Illiberal Politics in Southeast Europe

Damir Kapidžić is Associate Professor of Comparative Politics at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His research looks at ethnic conflict, political parties, power-sharing, and processes through which democratic or authoritarian politics are institutionalized. Věra Stojarová works as academic researcher and Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at the Faculty of Social studies at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. She specializes in security and politics in the Western Balkans.

• 1. The rise of illiberal politics in Southeast Europe 2. The political economy behind the gradual demise of democratic institutions in Serbia 3. Institutional and symbolic aspects of illiberal politics: the case of North Macedonia (2006-2017) 4. The elephant in the room: illiberal politics in Montenegro 5. Subnational competitive authoritarianism and power-sharing in Bosnia and Herzegovina 6. Soft competitive authoritarianism and negative stability in Kosovo: statebuilding from UNMIK to EULEX and beyond 7. Influencing votes, winning elections: clientelist practices and private funding of electoral campaigns in Albania 8. Structural weaknesses and the role of the dominant political party: democratic backsliding in Croatia since EU accession 9. Media in the Western Balkan: who controls the past controls the future 10. Rule of law and democracy in the Western Balkans: addressing the gap between policies and practice 11. Big dreams and small steps: comparative perspective on the social movement struggle for democracy in Serbia and North Macedonia 12. Moving towards EU membership and away from liberal democracy