigeria, therefore proper understanding of the decadence in naional security and the dynamic rise in internaional terrorism can be located in the negaive aitudes and policy acions of the elites in the allocaion of values (Alabi, 2007;203).
Thus, the use of economic terrorism and structural violence by the Nigeria poliical elites have daily denied the poor masses of their economic, social and poliical rights and privileges, making Nigeria a viable theatre for the operaions and complexiies of internaional terrorism, which led to the rise of extreme terrorism in Niger Delta and Northern regions of Nigeria paricularly in Yobe State. Towns and villages have been bombed and destroyed by the state soldiers in their bid to preserve naional security and also by the insurgent groups in their quest for self preservaion in a society dominated by corrupion, poverty, exploitaion and inequaliies.
policy of Nigerian economy has produce the tangible and intangible elements of terrorism that threatens and inluences the strategies, structures and dimensions of Nigeria’s naional security.
The Conceptual Discourse of Social Contract and Its Relevance in Understanding
Poliical Revoluions in Developing Countries
The Social Contract theory is associated with the names of three philosophers, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau. This theory depicts a state of nature in which exists ethical dialecical struggle between terror and mutual coexistence. This ethical struggle determines the dialecical balance between the legiimacy of state and the loyalty of its ciizens. Disequilibrium occurs when the ciizens withdraw their support and loyalty from the state leading to the rise of terror and acts of terrorism. When the state maintains a stable equilibrium between legiimacy and loyalty, naional cohesion or collecive security is sustained and preserved.
The aim of this paper is to explore the theoreical connecion between terrorism and the inability of modern African states to put into pracice the ideals of Social Contract theory as well as to examine its consequences on naional security and order. This paper adopts a qualitaive content analysis aimed at locaing the root causes of terrorism in the failure of developing countries to apply the ideals of Social Contract theory in the organizaion and operaions of modern naion states. We, therefore, stress the importance of intuiion, logical inquiry and unobtrusive measures in analyzing the subjecive variables of terrorism and naional security.
The essence of sovereignty and the hegemony of democraic values in the insituional structures of modern states is an atempt to wrest a measure of meaning, security, dignity and order from the cruelty, terror, brute violence and hazard of existence in the state nature, which provides the structural frameworks for the creaion and organizaion of modern states. Therefore, to explain the theoreical relaionship between the preservaion of naional security in modern states that allow the dynamics and terms of the social contract to determine its insituional existence and in those states that violate the ideals of social contract, we shall adopt a case study analysis.
In the Nigerian case, the Boko Haram terrorism and the Niger Delta violent agitaion for inclusion in the distribuion of economic resources provides the most appropriate framework for explaining the relaionship that theoreically exists between acts of terrorism and the failure of social contact in modern states.
The Dialecics of Social Contract Theory and Its Impact on the Rise of Violent Revoluions in Developing Countries
of nature which is the root cause of fear that oicial and unoicial violence will someday, somehow lead to the complete breakdown of the poliical system (Knauss and strickland, 1988:85). Therefore, beneath the surface of the poliical order of modern states lurks the bruish state of nature which according to Thomas Hobbes (1588 -1679) is a condiion of a general disposiion to war, terror and brute violence of “every man against every man”. Force and terrorism lourish in such state and consequently there is perpetual fear and strife. The insecurity in the state of nature arises from the quest by each individual for his own selish interest. According to Hobbes, since men are basically equal in physical strength and cunning; it is diicult for anyone to succeed. Therefore, people live in constant fear of violent death and extreme acts of terrorism.
However, the fear of death and destrucive acts of terror lead men to seek for collecive naional security and order. A superior authority is therefore needed to restrain men from the use of terror as an instrument of self preservaion. A social contract is designed to ensure that power is transferred to an absolute authority or Leviathan. The Leviathan has absolute power to maintain naional security, order and peace as well as to preserve and strengthen the doctrine of absolute state.
Therefore, Hobbies provides the theoreical framework on which the concept of naional security stands. Also, Umar (2000:46) argues that naional security entails the protecion of the lives, rights, dignity and property of the ciizens as well as the resources, territory and sovereignty of a naion state. So, Samai (1987:6), Umar’s concepion of naional security explains the extent to which all the elements of power are used for the protecion of naional interest through the absolute authority of state.
Since security is a muli dimensional concept, the concentric circle theory sees naional security as the defense of the state through the use of military power and coercion (Mbachu, 2009: 63). From this theoreical viewpoint, Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) subscribes to Hobbes theory of absolute Leviathan. He goes further to argue that the Leviathan which he described as the “Prince” should always aim at conquering and maintaining security and order in the state. In his view, the state should employ the use of terror, violence, murder, cruelty and fraud in his quest to safeguard the naional security of the state. Thus, Machiavelli separates the concept of naional security from morality, ethics, religion and metaphysics.
guaranteeing naional security by any means possible and not depending on allies and mercenaries. Therefore, the Machiavelli’s theory of naional security is used to jusify the use of state terrorism in maintaining order and peace by modern naion states. This is the terror within terrorism, an extreme poliical behavior in the panoply of naional security.
However, modern states since ater the end of the Cold War have adopted coercive strategies as a means of naional security. The use of coercive terror by modern states is based on Hobbes proposiion that the people reserve the right to change any government that fails to maintain order and peace. Therefore, to prevent the rise of violent revoluion, modern states adopt Hobbes’s leviathan approach in maintaining naional security and order. This approach strengths the doctrine of leviathan state and assigns to the state the duty of using authoritarian or coercive powers in maintaining order and security for beneit of all ciizens (Anifowose and Enemuo, 2008: 71)
Adhering tacitly to Machiavelli and Hobbes’ security strategies, modern naion-states have transformed their security policies from one centered on ethically grounded structures to one based on power poliics and interest ambiion (Michael, 1998:89). Reason of state has become a jusiicaion for the use of force as instrument of power poliics and unadorned dominaion. Without monopoly of violence by the state and without a high probability that each act of opposiion by the people will be answered by a coercive sancion, chaos would ensue and social order will collapse in the state.
