The State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in its current form, is the result of the Dayton Peace Accords (1995), which ended the war started in 1992. It is divided in two Entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Srpska. In March 2000, the Brčko District was established.

The highest civilian authority in the country is the High Representative, established by the Dayton Agreements and in charge of overseeing the implementation of the Annex of the Agreement concerning the civilian aspects of the peace settlement (Annex 10). The High Representative has also special executive powers (the so called "Bonn Powers"), which allow him/her to adopt legislation and remove from public office individuals who obstruct the implementation of the peace accords.

The current High Representative (since 31 January 2006) is Dr. Christian Schwarz-Schilling from Germany, who is at the same time the EU Special Representative for BiH.

In October 2006, the first general elections entirely financed and organised by the Bosnian authorities were held. Their importance is also related to the planned closure of the Office of the High Representative (OHR), scheduled for 30 June 2007.

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