Building Democracy in the Yugoslav Successor States: Accomplishments, Setbacks, and Challenges since 1990

Cambridge University Press, 5/15/2017
EAN 9781107180741, ISBN10: 1107180740

Hardcover, 472 pages, 23.5 x 15.9 x 2.8 cm
Language: English

Building democracy in societies that have known only authoritarian rule for half a century is complicated. Taking the post-Yugoslav region as its case study, this volume shows how success with democratisation depends on various factors, including establishing the rule of law, the consolidation of free media, and society's acceptance of ethnic, religious and sexual minorities. Surveying the seven successor states, the authors argue that Slovenia is in a class by itself as the most successful, with Croatia and Serbia not far behind. The other states - Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo - are all struggling with problems of corruption, poverty, and unemployment. The authors treat the issue of values as a policy problem in its own right, debating the extent to which values have been transformed by changes in education and the media, how churches and women's organisations have entered into the policy debate, and whether governments have embraced a programme designed to effect changes in values.

Table of contents
Preface
List of tables
Part I. Introduction and Theory
1. The challenge of democratization
an introduction Sabrina P. Ramet
2. Post-Yugoslav patterns of democratization Florian Bieber
3. The importance of tolerance
intolerance and its consequences in the Yugoslav successor states Zachary T. Irwin
4. Institutional trust in the Yugoslav successor states
a comparative approach Karin Dyrstad and Ola Listhaug
5. Political culture in the Yugoslav successor states Andrej Kirbiš and Sergej Flere
6. The impact of the ICTY on democratization in the Yugoslav successor states Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc and Vladimir Petrović
Part II. Country Studies
7. Building democracy in Serbia
one step forward, three steps back Jelena Subotić
8. Building democracy in Croatia since 1990 Dunja Melčić
9. A durable oligarchy
Bosnia and Herzegovina's false postwar democratic transition Kurt Bassuener
10. Liberal democracy in Slovenia
from seventh heaven to the lobby of hell in only two decades Alenka Krašovec and Sabrina P. Ramet
11. Macedonia's post-Yugoslav reality
corruption, wiretapping, and stolen elections Sabrina P. Ramet
12. Building democracy in the Western Balkans
the case of Kosovo Vladimir Đorđević
13. The trajectory and parameters of democratic transition in Montenegro Kenneth Morrison
14. Building democracy in Vojvodina Angela Ilić
Part III. Conclusion
15. Where does Europe end? A conclusion Christine M. Hassenstab
About the editors and contributors
For further reading.