CITIZENS’ GROUPS AS LOCAL DEMOCRACY ACTORS IN SERBIA

Dr. Petar Matić

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to highlight the role citizens’ groups as democracy actors at the local level of governance. The author uses the statistical data analysis method and available findings related to the local elections’ results in Serbia between 1992 and 2022. In the introduction, the author identifies the main assumptions of local democracy as the basis of a broader, society-wide democratization. The importance of local self-government and elections for the lowest instance the vertical organization of power is also addressed. The paper points to the normative framework regulating the establishment and action of citizens’ groups on the political stage. In the central part of the paper, results of citizens’ groups are analyzed for each election cycle, along with their participation in coalitions and exercise of local authority. The conclusion seeks to answer the research question raised and to provide some recommendation for the empowerment of citizens’ groups as authentic local democracy actors.

References

Anđelković, Nemanja. 2023. „Kada institucije zakažu: građanske skupštine, participacija i informisanje građana u Srbiji.” U Perspektive političkih nauka u savremenom društvu, ur. Andrea Matijević i Nenad Spasojević, 115‒134. Beograd: Institut za političke studije.

Barber, Benjamin. 2004. Strong Democracy – Participatory Politics for a New Age. USA: University of California Press.

Bursać, Dejan, and Dušan Vučićević. 2021. “Election Boycott in a Hybrid Regime: The Case of 2020 Parliamentary Elections in Serbia.” New Perspectives 29 (2): 187–196. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/2336825X211009106.

Crozier, Michel J., Samuel P. Huntington, and Joji Watanuki. 1975. The Crisis of Democracy: Report on Governability of Democracies to the Trilateral Commision. New York: New York University Press.

Evans, Matt. 2010. “Electoral Reform and Political Pluralism in Local Government.” Party Politics 16 (3). New York: Sage Publications.

Fiket, Irena, Vujo Ilić, and Gazela Pudar Draško. 2022. “Failed Expectations: Can Deliberative Innovations Produce Democratic Effects in Hybrid Regimes?” Philosophy and Society 33 (1): 50‒71. doi: https://doi.org/10.2298/FID2201050F.

Jovanović, Milan i Petar Matić. 2020. „Izbori odbornika skupština opština i gradova u Srbiji 1990-2020. godine.” U Kako, koga i zašto smo birali – izbori u Srbiji 1990-2020. godine., ur. Milan Jovanović i Dušan Vučićević, 681‒718. Beograd: Institut za političke studije, Službeni glasnik.

Kojić, Nikola. 2020. „Lokalni izbori: Opštine u kojima nije pobedio SNS.” N1. https://n1info.rs/vesti/a612544-lokalni-izbori-opstine-u-kojima-nije-pobedio-sns/.

Krug Portal. 2023. „Kako su građani Kraljeva glasali na izborima 2016, 2020. i 2022. godine?” https://www.krug.rs/kako-su-gradani-kraljeva-glasali-na-izborima-2016-2020-i-2022-godine/.

Lončar, Jelena. 2022. „Izbori za odbornike grada Beograda 2022. godine – akteri, rezultati, posledice.” Srpska politička misao, posebno izdanje (4): 197‒222. doi: https://doi.org/10.22182/spm.specijal42022.9.

Marinković, Aleksandar and Novak Gajić. 2022. “Serbia-Three Phases of Local Electoral Politics After 1990.” In Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe, eds. Adam Gendźwiłł, Ulrik Kjaer and Kristof Steyvers. London: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.

Matić, Petar. 2012a. „Lokalni izbori u Srbiji 2012.” Srpska politička misao 38 (4): 33‒48.

Matić, Petar. 2012b. Redizajniranje lokalne samouprave – teorijski i uporedni okvir za modernizaciju lokalne samouprave u Srbiji. Beograd: Institut za političke studije.

Matić, Petar. 2020. „O potrebi vremenskog odvajanja lokalnih i parlamentarnih izbora u Republici Srbiji.” U Dijalog o izborima 2020, ur. Milan Jovanović i Dejan Milenković, 211‒223. Beograd: Fakultet političkih nauka.

Matić, Petar. 2022. „Lokalni izbori u Srbiji 2022. godine – akteri, rezulati i posledice.” Srpska politička misao, posebno izdanje (4): 223‒238.

Mijatović, Marko. 2016. Lokalni izbori u Republici Srbiji nakon obnove višestranačkog sistema 1990-2015. Beograd: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

North, Douglas C, Wallis, John Joseph, and Barry Weingast. 2009. Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Perišić, Nikola i Boris Kaličanin. 2023. „Lokalni izbori u Republici Srbiji 2016. i 2020. godine – političke posledice smanjenja izbornog praga.” Srpska politička misao 79 (1): 189‒210. doi: 10.5937/spm79-42701.

Radio Slobodna Evropa. 2020. „GIK u Šapcu proglasio konačne rezultate lokalnih izbora i pobedu SNS-a.” https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/30898509.html.

Rosenau, James N. 2003. Distant Proximities: Dynamics Beyond Globalization. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Stojanović, Boban. 2022. „Uticaj političkih partija na formiranje lokalnih izvršnih vlasti u Srbiji od 2008. do 2016. godine.” Doktorska disertacija. Univerzitet u Beogradu: Fakultet političkih nauka.