Haram have undertaken. This implies that terrorism is the aciviies of ghosts. The purpose of this myth is to deny Boko Haram insurgents any possible legiimacy with the populaion, which they are trying to inluence by their terrorist acions. The waters of this myth become paricularly murky, when the government engages in terrorist aciviies. Through the use of its organized terror operaions, the state uses the police and the military to perpetrate acts of violence that appear ofensive to the populaion. Such acts of terror are carried out by Nigerian soldiers not only on members of Boko Haram but also on the populaion to cow them to expose the idenity of the insurgents. The government jusiies its acts of terrorism in the name of promoing naional security. When the same act is perpetrated by insurgent terrorist groups, it is interpreted as a wanton criminal acivity of tactless ghosts or hoodlums.
However, increase in state terrorism as an instrument of naional security brings about a corresponding increase in terrorist aciviies of insurgent groups. In fact, the terror within terrorism resides precisely in this symbioic relaionship between naional security and civil insurgence. The terrorists deine their behaviours either as a direct atack on regimes or as a demonstraion to the apatheic public that the rulers cannot protect them and ought to be repudiated; thus, the compliant masses are confounded and frightened by this symbioic contradicion (Michael, 1988: 90). Also, the terrorists through their numerous violent atacks seek to prove that the intuiive horror of the leviathan state cannot help in prevening the poliical collapse of the system when confronted with acts of extreme terrorism.
Drawing inference from classical theoreical assumpion, the random acts of Boko Haram terror can be classiied as “propaganda of the deed” (Michael, 1988:92). Bombing, assassinaions, kidnapping and demand for ransom by insurgent groups in Nigeria are seen as covert means of showing the vulnerability of the Nigerian State, dissaisfacion with the socio- economic inequaliies and to force the state to change its coercive character of organized terror as well as to command publicity for the terrorist ideals.
So, the latent and residual elements of terrorism are aimed at increasing the levels of tension, crisis, poliical degeneraion and social disorganizaion in order to put consistent pressures on the state to meet the demands of the terrorists and reform the society for the beneits of all. This shows that it is only by collapsing the social and poliical systems through acts of terrorism can the people restrain the states from embracing Hobbes concepion of calling the sovereign a monster to adoping Aristotle’s organic concepion of a just state, which provides the collecive framework for man to realize itself and achieve the highest good based on social equity and jusice.
Therefore, the absence of equity and jusice in the allocaion of values and resources brought about by the inability of modern states to adhere to the values and ideals of social contract theory is the root cause of rising waves of terrorism in developing countries. John Locke repeatedly insists that the end of government is the good of the state. He further posits that government should be more consituional and base its aciviies on rule of law. The powers of government should remain limited and not absolute and be based on consent which may be tacit rather than open.
In modern states of Africa paricularly Nigeria, the government has tacitly failed to conceive government as a trust but has ulimately located sovereignty in the poliical elites rather than in the people. This has led to the rise of authoritarianism under the guise of democracy. Following the ideals of Locke’s social contract theory, the people legiimately revolt against the government through various violent means in order to overthrow the government. Because of the authoritarian nature of most governments in developing countries, governance takes the form of repression, which compels the people to use acts of terror to press for socio-poliical change. This explains the revoluions in Syria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and the extreme acts of terror in Nigeria by Boko Haram, wherein the people use violence as an instrument to overthrow governments that have legiimacy crisis.
Analysis of Current Events of Boko Haram Terrorist Aciviies in Sub -Saharan
Africa
The concept of revoluion and the extensive use of terror to contain the perceived inluence of Western capitalism and its oligarchical system of government in Sub-Saharan Africa have had a long history and has changed in meaning several imes. It irst started during the colonial era when it referred to the restoraion of an old order of values as insituted by Usman Dan Fodiyo. The revoluionary Mahdist composed of radical clerics, peasants and slaves sought to overthrow the Briish colonial regimes and its exploitaive system of capitalism. This revoluionary resistance inluenced the Briish colonial government to sign a pact with the Northern protectorate that the European style of educaion and value-system should not be implemented in the region and that indirect rule should be adopted instead of direct imperial rule (Danjibo, 2009:10).
However, with the demise of colonialism in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Western powers methodologically transferred poliical and economic powers of the colonies to a selected group of elites under the direct control of internaional capitalist actors. A new capitalist system was reproduced in new states of Sub-Saharan Africa. These new independent states were also exploitaive and parasiic with oligarchic leviathan poliical structures. The strategic inlow of unregulated capitalism into African socieies created individualism, selishness, poverty and new class of private property owners.
The new economic system allowed people with money to govern, thereby subjugaing all state resources for promoion of personal presige and self interest. Therefore, in the early 1980s, the Maitatsine uprising in Northern Nigeria developed as a protest against the harsh economic exploitaion of raw capitalism and hegemonic inluence of Western Values that contradict tradiional Islamic values. According to Muhammadu Marwa, the Maitatsine uprising was inspired by the contradicions inherent in the insituional structures of secular state (Danjibo, 2009:13). The Maitatsine uprising polarized the struggle against the state and its insituions of exploitaion.
Agreeing that government should be limited, Boko Haram tend to wage war against the Nigerian state based on the percepion that Nigerian poliics and economy has been annexed and controlled by corrupt elites and Western Values, which has produced ostensible corrupion, poverty, concentraion of wealth into the hands of the few, unemployment, centralizaion of power in the state and the coninued suppression of “true” Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa (Onuoha, 2012:2). In their quest to overthrow the state they propagate ani state ideology and called on Muslims to breakdown the state’s monopoly of power by a lessening of the habit of obedience through the use of extreme terror or acts of violence (Eme and Onyishi, 2011:51-67). Therefore, Walker (2012:2) argues that the lessening of obedience will erode the myths of the state, which will act as a catalyst for the destrucion of the Nigerian state and creaion of a new Islamic state organized under Islamic laws and value system. Thus, Boko Haram started is armed rebellion against the Nigerian state in July 26, 2009 in Bauchi state (Simeon, 2012:46-53).
However its use of violence in Bauchi state has been transigured into terrorism which has spread over Nigeria and its neighbouring Sub-Saharan African countries. As presented in table 1 below, diferent methods of acts of terrorism were employed by Boko Haram from 2009-2014 with diferent degree of success in terms of casualies.
