Democratization and institutional development under international administration : the institutionalization of the Kosovo Assembly

• Main Author: Rexhepi, Piro
• Published: University of Strathclyde 2012
• Subjects: 320
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.576326

The thesis examines the process of legislative institutionalization in the context of postconflict international administration and democratization. The empirical base of the thesis is a case study of the Kosovo Assembly in its first two sessions of its existence (2001- 2008). The Kosovo Assembly provides a rare opportunity to analyse an institution from its design stage through its initial trajectory of institutionalization. The study reveals that the first legislative term proved the most significant in the establishment of internal norms and practices which were crucial to the Assembly asserting its autonomy as the most legitimate political institution vis-á-vis the international administration. The Assembly became the centre for struggle of delineating authority between the international and local administration, which in turn resulted in a considerable degree of internal institutionalization and democratization of the Assembly. The case of the Kosovo Assembly illust rates that pressure and imposition by exogenous actors can contribute in the assertiveness of domestic political institutions to reinforce their autonomy and establish their own internal working practices so as to maximize their contribution to state building and democratization. This however came at the price of almost total disconnect between the domestic and international governing structures. Within the broader frame of democratization under international administration, the thesis examines major theories of legislative institutionalization and their utility for understanding the institutional development of the Kosovo Assembly. Qualitative data was derived from 50 face-to-face interviews with Assembly Members, civil servants in the Assembly, executive officials, members of civil society organisations that follow the work of the Kosovo Assembly, as well as international staff working or having worked in Kosovo during the time period concerning this study. The interview d ata were deployed in conjunction with documentary analysis and participant observation. The Kosovo experience of democratic peacebuilding by international administration points to theoretical and practical ambiguities in understanding how political institutions, especially representative institutions, are configured and develop within democratic regimes institutionalized by 'outsiders'. Overall, however, the thesis concludes that institutionalization in post-conflict societies is a means of modulating conflict in an institutional setting.