Rule of law
RULE OF LAW
Strengthen the independence of the judiciary
It is necessary to strengthen the independence of the judiciary, and especially the independence and greater social and professional engagement of the Republic Public Prosecutor's Office.
This implies a change in the law and the Constitution, which would go in the direction of not greater control, but greater independence. At the same time, it is necessary for the executive branch to refrain from invalidating the judiciary in the public sphere.
RULE OF LAW
Strengthen all types of civic initiatives and (re)politicize them
In terms of social control of the government, it seems that the transition from depoliticized activities (such as monitoring, reporting, etc.) to more "politicized" actions (such as public protests and other types of civic pressure) could contribute to improving the rule of law.
RULE OF LAW
Strengthen the interconnections of government control mechanisms
In order to improve the rule of law and the responsibility of the government it is necessary to make some progress in all three dimensions of responsibility: political, legal and civil society.
Analyzes show that only by synchronized influence of the political system, judiciary and civil society some progress can be made regarding control of the government and strengthening the rule of law.
Elections in Serbia 2008-2020
ELECTIONS IN SERBIA 2008-2020
Professionalize the election administration
The way in which the election administration is organized makes it subject to the political influence of the parties. This is especially true lately, when the representatives of the ruling coalition have a strong majority in the permanent composition, and often in the expanded one.
The structure of the administration, its instability, and the limited capacity of professional services make it impossible to protect the integrity of elections in practice. Therefore, a professional election administration is needed, independent in its work, permanently committed to strengthening the integrity of the election process.
ELECTIONS IN SERBIA 2008-2020
Establish a more active role of the independent bodies
Independent bodies that oversee actors and regulate conduct during elections withdrew from their competencies. Their activities are not enough to prevent inequality of participants in the campaign, or the unequal representation in the media.
As a rule, their findings are published after the election day and cannot influence the decision-making of voters. An active role of independent bodies is needed, which would control and sanction the behavior of electoral actors, primarily those who abuse public resources and act from the governmental position.
ELECTIONS IN SERBIA 2008-2020
Reconstruct the media environment in the election process
The media environment does not allow voters to be informed about candidates and their programs. Political influence on the media is high, and outside the special election program, the main public and private media are dominated by public officials and representatives of the ruling parties.
There are few media critical of the government and they are not in a position to create a balanced image. Professional media should inform voters in a more neutral and analytical way. They need to acquaint the voters not only with party programs, but also with the behavior of actors in the election process, so that they can be held politically accountable in the elections.
ELECTIONS IN SERBIA 2008-2020
Encourage greater electoral participation
In addition to the restrictive conditions for the registration of political parties, the electoral system has a discouraging effect on the independent participation of parties in elections.
The number of voters decreased by one million from the elections held in 2008, to those held in 2020. Changes to the election rules should make it easier for parties to participate in the electoral process, remove all practical restrictions on voting, and remove voters' fears of the consequences of going to the polls.
ELECTIONS IN SERBIA 2008-2020
Personalize the electoral system
The specific electoral system, which creates a weak link between voters and elected representatives, in which political parties play a key mediating role, makes it difficult for citizens to influence the behavior of political actors through democratic mechanisms and hold them politically accountable.
It is necessary to change the electoral system. The establishment of a more direct relationship between voters and elected representatives, while maintaining the advantages of the existing proportional system, is the optimal solution.
Parliament of Serbia
PARLIAMENT OF SERBIA
Improve the functioning of the parliament and ensure that all its functions are fully realized
A functional parliament that fundamentally fulfills its role requires a systematic, consistent and effective application of all procedures and mechanisms at its disposal.
Regular adoption and consistent implementation of the annual work program of the Assembly, stronger role and responsibility of parliamentary committees, as well as timely engagement of parliamentary mechanisms on key current issues of importance to citizens would contribute to strengthening the systemic approach and effective functioning of the parliament.
PARLIAMENT OF SERBIA
Improve the legislative process
A higher degree of participation of MPs and parliamentary committees in the legislative process, including the opinion or comments of the professional and wider community on the proposals on the parliamentary agenda is necessary.
It would contribute to ensuring substantial consideration of proposed legal solutions and their effects in all segments of society. This would prevent, as far as possible, the adoption of unfavorable, discriminatory or contradictory legal solutions. A more meaningful engagement of MPs and parliamentary committees would contribute to overcoming the widespread image of the Assembly reduced to a mere administrative service of the Government or the President of the Republic (rubber stamp parliament).
PARLIAMENT OF SERBIA
Consistently and effectively implement parliamentary control
To ensure substantial monitoring of the parliament, existing mechanisms must be used proactively and consistently. In that sense, it is necessary for the parliament to regularly and consistently request and consider the reports from the ministries and the government, to use its decisions to obligate the executive power to take concrete actions in order to fulfill the recommendations of independent institutions, as well as to continuously monitor its responsiveness and demand that the government be responsible for its results.
