Two and a Half Crises: Serbian Institutional Design as the Cause of Democratic Declines
| Author | Dušan Spasojević |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14789299211056197 |
| Published date | 01 November 2022 |
| Date | 01 November 2022 |
https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299211056197
Political Studies Review
2022, Vol. 20(4) 550 –563
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/14789299211056197
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Two and a Half Crises: Serbian
Institutional Design as the
Cause of Democratic Declines
Dušan Spasojević
Abstract
This article investigates the effects of Serbian semi-presidentialism and the proportional
representation electoral system on democratic performances. Both electoral and political systems
provide incentives for power-sharing mechanisms and the pluralistic character of the party system.
However, in situations when one party becomes much stronger and predominant, there is a
growing probability for the presidentialization of politics and excessive centralization of power
that might lead to competitive authoritarianism. I am analysing three such cases from different
periods – Milošević regime (1990–2000), the first transitional decade (2000–2012) and the return
of the old regime (2012–2020) in order to identify causes of democratic crises that are embedded
in institutional design.
Keywords
Serbia, semi-presidentialism, democratization, competitive authoritarianism, populism
Accepted: 5 October 2021
Introduction
On 5 October 2000, hundreds of thousands gathered in front of the Serbian parliament to
pressure President Slobodan Milošević to accept the victory of the opposition candidate
Vojislav Koštunica. Serbia was about to start its democratic transition after 10 years of
Milošević’s authoritarian rule. Exactly 20 years later, Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić
announced that his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) would form the government after suc-
cessful negotiation with coalition partners. The SNS won 188 of 250 MPs. Future coalition
partners added an additional 56 MPs to the majority, leaving only six MPs in the opposition.
There are no other opposition representatives in the parliament because they boycotted the
elections due to lack of conditions for free and fair process. It seems like a wasted 20 years.
This article investigates relations between the institutional design, party system and
democratic performances in Serbia in the last 30 years. As Sartori (1994) argues, political
Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Corresponding author:
Dušan Spasojević, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade, Jove Ilića 165, Belgrade 11010, Serbia.
Email: dusan.spasojevic@fpn.bg.ac.rs
1056197PSW0010.1177/14789299211056197Political Studies ReviewSpasojević
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