After Two decades of the Western Balkans Democratic Maturation, Still Immature Political Culture

The European Fund for the Balkans, a Belgrade based think-thank, recently issued a survey on the human dimension of the past , present and (hopefully) European future of the Western Balkans. The survey, called “The Tale of Two Generations”, offers views and attitudes of 1971 and 1991 generations. Two generations were picked for this research, expecting a sharp division in generational attitudes across the region. However, the survey results disclosed that country instead of generational differences prevail.

The generation of 1971 was in its formative years when the ethnic conflicts across the Balkans started. For sure, the first twenty years of this generations’ adult life had few opportunities due to the wars and inter-ethnic conflicts. The generation of 1991 was born in the newly independent and sovereign states, having almost no opportunity to get in touch with counterparts from neighbouring countries. The assumption made by the research team is that they are too young to remember conflicts, war and the fall of the old system. The results however disclosed that “the complexity and personal experiences of the political and socio-economic transformations have caused the younger generation to be as disillusioned with their past, present and future as the older one. While there is no doubt that the systems in which these new generations were raised are based on values different than the ones of their parents, their attitudes and opinions appear not to differ significantly from the ones of their elders.”

This article presents just a small part of the research results that relate to a broad topic of political participation. The two generations survey results reveal that political pessimism and dissatisfaction with institutions are deeply rooted in Western Balkans countries. The two generations’ study asserts namely that the level of political participation across the region is dangerously low, and moreover that two decades of democratic political systems has not helped shape a participatory political culture, disclosing as well that values that motivate people to political change are materialistic, confirming a poor economic situation and societal despair across the region.

Institutions not Trusted

The survey revealed that confidence in institutions is quite low across the region and in both generations (with the exception of Kosovo). Similar findings were made in other recent surveys, which established likewise that people in the region trust ‘the uniforms’ the most: church, army and police.

The voter turnout continues to stagnate and decline across the globe. Political apathy is nevertheless strikingly high in the Western Balkans since a great majority of people in all surveyed countries are not planning to vote in the next elections. Political apathy seems to be even more present among youth, especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia. The reasons that make people abstain is their conviction that elections do not bring change, or that there is no party they would vote for. Surprisingly, a minority of respondents claims they do not vote because they are not interested in politics, since their other responses reveal that at large they do not try to influence in any other way political processes in their countries.

With exception of Albania, lack of interest is the most frequently mentioned reason for not participating in both generations. However, younger generation believe somewhat more than the older one that through their own actions citizens can bring changes in society.

Citizens’ lack of trust in political parties across the region caused the emergence of a great deal of political parties and independent lists. Often small parties or independent lists tend to need coalition partners allowing for a formation of governments (or in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, causing the political deadlock that lasted for fourteen months). The fragmentation of the political party scene is even more notable at the local level where in order to form functioning local governments, such independent lists serve as clientelistic coalitional partners what eventually results in their illegitimacy before voters.

Still far from Democratic Political Culture

The introduction and development of a democracy in the past twenty years in the Western Balkans countries have influenced peoples’ constructive and participatory attitudes towards politics only to a certain degree. Political cultural attitudes, like any cultural patterns, are country specific and spared through generations. Being deeply rooted in a society, political attitudes significantly shape political outcomes but take time to modify and develop. The present survey disclosed that greater disparity of attitudes between countries than between generations, confirming that different political socialization influences resulted in country-based congruence.

Readiness to engage in political action is a clear indicator of the participatory political culture. Civic engagement reflects both citizens’ interest in public issues and their devotion to public causes. Participatory political culture is specific for population that possesses a strong sense of influence, competence and confidence its understanding of domestic political systems.

When asked if they participated in any initiative for changes in society, the two generations’ survey established that people in all Western Balkans countries at large did not participate in any civic action that was addressing problems in their communities. Younger generation though was somewhat more active than the older one in Albania, but somewhat less in Croatia and Montenegro.

