The Serbian Transition: An Explosive Cocktail of Politics and Culture

In: Acta politica: AP ; international journal of political science ; official journal of the Dutch Political Science Association (Nederlandse Kring voor Wetenschap der Politiek), Volume 35, Issue 3, p. 322-339

Abstract

The central question this article will attempt to answer is why a transition from authoritarian rule in Serbia in the early 1990s proved to be much more difficult than in most other formerly communist Central & Eastern European countries. The essential component of the answer will deal with the role of nationalist political culture as a surrogate for democratization in a state in which, between 1945 & 1987/88, both nationalism & the liberal democracy were deprived of their political & social legitimacy. The Serbian authorities averted an imminent collapse of communism in the late eighties by adopting nationalism, instead of democratic reforms, as the legitimating principle of their rule. To give a satisfactory explanation for the fact that Serbia & a number of other republics in the erstwhile, Yugoslav federation turned to nationalism & war, instead of following a path to democracy, it is essential to understand the interaction between politics & culture, that is, the relation between the power maximizing strategies of political elites & the role of the culture of nationalism. I will therefore treat both political actors & culture as the relevant independent variables that can explain the outcome of my interest. 24 References. Adapted from the source document.