In addition, the parliament must ensure proactive cooperation with independent institutions, provide all preconditions for their independent, autonomous and effective functioning. This would be achieved by proactively seeking and using the opinions and findings of independent institutions in its work, and regularly and timely reviewing their reports. Adopting conclusions based on those reports would contribute to the fulfillment of their recommendations and the improvement of the situation in the areas of their competence.
PARLIAMENT OF SERBIA
Encourage pluralism and the development of parliamentary dialogue
It is necessary to provide preconditions for pluralism of opinion and the development of a culture of dialogue in parliament.
In that sense, the chairman is obligated to prevent and impartially sanction insults, attacks, as well as any other inappropriate behavior of deputies by consistent application of mechanisms provided by the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure and the Code of Conduct of Deputies, in order to urgently stop abuse of the parliament rostrum. The amendment of the Code of Conduct for MPs in accordance with international standards, which were taken into account when drafting this document, would also contribute to this.
Political parties in Serbia
POLITICAL PARTIES IN SERBIA
Provide equal conditions for election competition
The position of the opposition is a weak point of almost every system; however, in Serbia, opposition parties are systemically weakened, both at the level of authoritarian practices and due to a number of institutional mechanisms introduced to strengthen the dominance of the ruling party.
Creating more equal working conditions (through changes to the rules of procedure of the Assembly, funding mechanisms and media conditions) and political competition (not to be understood solely in the context of the election campaign) is a precondition for establishing a more stable democratic order.
POLITICAL PARTIES IN SERBIA
Encourage the enlargement of the party / party system
Electoral rules should encourage the enlargement of the party scene; returning the electoral threshold to 5%, introducing a moderate tiered threshold for coalitions, and preventing “fake” minority parties from using loopholes in the law would trigger aggregation trends.
This trend could be reinforced by other incentives such as party financing mechanisms or the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.
POLITICAL PARTIES IN SERBIA
Encourage ideological profiling of parties
The ideological positions of the parties are of great importance for the voters, their monitoring of politics and determining political responsibility.
That is why it is important that the political positions of the parties are articulated more clearly, which of course is neither a short-term nor a simple process. It can be encouraged by a larger space for representatives of the public and civil society, more transparent work of the National Assembly (public debates and public hearings), but also by a different attitude of the media towards politicians.
POLITICAL PARTIES IN SERBIA
Incentives for intra-party competition
Encouraging intra-party competition would lead to more stable and transparent parties in the long run, as well as reducing the effects of presidentialization.
This can be achieved through institutional mechanisms (separation of elections at different levels or the introduction of preferential voting), but also through incentives coming from the media or civil society.
Human Rights and Democracy
HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY
Guarantee freedom of peaceful assembly for all citizens
Freedom of peaceful assembly has instrumental value for the government and for the citizens. The government allows it in those cases and to the extent that its interests are not endangered, while citizens often enjoy it without a sense of solidarity with the individuals and groups that are deprived of it.
A change in the strategy of the government (which would establish and respect the basic rules for enjoying the freedom of peaceful assembly) and the citizens themselves would make a great contribution to improving the situation in this area, which would build solidarity with all those who are denied this freedom.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY
Consistently apply laws and empower individuals and marginalized groups
With regard to protection against discrimination, it is necessary to work on more consistent application of the law and non-discriminatory promotion of principles in the public sphere.
Also, mechanisms need to be strengthened to empower groups with less cultural, social and economic capital to make greater use of mechanisms put in place for protection of their interests. Finally, at the root of discrimination, especially against Roma and women, are strong cultural patterns. Without their change (and the bearers of that change could be both politicians and businessmen), there will be no change in terms of the prevalence and intensity of discrimination.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY
Protects rights through mutual cooperation of different social groups and actors
Socio-economic rights are an area in which relatively modest progress has been made. The model of economic development and trends in the labor market do not have a favorable effect on this domain of law.
As in the case of some political freedoms, different social groups do not cooperate in the protection of rights. For example, because the labor market is dual (meaning that the status of workers in the public sector and some large companies is better than workers in small and medium enterprises (SME), self-employed and workers in the informal sector) cooperation of different groups of workers in the fight for socio-economic rights is lacking. Similarly, workers and farmers fail to work together to protect socio-economic rights. All this indicates that the fight for rights would be more efficient if it went beyond the borders of individual groups.
Gender Equality
GENDER EQUALITY
More effective implementation of laws and policies
The adopted Law on Gender Equality and amendments to the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination need to be effectively implemented and their application needs to be monitored.
It is also necessary to ensure the effective implementation of the new Strategy for Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. In addition, it is necessary to adopt new gender equality policies, because the Strategy on Gender Equality expired in 2020, and the evaluation of this strategy showed very moderate achievements only in certain areas.
