Creating Kosovo
International Oversight and the Making of Ethical Institutions
Will be published approx. on 18. December 2014
Book
Hardback
248 pages
978-0-8014-5294-9 (ISBN)
Description
In shaping the institutions of a new country, what interventions from international actors lead to success and failure? Elton Skendaj's investigation into Kosovo, based on national survey data, interviews, and focus groups conducted over ten months of fieldwork, leads to some surprising answers. Creating Kosovo highlights efforts to build the police force, the central government, courts, and a customs service.
Skendaj finds that central administration and the courts, which had been developed under local authority, succumbed to cronyism and corruption, challenging the premise that local "ownership" leads to more effective state bureaucracies. The police force and customs service, directly managed by international actors, were held to a meritocratic standard, fulfilling their missions and winning public respect. On the other hand, local participation and contestation supported democratic institutions. When international actors supported the demobilization of popular movements, they undermined the ability of the public to hold elected officials accountable.
Skendaj finds that central administration and the courts, which had been developed under local authority, succumbed to cronyism and corruption, challenging the premise that local "ownership" leads to more effective state bureaucracies. The police force and customs service, directly managed by international actors, were held to a meritocratic standard, fulfilling their missions and winning public respect. On the other hand, local participation and contestation supported democratic institutions. When international actors supported the demobilization of popular movements, they undermined the ability of the public to hold elected officials accountable.
Reviews / Votes
Elton Skendaj's Creating Kosovo: International Oversightand the Making of Ethical Institutions provides an in-depth analysis of state building and democracy promotionin the case of Kosovo. State building has been analyzed in depth from the institutional perspective; however, Skendaj's book tackles it from a different angle by focusing on bureaucracies.... Answering the democratization and state-building hypotheses with rich data (many interviews) and a structured organization and presentation of the material contributes to the salience of the book.- Arlinda Rrustemi (H-Diplo) The book offers a wealth of information on different issues related to the early state building process of Kosovo, and will certainly be of interest to both students and experienced researchers working on these issues.
- Nicolas Lemay-Hebert (Slavic Review) The book successfully manages to capture varying degrees of institutional overlap, conflicting political agendas, and other legal and political factors that determined Kosovo's statebuilding.... [Creating Kosovo] represent[s] a valuable contribution to the literature on Kosovo and international statebuilding in general.... [Creating Kosovo] present[s] a valuable reference for scholars, students, and practitioners working or interested in the region and international statebuilding in general.
- Gezim Krasniqi (Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Ithaca
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paper over boards
Illustrations
13 figures, 16 tables - 16 Tables, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 238 mm
Width: 168 mm
Weight
907 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8014-5294-9 (9780801452949)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
12/2014
Cornell University Press
€43.99
Available for download
Person
Elton Skendaj is Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Miami. He was a European Studies Research Scholar at the Wilson Center in 2011.
Content
1. Building Effective Bureaucracies and Promoting Democracy in Kosovo
2. Contested Statehood
3. Deadly Cocktail
4. Without Fear or Favor
5. Mass Mobilization and Democracy in Kosovo
6. Creating Constituencies for State Building and Democratization
References
Index
2. Contested Statehood
3. Deadly Cocktail
4. Without Fear or Favor
5. Mass Mobilization and Democracy in Kosovo
6. Creating Constituencies for State Building and Democratization
References
Index