Civil Society and Democracy in Former Yugoslavian Countries
Abstract
This project addresses the impact of civil society on the quality of democracies in former Yugoslavian countries. Many of these new republics have witnessed some degree of democratic backsliding in the last twenty years. However, current comparative politics research has pointed to the presence of a strong civil society as a potential preventative mechanism for returns to authoritarian norms. This paper uses the Varieties of Democracy dataset to quantitatively test the correlative relationship between civil society and democratic backsliding in former Yugoslavian countries. We allude to larger research questions and the need for more quantitative explorations of these topics in comparative politics.
Subject
YugoslaviaEastern Europe
Balkans
Democracy
Communism
Democratic Backsliding
Authoritarianism
Quantitative Methods
Political Science, Civil Society, NGO, Social Capital, Comparative Politics
Citation
Spexarth, Reagan (2020). Civil Society and Democracy in Former Yugoslavian Countries. Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /175441.