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Serbia: A Consolidated Democracy?



Author(s)

Tibor Ördögh

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DOI:10.17265/2328-2134/2017.07.004

The aim of the study is to examine Serbia as a consolidated democracy, with special attention paid to the political changes in the past 25 years. In the first chapter I will present the stability of the political institutions, the importance and the need to change the current constitution, and furthermore I will analyze the parliamentary characteristics and the legislative process. In my thorough examination I will write about the instability and liability relations connected to the coalition government, the counterweight role of the head of state, the political influence of the judiciary and the constitutional courts, the ombudsman system, and lastly the exploration of local government practices. The second chapter will study the political cleavages. It will also discuss the possibilities of resolving the ethnic conflicts, the prominence of the previous political areas, and the divisive issue of the integration process. This chapter will be followed by the introduction of the concentration of the party system, which leads to the reduction of political parties, and to the dominance of the right wing. The last chapter will present the lack of elite consensus, as well as the general public’s distrust of the political institutions.

Balkan, Serbia, Europeanization, democracy