The State Plans and Republic Programs:A Contribution to the Examination of the Political Economy of Yugoslav Socialism during the Decentralization Period (1965-1983)

This paper aims to illustrate the constant quest of the leadership of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) for an effective economic policy after 1965 and to provide an answer, among other things, to the question of how much the projected economic decentralization due to reform measures contributed to overall socio-political dispersion. Faced with serious financial and economic challenges, the state leadership sought to find a model that would keep them on ideologically defined tracks while also allowing for breadth and integration into global economic currents. In these efforts, the general geopolitical position of Yugoslavia as a country that remained “somewhere in between” by the agreement of major powers after Second World War was reflected, thus best illustrating the historical destiny of the entire Balkan Peninsula, especially the area predominantly inhabited by South Slavs. To explain the topic as a materialized concept and to question it in this way, works of authors who dealt with the political economy of Yugoslavia as both creators and critics were used. Using the example of the implementation of autonomous economic policy by the Bosnian-Herzegovinian political elite during this period, the aim is to open up space for critical thinking about the actual possibilities and roles of the republics, and to try to discern whether they could truly be fully independent in their economic programs. Although Bosnia and Herzegovina experienced economic momentum alongside overall social transformation during this period, the actions of its political leadership did not always encompass all economic flows of the republic through their actions and planning. This is most vividly evidenced by well-known examples of economic manipulation behind which central authorities (so-called “guardians and executors of the revolution”) stood, and which were subsequently abused before and during the disappearance of the common state. In this regard, an overview of the development of the idea of self-management by Yugoslav ideologues is provided, the phases of ideological development are presented, as well as the difficulties faced by the concept itself, and the independent political course of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian political leadership, or the overall socio-political context in which “independence” began to be practiced. Specifically concerning the position of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian political elite towards reforms, a quite interesting detail was noticed. Namely, although a high level of decentralization was achieved through constitutional amendments (1968-1971) and clearly defined separate republican markets, decisions were made differently at the level of the Federation, i.e., in its remaining functions. By outvoting. Taking this into account, a conclusion naturally emerged and set the development of the self-management economic system between the utopian aspirations of ideologues and the realpolitik actions of party and military hawks, which then created significant cracks within the system and favored the emergence of gray areas whose existence partly generated the great economic crisis during the 1980s.