Table 1: Types of Terror Atacks and Frequency Distribuion 2009-2012
Types of Assault/Atacks Frequency %age
Armed Atacks 23 2.12
Bombing and Explosions 39 36.1 Midnight/ Terror Atacks 8 7.4
Mass Murder/ Suicide Raid 12 11.1
Assassinaion Murder Beheading 15 13.8 Abducion/Kidnapping 7 7.5
Jailbreaks 4 3.7
Total 108 atacks 100%
Source: Briish Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, Vol.17 No 1 (2014)
In order to examine the number of terror atacks and casualies, Akinfole, Akinbode and Kemmer (2014: 132-133) computed the frequencies of concurrencies as presented in the table below.
Table 2: Number of Reported Terror Atacks in Frequencies in Fatality
Years In
600 Over 356 Over 459 Not less than 30 buildings
2011 Not less than
481 Over 273 Over 150
Over 50 buildings
Over 12 churches
Over 12 cars
2012 37 Not less than 559 Over 519 Over 423 Over 26 cars
2013 15 Not less than
511 Over 708 Over 3,080
Over 999 buil-dings and 10 cars raised
Source: Briish Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, Vol.17 No 1 (2014)
The above table 2 represents the incidence of terrorist atacks by Boko Haram in Nigeria, in 2009 there were four terrorist atacks, 2010, 10 atacks; 2011, 43 atacks; 2012, 37 atacks; 2013, 15 atacks while as at June 2014 there are over 20 terrorist atacks including the kidnapping of over 250 girls from Government Secondary School Chibok and another 20 young ladies (Akinfala, Akinbode and Kemmer, 2014:133). Increase in the number of atacks brings about a proporionate increase in the number of deaths, injured as well as displaced people, which invariably puts extensive pressures on the government.
As the Boko Haram terrorist aciviies increases, the intensity of pressures and criicisms against the government also increases. In order to suppress the terrorists, the government adopts the Hobbesian strategy of dictatorial force to restore security and order as well as to preserve the sovereign power of state and its monopoly of violence. To this extent, the government see Boko Haram as a ghost which must be unmasked and destroyed through military brutality and state terror. This strategy demands increase in military budget expenditure.
insecurity and wanton destrucion of lives and property. In 2012, the government proposed N 4.7 trillion budget, represening 6% increase over 2011 budget. In 2013, the government spent a total of N 1.055 trillion represening an increase of N135 billion over what was appropriated in 2012. A breakdown of 2013 budget shows that defence received N 349 billion, police formaions N311.1 billion, police afairs N8.5 billion, interior N156.1 billion and oice of the naional security adviser 116.4 billion. Budget allocaion for security and defense from 2008-2014 are represented as follows: 2008, N 444.6 billion; 2009, N 233 billion; 2010, N264 billion; N 2011, 348 billion; 2012, N921.91 billion; 2013, N 1.055 trillion and in 2014, N 968.127 billion represening 20% of the budget (Eme and Anyadike, 2013:23-24).
Despite, the astronomical increase in military expenditure and spending, yet it remains insuicient for military operaions to contain rising ides of violent insurgencies and atacks. These have adverse efects on the socio-economic and poliical development of Nigeria and its neighbouring Sub-Saharan states. For this reason, a case has been made that terrorism is a serious impediment to sustainable development, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and this is not only prevalent in Nigeria, but has proliferated since the collapse of Soviet Union and demise of internaional socialism. So, one of the greatest challenges of governments in Sub-Saharan region is how to develop capacity and strategies to contain the sudden rise of violent insurgencies which is gradually eroding the powers of the state.
Therefore, William Kornhauser’s conservaive theory of revoluion ofers the necessary explanaion about the origin of Boko Haram and why terrorism took hold of Nigeria and its current proliferaion in Sub-Saharan Africa. The main posiion of this aricle is that the reintroducion of democracy and its elements of sham elecions, corrupion and godfather syndrome has caused too much social mobility into the ruling elite class. Such rapid social mobility causes a breakdown of tradiional, social and religious values in Sub-Saharan Africa which lead to growth of anomic groups like Boko Haram and the development of corrosive philosophies that “Western educaion is sacrilege”. So, the name Boko Haram is derived from the Hausa word for book which means “Boko” and the Arabic word “Haram” which designates those things which are forbidden or sinful (Adagba, Ugwu and Eme, 2012:100).
he began to promote corrosive Islamic teachings and philosophies which he used to manipulate the minds of the peasants and the unemployed people to form a mass terrorist movement. The binding cord of this movement is the collecive feelings of frustraions shared by the members, who see government as a tool of exploitaion and an evil leviathan that promotes the interests of the ruling elite.
Therefore the Boko Haram mass terrorist movement also contains individuals who have been alienated from society because of the rapid movements through the straiicaion system and consequently lost their links with their own social class. Such rapid social alienaion was created by the progressive removal of fuel subsidy by the ruling class. The cost of living had risen and manual labourers and peasants were hit by unemployment while white collar workers and professionals probably more by inlaion that unemployment. Meanwhile the number of poliical class millionaires has increased since the reintroducion of democraic insituions in Nigeria. The frustraion exacerbated by these factors united the peasants in Northern Nigeria to violently revolt against the state and its insituions of government. Finally, too much mobility into the ruling elite class has caused the weakening of its internal cohesion which leaves the elite class less exclusively based on a paricular ideology. The weakness of the elite class in sub-Saharan Africa lead to in-ighing within the elite and for this reason the ruling elite can no longer present a united front to contain terrorism, thereby making the Boko Haram insurgent movement to have more like hood of success.
The Implicaions of Theory of Neo-liberalism, Economic Deprivaion and Exclusionism on the Escalaion of Terrorism in Developing Countries.
This secion will explain how the structural implementaion of Neo-liberal economic policies and the neglect of economic aspects of naional security provide the catalyst for the escalaion of terrorism in developing African naions. Terrorism as a tacic that involves the use of unpredictable violence to induce fear was introduced into African poliics by the colonial powers. The European colonial administrators used organized terror as a strategy to maintain the structures of the new colonial states, which was imposed on African naions during the pariion of African territories in the Berlin Conference of 1885. This assumpion provides the conceptual premise to correct the historical error that terrorism was an integral part of African poliical system and culture.
it with a new poliical and naional security framework that are dependent on European states, weapons and strategies. This has created a poliical, economic and security dilemma in Africa because both the terrorist groups and the state get their military weapons from the same source in Europe. Hence, both the government and the insurgent groups have acquired parity in destrucive power capability, making it diicult for the states to contain the destrucive power potenials of the terrorists.
