Features of the Macedonian power-sharing model and its future

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Macedonian model of power sharing in all 25 years of Macedonian independence, democracy, and pluralism with the application of the descriptive and comparative methodological approach. During this time, the Macedonian political system went through two stages: the 1991-2001 period, when there was a parliamentary model of democracy, with symbolic inclusion of the Albanian political elite in the executive branches; as well as the period following the 2001 Conflict, which ended with the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, which, in turn, introduced a hybrid model, containing elements of Westminster (parliamentarian) and consensual (consociational) democracy. This hybrid character of the system still defines the Macedonian political model as ambivalent. It should not be ignored that in this entire period of the quarter of a century of Macedonian independence, there were some ideas of additional elements of consociation in Macedonian political system. Hence, one aspect under analysis in this paper is the many ideas for the future of the Macedonian model of power sharing.