When taking part in an action or initiative during the past 12 months respondents mostly attempted to solve problems in their country or community by signing petitions or attending public rallies. Other actions people took part in were attending a public rally or demonstrations, or attending public debates. Just a small number of respondents (from 5-20%) find that their membership in civic associations can help solving societal problems. Such a small number of persons across the region who are attempting to influence the policy outcomes through the interest groups indicate the low level of interpersonal trust which is necessary for cooperative public activities that eventually result in societal changes. The study of political participation in the former socialist countries established that lack of interpersonal trust resulted in conclusion that political culture in former socialist and authoritarian countries is parochial. Participation in post-communist societies namely takes place either outside the nominally participatory institutions, or within those institutions but in non-prescribed ways since those countries are vested with a legacy of social and political distrust what results in informal networks. Political distrust inherited from the former political regime is the one directed towards the state institutions. Exactly this distrust makes post-communist countries particularly prone to political instability, especially when faced with economic hardships.

With exception of Albania, lack of interest is the most frequently mentioned reason for not participating in both generations. However, younger generation believe somewhat more than the older one that through their own actions citizens can bring changes in society.

Dominant Materialist Values in Economically Troubled Societies

Needless to say, people in societies with lower economic development tend to perceive unemployment, health, and poor economic growth as their priorities. Indeed, this study indicated that a majority of those surveyed think that the gap between the poor and the rich is too big and that government should take steps to decrease it.

Since priorities reflect the socioeconomic environment, the values central to people in the Western Balkans inspire them to get involved into activities that shall influence societal change which could improve their everyday life. The hypothesis that was disclosed in previous generational surveys on postmaterialist values was that younger generations’ value priorities differ from older generations’, because they have been brought up under much more secure formative conditions. However, this assumption cannot be reconfirmed in the present study, indicating the economic stagnation of virtually all countries in the region. The present survey results indicate materialist values are still the most dominant ones when people decide to undertake public action.

Respondents who have undertaken any action or initiative for changes in their country during the past 12 months were predominantly motivated by unemployment. Low living standard and poverty are ranked as succeeding motivators of civic activism. Health related problems and education follow in the list of motivators for a political action. Corruption is another relatively important motivator for finding solutions in society. Such results clearly indicate that people in the Western Balkans are concerned with materialist values, such as employment, costs of life, free education, and health care, i.e. those that allow for survival and physical safety and were secured free of charge in the former political regime. In contrast to this finding, people in wealthier Western countries are generally more concerned with postmaterialist values, those emphasizing self-expression and the quality of life (e.g. environmental protection and lifestyle issues). Research of human development found out that only in post-industrial societies, which have experienced sustained economic growth, is the emphasis of human autonomy growing. On the contrary, low income societies, such as former socialist countries, show relatively little impact from the trend of autonomy of choices. The value systems of those societies continue to impose strong constraints on human self-expression. The diversity of basic cultural values helps to explain the huge differences that exist in how institutions perform in societies around the world. The degree to which given publics give high priority to self-expression largely shapes the extent to which society provide democratic rights, the degree to which women are represented in positions of power, and the extent to which elites govern responsively and according to the rule of law.”

Conclusions

What the survey discloses is an alienated political culture with a low degree of confidence in political institutions and a lack of trust in the individual political competences of the respondents. The fact that people in the Western Balkans countries are to a great extent politically detached, do not believe they can influence political change, and are predominantly motivated by materialist values when undertaking civic engagement points towards a parochial political culture.

Such survey results imply that democracy is not consolidating simply as a result of adopting the right laws and introducing new institutions. Although such a nomotechnic-institutional reform postulate is rigorously applied in the EU accession process, in order for democracy to sink roots in the Western Balkans people's minds, social trust needs to be much more vigorously developed and specific social and cultural conditions established and passed from one generation to another. With informal networks that are friendship based still prevailing, social capital understood as “a culture of trust and tolerance in which extensive networks of voluntary associations emerge” is still not common in the Western Balkans countries. By developing social capital, policy outcomes in the region might be improved. Positive aspects of both social capital and political culture is that both could be built up through education and socialization. What the Western Balkans policy makers are planning to do about this is yet to be seen. Finally, the survey results and conclusions shall be utilised both by domestic and European policy makers, in order to assure the region’s more vigorous advancement towards the European Union.