Therefore, the current waves of terrorism in modern African states is a direct consequence of global capitalist contradicions and social conlicts introduced into Africa by internaional inance capital through the implementaion of neo-liberal economic reforms. For this reason, colonialism was used as a strategic instrument by the European capitalist powers to export the social conlicts and contradicions of European capitalism to Africa. The success of this policy can be seen in the ever widening gap between the rich and the poor in African states.
The social conlicts of capitalism become very high in Europe before and ater the end of the World War II. During this period in Europe, there was a great gulf between the few rich and many poor as well as mass unemployment and many low level standard of living. These economic contradicions provided the empirical factors that triggered of violent protests in Europe and America in the 1960s. The reason for the escalaion of social conlicts and violence in the post war period is linked with the struggle between the capitalists and the workers over the distribuion of the surplus proits make from the colonies.
However, from the end of the nineteenth century onwards, colonies had been regarded as a source of wealth which could be used to miigate the class conlicts in the capitalist states of Europe but this metropolitan policy failed in its ulimate object because the pre–war capitalist states were so organized internally that the bulk of the proits made from colonial possessions and exploraive trade aciviies found its way into the pockets of the capitalist class and not into those of the works. This created feelings of extreme frustraion that increased tremendously the context and dimensions of aggressive behaviors leading to corresponding increase in social conlicts and violence in Europe (Nkrumah, 1965:9-20).Therefore, irrespecive of what paricular poliical party was in power, the internal pressures of social conlicts and violence in Europe and America were such that no capitalist country can survive solely relying on the ideology of classical economic liberalism, unless it became a welfare state guided by Keynesian modern economic liberalism that maximizes the strategic role of government in simulaing economic aciviies and development.
the instrumentality of colonialism forcibly imposed the ideology of conservaive classical economic liberalism on African states which created more opportuniies for European and American inance capital to dominate African investment and market. Because of the exploraive nature of conservaive classical liberalism, African economic system is strategically controlled by global capitalism directed from London and New York. This strategic control of African economy by the metropolis created mass unemployment, poverty, low living standard and a great exploitable gap between the few rich and many poor. Therefore, this post World War II economic liberal strategy provided the irst framework for the kickof of terrorism in Africa because through colonialism and neo colonialism, European capitalist introduced structural violence in Africa.
Therefore, under the guise of democracy, global capitalists introduced and deepen authoritarianism in African states, using structural violence like mass unemployment and poverty to redirect the minds of African peoples from the Locke’s theoreical proposiion of revoluion. According to Locke, if a government does not promote the general good of its ciizens or if it does not rest on their consent, such a government should be legiimately overthrown (Anifowose and Enemuo, 2008:72).
Since the primary object of global capitalism is to achieve and maintain European dominaion over developing countries, a coercive apparatus of police and military forces were created in Africa during the colonial period and are sustained by the poliical elites in the contemporary era to suppress the poliical will of the people to revolt against the values and operaions of internaional capitalism. The coercive nature of colonial police and military forces contributed to the creaion of an authoritarian poliical environment that is carried over into the contemporary globalizaion era in Africa characterized by pseudo democraic values and government, leading to inequitable distribuions of social and economic goods (Schraeder,2004:69).
Galtung proposes that violence is present when human beings are being inluenced so that their actual somaic and mental realizaions are below their potenial realizaion (Galtung, 1969:168). Such structural gap between somaic realizaion and potenial realizaion triggers of structural violence which many view as regime terror. Such structural terror may be the result of system level phenomena which provides the socio–poliical frame work for possible ani state terror posing great challenges to naional security.
does some other value are some of the circumstances that might lead to civil insurgence or acts of terror. For example, one might be economically equal but not permited poliical expression or vice versa and such perceived deprivaion can lead to resentment against the poliical system, creaing the impression that only violence or acts of terror could be used to correct the perceived injusice or economic deprivaion. Hence, terror is used against the state and its insituions of governance. This conceptual assumpion provides the context in which to analyze the Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria.
Moreover, the imposiions of the European naion – state system on developing countries during the period of colonizaion have created series of ariicial states. Some of these states were products of subjugaion or division of exising pre-colonial naions among several states (for example Somali naion divided among Ethiopia, Kenya and Djiboni). Other states were products of incorporaion of several African naions into one state as the case of Nigeria where three naions Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa/Funali were fused together to form one state (Schraeder, 2004:62). This shows that the creaion of African states by Europe is an aberraion of the social contract theory and did not evolve gradually according to the wishes of African peoples.
Therefore, because of these structural weakness and idenity crisis, the modern African naion–states use force to maintain naional security and also preserve the operaions of global capitalism in Africa. So, in the absence of a contract relaionship between the state and the people, the ciizens are more likely to use terrorism as an instrument of power especially where resistance by the government is high. State dominaion is not a relaionship likely to appeal to the majority of the poliically dominated and economically exploited class; therefore, the state would be likely to have terror at hand, if not in constant use.
Fanon supports this theoreical assumpion and perceives force as one of the major pillars upon which the maintenance of an exploitaive state depends. This becomes obvious especially in periods of resistance by the people paricularly on issues of deprivaion, poverty, mass unemployment and exploitaion. In response to such civil resistance, the agents of government (the police and the military) speak the language of pure terror. This line of reasoning and acion escalates the level of reappraisal atacks by the deprived individuals or insurgent groups. Hence terrorism serves as a prop of power relaions in modern African states.
powers are used to tacitly protect the interest and investment the global capitalist actors and its system of economic exclusion.
However, such unrestricted capitalist system and governance foster responses of terrorism. The harsher the system of economic deprivaion and the longer it atempts to hold on, the more prevalent terror and counter terror are likely to become, creaing destabilizing threat to naional security. Thus, poliical exclusion, social inequaliies and economic deprivaions are primary sources of terrorism in modern African naion states. The case studies of Boko Haram in Nigeria and violent revoluions in Libya, Egypt, Syria and Mali point to the primacy of poliical repression and economic exclusion as the root cause of violent opposiion and high level acts of terrorism..
