The path dependency of power‐sharing: Bosnia and Herzegovina's, Cyprus', and Lebanon's first experiences with popular representation
The political systems of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, and Lebanon are defined by ethnic or religious divides that have historical roots in their Ottoman and European colonial past. This paper aims to investigate the impact of these historical legacies on popular representation and institutional structures. The Ottomans and European colonizers created institutions that allowed subjects to elect their representatives, shaping these countries' initial experiences with modernity. This paper employs historical institutionalism as a theoretical approach, and path dependency as a methodology to explore how historical legacies have shaped the political institutions and power‐sharing arrangements in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, and Lebanon.