Shaping post-conflict democracies: the political transformation of ex-combatants in Kosovo and FYR Macedonia

The proactive inclusion of ex-combatants in politics is a common practice for post-conflict, transitory societies. Such inclusion is advisable given the necessity to create durable peace that accommodates the interests of ex-combatants and their constituencies, as well as to prevent spoiler effects that could arise should they feel aggrieved at the lack of political representation. Politics in Kosovo and FYR Macedonia is populated with parties emerging from armed groups, while their leaders are in decision-making positions in state institutions. But democratic consolidation in both countries has been a frustrating process undermined by the prevalence of state capture, clientelistic relations, and the encroachment of informal networks in politics. This thesis undertakes a comparative, qualitative study of the cases of Kosovo and FYR Macedonia, and explores the linkages between their institutional deficiencies and the systemic influence of ex-combatants. It offers a contribution to political science and democratisation studies by focusing on the scarcely-researched long-term political transformation of former combatants and their impact on democracy. It deconstructs their war legacy vis-à-vis democracy, the creation of new political classes emerging from conflict, predation and clientelist practices, and explores the novel concept of democracy spoilers. The findings concur that keeping ex-combatants out of post-war political arrangements runs counter to the spirit of inclusion. However, when the political establishment is pervaded by ex-combatants turned politicians, the clientelistic and predatory practices tend to spoil institution-building and democratic consolidation. This comparative study is led by first-hand data from semi-structured interviews with ex-combatants turned politicians, civil society and academia, conducted in Kosovo and FYR Macedonia during 2015. The secondary literature on the topic of political transformation of combatants is buttressed by a decade of the author’s active participant observation in Kosovo, FYR Macedonia and the wider Western Balkan region. Keywords: democratisation, political transformation, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia.