Europeanization by Decree? The Case of Police

Abstract Police reform demonstrated the fragility of the transition process in Bosnia and thelimitations of the prospect of European Union membership. To the two mechanismsof conditionality and socialization commonly mentioned in the Europeanizationliterature, this article adds a third – external imposition – which is specific to the caseof Bosnia. The fact that the High Representative resorted to coercive measures inorder to implement European conditions needs to be accounted for in any explanationof Bosnia’s Europeanization. In the case of police restructuring, conditionality wasmonopolized by the High Representative and socialization did not take place becausethe reforms were not perceived as legitimate by at least one of the parties. Domesticfactors, including the complex governance system introduced by the Dayton Agree-ment and recalcitrant nationalist elites, also hindered the Europeanization process inBosnia. Introduction Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereafter Bosnia) has lagged behindthe expectations of international officials and European Union (EU)