Conclusion
In this paper, an atempt was made to analyze the Social Contract theory and its relaionship in understanding the covert and overt cause of terror which consitute the greatest challenge to naional security. This paper gave a conceptual analysis of how economic exclusion, deprivaion and unrestricted global capitalism act as catalysts that structurally simulate domesic and internaional terrorism. Therefore, the study ideniies that the contemporary African naion – states was a creaion of colonialism, which forcibly divided pre-colonial African naions among several countries or incorporated several African naions into one state. This created violent irredenism, poliical exclusion, social inequaliies and economic marginalizaion that provide the structural catalysts for terrorism and violent struggle in developing naions.
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Democraizaion in the Balkans: Evaluaing the Criteria of
Electoral Process
Salih Özcan* Gloria Shkuri**
Abstract
This research aims to analyze the democraizaion process in the Balkans, focusing more in the conducion of elecions. Since the fall of the authoritarian regimes in the Balkans, there has started the process of democraizaion. Even why the transiion to democracy is not conducted properly, the Balkans has now entered in the consolidaion of democracy phase. By many scholars, democraizaion process in the Balkan region is considered very slow and complex at the same ime.
It must be embedded in mind that the process of democraizaion in itself is very broad and includes many sub-processes such as elecions, rule of law, freedom of expression, associaional autonomy, etc. For the sake of this paper, it will be focused on the electoral process and the conducion of free, fair and frequent elecions in the Balkans states. By Balkan states in this research are meant: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croaia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia. Accordingly, the paper will present a general picture with the main challenges in regard to the conduct of elecions. The study will be concluded with a short comparison between these states.
Keywords: democraizaion, the Balkans, electoral process, challenges
Balkanlar’da Demokraikleşme: Seçim Süreci Kriterlerinin
Değerlendirilmesi
Özet
Şu nokta önemle belirilmelidir ki demokraikleşme süreci kavram olarak çok geniş olup seçimler, hukukun üstünlüğü, ifade özgürlüğü, kurumsal özerklik gibi birçok alt süreci de kapsamaktadır. Bu çalışmanın kapsamı Balkan ülkelerindeki seçim süreçleri ve özgür, eşit ve düzenli seçimlerin yapılması olarak belirlenmişir. Balkan ülkeleri olarak bu çalışmada incelenecek ülkeler şunlardır: Arnavutluk, Bosna -Hersek, Bulgaristan, Hırvaistan, Makedonya, Karadağ, Romanya ve Sırbistan. Bu bağlamda seçimlerin yapılışında karşılaşılan zorluklar ele alınacak ve çalışma bu ülkelerdeki seçim süreçleriyle ilgili bazı karşılaşırmalar yapılarak tamamlanacakır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Demokraikleşme, Balkanlar, Seçim süreçleri Introducion
As the Cold War came to an end, communism followed the same desiny. For many years people used to live under the yoke of Soviet Union or Yugoslavia. As a result many communist and dictatorial states became part of the “third wave of democraizaion” as Samuel P. Hunington has depicted. According to Hunington the democraizaion is a process that the authoritarian regimes undergo in their path of becoming a consolidated democracy (Hunington, 1991: 15). It may be assessed that the Balkans is part of this third wave of democraizaion. In general the ex-communist countries such as Albania, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro or Macedonia seem to go in a secure path toward the consolidaion of democracy, yet there is much to do in this regard.
Nowadays all the ex-communist Balkan states are moving toward democraizaion with very diferent speed. According to Ivan Krastev, the Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Soia, the main problem in the Balkans is that there are democraic states but not sovereign ones. At the same ime poliical change and democraizaion has not yet evolved in the way it was expected.
As Schafer (1997) claimed, Karl (1986) and Otaway (1993), among others, have recognized that “many countries have adopted the formal insituions of democracy without having become more democraic in substance” (Schafer, 1997: 40) and the Balkans can be considered as an adequate example where most of the states have not reached to the inish line of the democraizaion process but all of their insituions are created on bases of democracy.
Democraizaion
Robert A. Dahl considers democracy as an ancient form of government, emerging since the hunter and gatherers period (Dahl, 1989: 232). Later on ime, during ancient Greece and Rome it started to evolve even more, in a more complex way. At this ime many principles of democracy, such as representaion and voing were consolidated. Such principles have remained the main pillars of today’s democracy.
Democracy for a long ime has being used as the poliical currency of the whole world. Especially ater the fall of the communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe and in former USSR, democracy has been considered as the best possible form of government. Fukuyama argued that liberal democracy “conquered rival ideologies like hereditary monarchy, fascism and most recently communism” and it “may consitute…the inal form of human government” (Fukuyama, 1992: xi).
Somehow in the people mind, democracy started to be equivalent with freedom and a beter way of life (Schmiter & Karl, 1991: 67). This efect is not only for the people, but even the states themselves seem to be “obliged” to follow the domino efect of democraizaion. The non-democraic states, ater perceiving the successes of democraic states, seek to imitate their path (Gaubatz, 1996: 138).
Based on the so called procedural approach to democracy, more importance is given to the process of democraizaion rather than to democracy as the outcome of this process. Proceduralists emphasize the fair process for making decisions and at the same ime defend majority rule (Colón-Rios, 2009: 3). According to Rustow, “the factors that keep a democracy stable may not be the ones that brought it into existence: explanaions of democracy must disinguish between funcion and genesis” (Rustow, 1970: 346). Furthermore Rustow explained the third wave of democraizaion through the transiion from the communist regime towards consolidaion of democracy. Similar path will also be followed in this study.
For the purposes of this paper, clear deiniions of democracy, democraizaion process and its main elements should be given. There are many and various deiniions of democracy and ongoing long-debated thoughts about the features and characterisics of democracy. Being a broad concept, where everyone may have diferent percepions Bernard Crick claims that “democracy is perhaps the most promiscuous word in the world of public afairs” (Heywood, 2007: 72; 2013: 89). As Laza Kekic has also stated that “[t]here is no consensus on how to measure democracy, deiniions of democracy are contested and there is an ongoing lively debate on the subject” (Kekic, 2007: 1).
The essenial idea of democracy is that the people have the right to determine who governs them. In most cases they elect the principal governing oicials and hold them accountable for their acions. Democracies also impose legal limits on the government’s authority by guaranteeing certain rights and freedoms to their ciizens (Sodaro, 2004: 31).
