Dušan Vučićević
Lijphart’s Conceptual Map of Democracy: The Case of Serbia
In this paper the author maps the position of Serbia on the scale of consensual/majoritarian democracy, by analysing the period from abandoning of the authoritarian communist regime and reinstatement of democracy beginning in 1990, up to now. For this purpose, ten institutional variables - the crux of the contrast between majoritarian and consensus democracy models are examined in the context of Serbia. The methodological approach applied is that of new institutionalism. Political institutions encompass not only formal constitutions and organisational structures, but also informal conventions of political life and we show that the design of new political institutions can change the behaviour of political actors to meet expectations, shaping their values, norms, interests and power relations.