Democracy in Croatia: From stagnant 1990s to rapid change 2000–2011

This article analyses democracy in post-communist Croatia 1990–1999 and 2000–2011. During the first decade, political stagnation occurred under a competitive authoritarian regime. This ended abruptly and there was a critical juncture, during which a free and fair election marked the start of Croatia...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International political science review 2021-03, Vol.42 (2), p.197-212
Main Author: Finn, Victoria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accession
Authoritarianism
Candidates
Causality
Communism
Comparative analysis
Critical junctures
Democracy
Democratization
Election results
Elections
EU membership
Feedback
Political culture
Positioning
Postcommunist societies
Stagnation
Union membership
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Summary:This article analyses democracy in post-communist Croatia 1990–1999 and 2000–2011. During the first decade, political stagnation occurred under a competitive authoritarian regime. This ended abruptly and there was a critical juncture, during which a free and fair election marked the start of Croatian democracy in 2000. I first propose a causal chain to explain the election results, suggesting that the occurrence of the election, combined with other necessary factors, revealed the population’s underlying preference for democracy. Internally, this preference then served as a positive feedback mechanism throughout Croatia’s rapid increase in democracy as it became a candidate for European Union membership and finalized accession negotiations. Externally, the European Union influenced democratic progress, particularly via conditionality policies. This historical comparative analysis aims to explain which factors allowed for a rapid increase in democratic quality, positioning the 2000 election results as the main influence.
ISSN:0192-5121
1460-373X
DOI:10.1177/0192512119863140