In this paper the main deiniton for democracy will be considered as ‘a form of government in which power and civic responsibility are exercised by all adult ciizens, directly or indirectly through their freely elected representaives’ (US Department of State (n.d.): 4).
Like in the case of deining democracy, diferent scholars give diferent deiniions in regard to democraizaion. The Concise Oxford Dicionary of Poliics deines democraizaion simply as “the process of becoming a democracy”. “The word [democraizaion] was irst used by [James] Bryce in 1888. Bryce ideniied the process as beginning with the French revoluion” (Oxford University, 2009: 144). Even why this may be a very concise deiniion, it leaves a lot of gaps in understanding the process in itself. Another deiniion of democraizaion is given in the book “Democraizaion”: “The word ‘democraizaion’ refers to poliical changes moving in a democraic direcion” (Poter, Goldblat, Kiloh, & Lewis, 1997: 3). Furthermore, Samarasinghe (1994) deines democraizaion “as a process of poliical change that moves the poliical system of any given society towards a system of government that ensures peaceful compeiive poliical paricipaion in an environment that guarantees poliical and civil liberies” (Samarasinghe, 1994: 14). Hence the second deiniion dives a beter explanaion of what is the process of democraizaion, this paper will have it as its basis.
Stepan, 1996; O’Donnell and Schmiter, 1986; Sorensen, 2010: 445). This research will speciically focus on this stage of democraizaion. This stage is also the most diicult one to be discussed because of the broad elements of democracy. Robert Dahl, in his book On Democracy, sets 6 main elements of democracy:
1. Elected oicials
2. Free, fair, and frequent elecions 3. Freedom of expression
4. Alternaive sources of informaion
5. Associaional autonomy
6. Inclusive ciizenship (Dahl, 2000: 85)
Elements of democracy are set diferently by Linz and Stepan in their aricle “Toward Consolidated Democracies”. According to them, there are ive condiions that must be present for a democracy to be consolidated: (i) development of a free and lively civil society, (ii) autonomous poliical society, (iii) rule of law, (iv) bureaucracy, (v) insituionalized economic society (Linz and Stepan, 1996: 2).
Moreover, there are other organizaions such as Freedom House and Democracy Reporing Internaional that through their reports they analyze the democraizaion process in the world. Both of these organizaions have some main elements or criteria which they use in the basis for the “measurement” of democraizaion. In the case of Freedom House, in its “Naions in Transit”
reports which focus on six criteria: (i) Naional democraic governance, (ii) Electoral process, (iii) Civil society, (iv) Independent media, (v) Local democraic Governance, (vi) Judicial framework and independence, (vii) Corrupion (Freedom House, 2012).
Addiionally, Michael Meyer-Resende of Democracy Reporing Internaional
(DRI) wrote in his report “Internaional Consensus: Essenial Elements of Democracy”, that there may be considered seven main elements of democracy: (i) The separaion and balance of power, (ii) Independence of the judiciary, (iii) A pluralist system of poliical paries and organizaions, (iv) The rule of law, (v) Accountability and transparency, (vi) Freedom of the media, and (vii) Respect for poliical rights (Meyer-Resende, 2011: 5).
Free, Fair and Frequent Elecions
Elecions are one of the core elements of democracy and thus may be considered as an essenial component of the consolidaion of democracy for a country. As Reilly stated “[e]lecions thus provide a means for jump-staring a new, post-conlict poliical order; for simulaing the development of democraic poliics; for choosing representaives; for forming governments; and for conferring legiimacy upon the new poliical order”(Reilly, 2002: 118). As cited by Sorensen, Robert Dahl says that “Free and fair elecions are the culminaion of the [democraic process], not the beginning”. Georg Sorensen highlights that ““Good” elecions are as much (or even more) about what happens in the preparaion leading up to the event as about the poliical process ater the event.” (Sorensen, 2010: 446).
For many Balkan states, sill ensuring the free, fair and frequent elecions remains as a big challenge. In this research, the most essenial criteria for the free and fair elecions will be considered based on the standards for democraic elecions formulated in the 1990 OSCE1 Copenhagen Document as “free elecions
that will be held at reasonable intervals by secret ballot or by equivalent free voing procedure, under condiions which ensure in pracice the free expression of the opinion of the electors in the choice of their representaives” (OSCE, 1990: 3).
Organizaion for Security and Cooperaion in Europe (OSCE) is composed of 572 states in order to promote human rights, democracy and rule of law. Moreover these states agreed on the creaion of the Oice for Democraic Insituions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in order to help them in promoion of OSCE aims, especially in terms of elecions (OSCE/ODIHR, 2010a: 7). The oicial OSCE web
describes funcions and aims of ODIHR as follows:
Oice for Democraic Insituions and Human Rights (ODIHR) provides support, assistance and experise to paricipaing States and civil society to promote democracy, rule of law, human rights and tolerance and non-discriminaion. ODIHR observes elecions, reviews legislaion and advises governments on how to develop and sustain democraic insituions
(emphasis added) (OSCE, 2014).
As part of its main funcions ODIHR monitors elecions in the OSCE region (before, during and ater the elecion days). On bases of these observaions it publishes regular reports to share the indings and to ofer advice for improvement in the following elecions. As truly stated in one of the report “A long-term, comprehensive, consistent and systemaic elecion observaion methodology has 1 OSCE: Organizaion for Security and Co-operaion in Europe. Within OSCE region currently there are 57 paricipaing States from Europe, Central Asia and North America. The list of OSCE States can be found at htp://www.osce.org/who/108218
become the bedrock of ODIHR’s credibility in this ield” (OSCE/ODIHR, 2010a: 8). Therefore, to conduct proper analyses of elecions in all of the following Balkan states, the elecions reports of OSCE/ODIHR are greatly being used and analyzed as well as an atempt is being made to have a picture of the main laws in terms of the electoral process.
