Civil Society Going Political: The Crisis of Democracy and the Rise of Participatory Political Parties in Croatia
Civil Society Going Political: The Crisis of Democracy and the Rise of Participatory Political Parties in Croatia

Summary/Abstract: This paper debates the crisis of democracy and the importance of civilsociety in bringing forth new, participatory models of democracy. This isdemonstrated in the case of Croatia following the results of the localelections in the spring of 2013 when five newly founded political parties,which shared strong ties to civil society, saw success. Building on theexisting literature on the crisis of democracy, the authors argue that thelow level of trust in political parties is not sufficient for explaining thisphenomenon. Seeking to provide a more comprehensive solution, theauthors introduce the factor of motivation by analysing the failures ofCSOs in establishing a dialogue with the government, as well as thestructural features of CSOs, thereby establishing a link between themacro and micro level of analysis. The paper indicates similarities withother post-socialist countries, allowing for speculation about possiblesimilarities between them.

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