Parlamentarni izbori u Srbiji 2014. godine: mali jubilej
Parliamentary elections in Serbia in 2014 – small jubilee

Summary/Abstract: The author recapitulates the effects of certain aspects of the electoral system and the consequences they have produced in the political system. It is shown that in the last 24 years, Serbian citizens spent nearly one month in the polls, casting their ballots for committee members, deputies, the President or voting in referenda. Only twice have elections for deputies been held independently and separately from elections for other levels of government, while the majority–namely seven, were extraordinary elections. The ten election cycles show an increasing trend of electoral abstention, which in the 2014 elections, reached an alarming point. There are two phases in the development of the electoral system. The first one, ending in 2000, was characterised by frequent and large electoral reforms. The second phase, since 2000, shows that the disproportional system assumes the character of an „unchangeable institution“. The closed blocked list and the relatively low election threshold in a constitutency <have led to a great number of parties in the Parliament and to weak coalition governments. Indices of disproportionality and of the number of effective parties show a weak instutionalisaton of the party system, lack of rootedness of political parties within the society and a low level of party identification. The conclusion is that the electoral system has failed to contribute to the stability of the parliamentary and party sistem, which has had negative consequences for the functioning of the political system overall and requires a well designed electoral reform.

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