AUTHORITARIAN HERITAGE AND OBSTACLES TO DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL CULTURE
AUTHORITARIAN HERITAGE AND OBSTACLES TO DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL CULTURE

Author(s): Zagorka Golubović
Subject(s): Civil Society, Government/Political systems, Political behavior, Sociology of Culture
Published by: CEDET Centar za demokratsku tranziciju
Keywords: authoritarian society; authoritarian mentality; authoritarian heri­ tage; civil society; democratic political culture
Summary/Abstract: In the transition from a traditional, rural society into a totalitarian order in Serbia, after World War II, in the course of industrialization, a “ruralization of cities“, “folklorization of urban culture“, as well as a paternalization of social institutions took place. The authoritarian principle of subordination of individuals to the political elite rules, which excludes the possibility of constituting citizens as social subjects. The political socialization, which dominates, suppresses the 44ego” and increases the role of the “super-ego” (of the leader, party, parent), without enabling individuals to fight for their human and civil rights. The text discusses the conditions that obstruct the development of civil society and in first place stresses the need for overcoming the preconditions for a totalitarian order and a closed political system whose main and only subject is the state apparatus. It analyzes the conditions in the post-October period in Serbia and it claims that the “awoken citizen” has made only the first step towards his liberation, but that individuals do not conform any longer with the status of mere subjects. Also, it has been remarked that the actual political culture has not changed much, especially concerning the relation of the political elite towards “ordinary people” and in the sphere of education (where a rewriting of the recent history is still necessary), but also in the character of the political elites themselves (which still tend to give priority to party interests and create a “party state44). As for the development of a civil society, the conclusion is: appropriate conditions have not yet been created for the society to free itself from the influence of the state and become an independent subject, as a space for the functioning of numerous NGOs, trade unions and other associations, which should become partners of the state.

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