THE DESTABILIZATION OF PARTY SYSTEMS AND THE RISE OF POPULISM IN THE COUNTRIES OF THE FORMER SFRY

Despot Kovačević

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of the rise of populism on party systems in the countries of the former SFRY. The expected outcome of the survey was that the destabilization of party systems was caused by the rise of populism among the most important political leaders and parties, but also by the emergence of new populist movements. Populist growth which is still present, has had significant impact on the institutions of the system. The party systems which are part of these case studies have undergone significant transformations. Taking into account that these countries are still in the process of building their democratic capacities, the rise of populism further challenged this process. The analysis of electoral volatility, in the period 2008–2018, shows that Slovenia’s party system was influenced the most by this, while Croatia and Serbia have also had significant changes. Minor changes were noted in other cases, but these changes did not have important consequences on the dynamics of political processes. One of the more significant developments has been the rise of new political parties which succeed in gaining political support in the first election cycles but failed to stabilize their number of voters and supporters. The prospects of deeper crisis are highly likely in these systems but what is striking is the high adaptability of political elites to the current context. The most important conclusion of this paper is the destabilization of party systems with highest level of democracy, and which are also the only members of the European Union. The permanent crisis in other cases and the denial of other problems did not lead to a greater destabilization of party systems.

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