Albania
In Albania parliamentary and the local elecions, based on the Albanian Consituion of 1998, are held every four years. Approximately 22 years ater the irst free elecions conducted in Albania, there have been held seven parliamentary elecions and six local elecions. In other words it means that elecions have been held regularly and frequently in Albania. Based on the reports from OSCE from 1996 unil 2011 there have been progress in terms of campaign, media and the Electoral Law, but sill there is a lot to be done. In the parliamentary elecions that were held in May/June 1996 the TV campaign was limited and the proper educaion to the ciizens about the voing system was not given (OSCE, 1990: 7). Later on in 1997 the media started to play a more signiicant role, to end up in 2011 with a biased media (OSCE/ODIHR, 2011a: 16). In terms of electoral campaign there have been some improvements because in 1996 the opposiion party was not allowed to hold outdoor meeings (OSCE, 1996: 7). A posiive step came in the parliamentary elecions of 2001 where the electoral campaign was considered to be calm (OSCE/ODIHR, 2001b: 1). But in the last elecions of 2011 there were some small incidents such as one candidate from DP and one from SP were shot but did not have serious injury (Panorama, 2011). Moreover the Electoral Code in Albania has changed three imes (2000, 2003 and 2008), but sill somehow it can be misused by the poliical paries (OSCE/ODIHR, 2004c: 5).
Furthermore, there are more serious problems which indicate that as 22 years old democraic state Albania yet illustrates experience of a very weak democraizaion process. These problems are related with the voter lists, vote couning process, family voing, lack of registraion for the Roman and Egypian minoriies, and the inimidaion of people by the poliical paries. Voter lists coninue to be a serious problem and challenge for Albania and this is seen also in the coming elecions (Sot News, 2013). In terms of couning process there have been always problems but in the elecions of 2011 the results for Tirana were given approximately ater 15 days which was considered as unnecessary by the observers of OSCE/ODIHR. Moreover this result was contested from the opposiion for a long ime and was followed by the boycot of the parliament.
2007, 2009, and 20113. In the elecions of 1996, despite the family voing it
was also observed that one person voted in more than one ballot (OSCE, 1996: 11). Despite this, in the report of 2009 and 2011 it is stated that the poliical paries threaten the people with their job so they have to paricipate in the demonstraions (OSCE/ODIHR, 2009: 2).
One last issue that must be asserted is the lack of registraion for the minoriies in Albania. According to the last report of the OSCE/ODIHR this has been a persisten problem for Albania (OSCE/ODIHR, 2011a: 18). Based on all these indicators it may be asserted that it is somehow clear why in the Freedom House’s Naions in Transit reports about the electoral process, Albania has had the lowerest points (in the range of 3.75- 4.25)4 compared with the other Balkan
countries (Freedom House, 2001-2013).
To conclude the case of Albania, it may be stated that even the coming elecions most probably will not be conducted in accordance with the internaional prereqisites for the elecions. Ater the SMI (Socialist Movement for Integraion) let the coaliion, the disputes between poliical paries have deepened even more and have raised a big quesion in the way of counducion of 2013 elecions. The degree to which Albania’s ciizens views these elecions as credible turns largely on the extent to which the enire electoral process is administered in a professional and nonparisan manner. But a democraic elecion can also be placed beyond reach if the present level of poliical polarizaion and the prospect of poliical manipulaion of the process are not checked (Naional Democraic Insitute, 2013: 2).
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, since the separaion from Yugoslavia, six presidenial elecions, seven parliamentary elecions and six municipal elecions have been held. Like in Albania, the elecions are held every four years and in Bosnia and Herzegovina there have been no problems in regard to the frequency of elecions. In general the elecions in Bosnia and Herzegovina are considered by the internaional observers as conducted in accordance with the internaional criteria for democraic elecions. But sill there are some problems in terms of the administraive framework, ethnicity and minority rights.
Based on the reports of OSCE/ODIHR the administraive framework is considered to be very complex (OSCE/ODIHR, 2002: 2) (OSCE/ODIHR, 2004a: 2) (OSCE/ODIHR, 2010b: 4) which results in procedural problems especially in the vote couning process. For this reason generally the campaign and voing
3 “Group/family voing, which violated the secrecy of the vote, was observed in 21 percent of voing centres visited” (OSCE/ODIHR, 2011a: 22).
process are considered as good conducted whether the couning process usually is considered as not a good process (OSCE/ODIHR, 2002: 19) in terms of the poor procedures rather than manipulaions like in the case of Albania. In the municipal elecions of 2004 the couning process in Sarajevo lasted for weeks and delayed because of the procedural problems (OSCE/ODIHR, 2004a: 2).
On the other hand, the campaign and voing process are considered as posiive in general with some small incidents such as in the case of Zvornik and Srpski Gorazde in the elecions of 2004 (OSCE/ODIHR, 2004a: 11). Even though the general overview of elecions in Bosnia and Herzegovina is good and providing a strong pillar for the consolidaion of democracy, it sill faces one big challenge: ethnic naionalism. Ethnicity afects directly the poliical life in BiH and moreover the sufrage right of all ciizens is not respected. The poliical paries are separated in between three naionaliies: Serbs, Croats and Bosnians. In the OSCE/ODIHR report of 2002 was stated: “that ciizens who do not idenify themselves as one of the three “consituent peoples” of BiH (Bosniac, Serb or Croat) are efecively barred from the BiH and RS presidencies” (OSCE/ODIHR, 2002: 6). This caused many problems in the other minoriies such as the Albanians, Macedonians, and Russians etc. Because of these major challenges that are posed in from Bosnia and Herzegovina in terms of electoral process, based on the reports of Naions in Transit (Freedom House), Bosnia and Herzegovina has been evaluated between 3 to 3.75 (Freedom House, 2001-2013). But it must be said that in the last years Bosnia and Herzegovina has done improvements in the electoral process.
Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, ater the fall communism, eight parliamentary and ive presidenial elecions has been held. According to the Naions in Transit reports (Freedom House), Bulgaria is the only Balkan country that has the highest evaluaion with a raing from 1.72 to 2 in terms of electoral process (Freedom House, 2001-2013). Furthermore it may be said that the electoral process in Bulgaria generally is a posiive process and it has been held frequently. There are few factors that may have adverse afect in this process, but two can be considered as more important: vote buying and rights of sufrage for minority groups.
