PARTIJSKI SISTEMI SRBIJE I CRNE GORE
PARTY SYSTEMS OF SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

Author(s): Vladimir Goati
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Governance, Government/Political systems, Electoral systems, Politics and society
Published by: CEDET Centar za demokratsku tranziciju
Keywords: party system; political distance consensus; polarized pluralism
Summary/Abstract: The formation of the political parties of Serbia and Montenegro began in 1989, during the period of the "old regime44" and within the SFRY. The electoral systems in the two Yugoslav republics were created after the first pluralist elections in 1990, in which the former ruling parties SPS and SK ČM (which changed its name to DPS in 1991) had the most success in both Serbia and Montenegro. In both republics, the total number of political party members in the entire observed period (1990-2002) 8-9 percent of the population, which is more than in most of the post-communist countries of Southeast Europe. Also, the parties that ruled in the "old regime"44 remained in power longer in Serbia and in Montenegro than in most other post-communist countries. The party systems of the two Yugoslav republics have, in addition to many differences, one important similarity: these systems belong to the type of "polarized pluralism", which suggests that there is no basic consensus between the key political actors in either Serbia or Montenegro.

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