POLITICAL POPULISM AND EXTREMISM IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA AS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY, TRUST AND MUTUAL RESPECT

Abstract

Political populism and extremism pose a serious threat to the establishment of democracy, trust building and mutual respect between members of different ethnic and religious groups. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to point out the specifics of political populism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, pointing to the presence of extremism in the narratives of political leaders in this area and the impact of political populism and extremism on establishing democracy, trust and mutual respect between different ethnic and religious groups living in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In accordance with this goal, the author first points out the meaning of the terms populism and extremism, bringing these two terms together in terms of political discourses, that is narratives. After that, the author analyzes the pop- ulist narratives of the leaders of the leading political parties in Bosnia and Herze- govina, pointing out the common characteristics and segments of extremism that exist in these narratives. In the concluding part of the paper, the author presents his views on the issue of negative consequences that the existence of this type of political populism leaves on the Bosnian society in general.