In the OSCE/ODIHR reports for the elecions in Bulgaria is asserted that vote buying remains a problemaic issue in the conducion of elecions (OSCE/ODIHR, 2005: 2) (OSCE/ODIHR, 2009b: 1). This incident was noiced in approximately all the elecions and even in the last one which was held on May 12, 2013 (OSCE/ ODIHR, 2013a: 7).
for the minority groups. From all the minoriies in Bulgaria, the most vulnerable group was the Roma people. According to the OSCE/ODIHR report, “[m]inority communiies, especially Roma, remained vulnerable to potenial inimidaion, vote-buying atempts and so-called controlled voing” (OSCE/ODIHR, 2009b: 3).
Croaia
Based on the electoral system of Croaia there are held local, parliamentary and presidenial elecions. Since the transiion period seven local elecions, seven parliamentary elecions and ive presidenial elecions are held. In terms of frequency, the elecions have been regular and are not seen any problems. Being a state that was soon becomes a member of EU, Croaia has tried to overcome all the problems that are seen in the electoral process.
More or less the problems have been related with the legal framework, voter’s lists and the rights of minoriies to vote. Based on the reports of OSCE/ ODIHR the elecion law has lack of clarity, insuicient details and problemaic provisions (OSCE/ODIHR, 2003: 4). However in the forthcoming years there have been a few posiive steps taken in this regard. In the elecions of 2011, the electoral law had sill problems in regard to the clariicaion regarding to campaign, inancing or deadlines (OSCE/ODIHR, 2011b: 4).
Croaia is a very speciic case in regard to the voing of minoriies. In every elecion separate special registers and voing centers are created for the minority groups. Moreover, in 2000 there were only ive seats allocated for the minority representaions. In 2003 this number was increased to eight. So this was seen as a good step towards the consolidaion of democracy, but sill it needs more improvement.
Another challenge regarding the elecions in Croaia and consequently afecing the democraizaion process is the problem with the voing lists. Approximately in all the elecions this problem has been persistent. Usually the number of voters has resulted to be bigger than the number of the people who are eligible to vote.
Based on the reports of Naions in Transit (Freedom House), the electoral process in Croaia is evaluated between the rate 3 – 3.25 (Freedom House, 2001-2013). This rank is relaively good, but for a state that was soon becomes a member of the EU was expected to have a beter rate.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
elecions, seven parliamentarian elecions and six local elecions have been held. Accordingly it may be assessed that like the other Balkan states, there are not any problems in terms of frequency of elecions.
Based on the reports of OSCE/ODIHR the elecions in Macedonia, in general, have been conducted in a good and proper way. Moreover many improvements have been done from year to year. Despite this there are some problems that have remained persistent in the electoral process in Macedonia. First of all, problems are found in the Electoral Law in terms of voter lists, campaign, inancing etc. In the elecions of 2004, because of the early presidenial elecion and the ambiguiies in the Electoral Law, there were problems with the producion of ballots in the minority language, as in the second round the ballots were only in the Macedonian language as stated by the report: “The language provision in quesion also does not fully implement the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA) principles on languages, which were incorporated into the Consituion through Amendment Five (Aricle 7)” (OSCE/ODIHR, 2004b: 5). The procedure for the elecion of the president may also be considered as a negaive aspect of the Macedonian Electoral Law. For one candidate, to become the president of the Macedonia s/he has to take the majority of votes from the registered voters. If this limit is not achieved by any candidate in the irst round then the elecions pass to a second round. In this round the candidate that takes the majority of votes, with the condiion that the majority of the people registered in the voing lists must vote, wins the elecions. This has had many negaive impacts in terms of inimidaion of voters and violence because it creates a very tense situaion in the place. Moreover it may lead to poliical threshold.
Approximately in all the elecions in Macedonia there have incidents occurred in regard to ballot stuing, inimidaion and threats for the job places (OSCE/ODIHR, 2004: 11) (OSCE/ODIHR, 2008a: 18) (OSCE/ODIHR, 2013b: 2). Another persistent problem in the electoral process of Macedonia is related with the voters list. As it is stated above, the lists are a very important compound for the elecions because the candidates have to receive the majority of votes on basis of the registered voters. For this reason someimes there are excess names in the list but at the same ime there are people that cannot ind their name on the lists. During the elecions of 2008, in the irst round 8% of the people could not vote as a result of this problem. This percentage was increased to 14% in the second round. So it was meant that these people were denied for their rights to vote as ciizens of Macedonia (OSCE/ODIHR, 2008a: 8). In 2013 another problem came out about the voing process as stated by the report:
In addiion to these irregulariies, it can be menioned that especially the last elecions, there has been a “blurring of state and party” (OSCE/ODIHR, 2011c: 10) (OSCE/ODIHR, 2013b). Someimes the ruling party or the Prime minister is accused as using their post and the state funds for their campaign and electoral process. In general it seems like Macedonia has a lot to do in terms of the electoral process and to comply with the democraic principles. Even in the reports from the Naions in Transit (produced by Freedom House), Macedonia has not had a good rank in between 3- 3.50, with a deterioraion of the situaion in the last years (Freedom House, 2001-2013).
Montenegro
Montenegro is another Balkan state which is studied in this paper. Ater the fall of communism there have been held nine parliamentary elecions, seven presidenial elecions, and ten municipal elecions. However, in order to have a more current and concrete picture for Montenegro, in this secion the elecions that are conducted ater separaion with Serbia in 2006 will be analyzed. In terms of frequency of elecions, Montenegro has had no such problems. Even for the free and fair elements of elecions, in most of all the ime there have been no grave problems. The process in general was considered as transparent in the reports of OSCE/ODIHR. The electoral campaign has usually been conducted under polarized environment and with few incidents. In the voing days or couning procedure, there are reported events of just a few irregulariies. One incident related with the vote buying was reported in the parliamentary elecions in 2006 (OSCE/ODIHR, 2006: 2). Family voing and secrecy of voing has also been a persistent challenge for Montenegro, especially it was more obvious in the rural areas (OSCE/ODIHR, 2012a: 19).
Another bigger challenge in the elecions has been the relaion between the ruling party and the candidate. In other words, in the elecions of 2008 and 2013 the ruling party misused the inances and even was diicult to difereniate between the Montenegrin state and ruling party because of the policies followed by them (OSCE/ODIHR, 2012a: 11). In the reports of the Naions in Transit there
were other challenges added such as the limited representaion of minoriies, so ater all these irregulariies, Montenegro was ranked with 3.25 to 3.50 points (Freedom House, 2001-2013).
Romania