GENDER EQUALITY
Greater influence of civil society and activists on decision making
Women's / feminist civil society needs to be involved in the adoption of new policies and monitoring of the application of laws and strategies.
This is the only way the ground can be set for realizing women’s rights and interest, bearing in mind that women's political participation through basic government mechanisms is not enough for achieving that goal.
GENDER EQUALITY
Improve the position of women in key areas
It is necessary to improve the position of women and gender equality simultaneously in key areas of their participation and position. Only with comprehensive empowerment they can achieve greater participation through civic activism and involvement in political action.
This primarily refers to the employment of women by reducing gender segregation and encouraging women to be educated and employed in areas that are more promising, as well as eliminating discrimination in employment and promotion. It is especially important to eliminate property inequalities through consistent application of the law and raising awareness of the importance of fair distribution and inheritance of property. Finally, it is important to redistribute responsibilities in family and household care through legal solutions that would make paternal leave mandatory or non-transferable. Improved systems for preventing and protecting women from gender-based violence, including various forms of violence in partnerships and families, and violence against women performing public function are also a necessity.
Media and Democracy
MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY
Ensure work autonomy and improve the functioning of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media
The Regulatory Body for Electronic Media is not autonomous in relation to the political sphere and consequently does not fulfill its basic tasks in terms of improving the quality and diversity of content, protection of the public interest and the development of freedom of expression.
In order to depoliticize, the composition of the REM Council should be changed so that the number of state representatives in the Council is less than half. Allowing REM to impose fines on the media would improve its efficiency. REM should be obligated to regularly conduct and publish reports on monitoring of media coverage during the election campaign, as well as to conduct regular annual media market research in order to prevent media concentration.
MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY
Ensure full transparency of media ownership and allocation of public money to the media
Ensuring transparency of media ownership is an important precondition for identifying unwanted political and economic pressures on the media.
Transparency of ownership should be ensured by changing the type of data listed in the media registers, enabling inspection control and imposing penalties for inaccurate data. The registers should cover all public payments to the media. It is necessary to regulate more precisely the area of public information and advertising, as well as the area of public procurement of public authorities and all companies in which the state is the majority owner.
MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY
Promote media pluralism
The decline of media pluralism is expressed in the field of political information - as an internal pluralism of voices and views represented in the media, and exists at the level of the entire system - as a lack of quality local media and civil society media.
The lack of internal pluralism is particularly problematic in the context of the two public media services of Radio Television of Vojvodina and Radio Television of Serbia. REM should be obligated to monitor the state of media pluralism, especially in the pre-election period. The process of project co-financing of media content needs to be improved so that citizens participate in the process of determining topics of public interest, and that the commissions have the necessary expertise and independence.
MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY
Ensure the smooth operation of journalists
Journalists and media workers need to be provided with a high level of security to pursue their profession freely.
This includes ending the campaign to appease journalists, effective protection in the event of an attack, and the autonomy and efficiency of the judiciary in processing attacks on journalists. Journalists need to be provided with access to all information of public importance. The introduction of internal mechanisms for establishing and maintaining editorial autonomy should be promoted.
Civil Society
CIVIL SOCIETY
Encourage the involvement of civil society in the decision-making process
Today, the communication between state institutions and civil society is virtually non-existent. It is necessary to improve upon that. It is recommended to return to the practice of organizing regular public debates and public hearings.
That can be ensured by making amendments to regulations that would introduce mandatory public debates when drafting strategic documents, specifying rules and procedures for organizing public debates and public hearings, and obligating the National Assembly to initiate debates on draft laws submitted by citizens.
CIVIL SOCIETY
Stop attacks on associations and movements dealing with democratization and human rights
CSOs and their activists are receiving threatening letters and police summons, as well as public threats calling them foreign mercenaries, traitors.
All this is strongly supported by tabloids close to the authorities. The authorities either do not react to these threats or are very slow in their reaction. This practice needs to end, by establishing the rule of law and guaranteeing free and independent action of citizens in the civil sphere.
CIVIL SOCIETY
Prevent abuses in the financing of civil society activities from public sources
In civil society, there is a growing polarization due to the growing number of GONGOs. The ruling parties, through these organizations, are increasingly abusing budget funds intended for civil society.
There is a need for more transparent allocation of funds and more precise and clear criteria for their allocation, as well as prevention of abuse of rights and roles intended for civil society by CSOs close to the authorities.
CIVIL SOCIETY
Improve communication of CSOs with citizens and encourage greater involvement of citizens in civil society activities
Citizens are apathetic and disinterested in taking part of civil society, which can be explained at least in part by the subservient political culture, economic uncertainty, learned reliance on the state, and lack of capacity and free time.
In addition, NGOs are mostly donor-oriented. This means that there is very little connection to citizens and no mutual trust. On the other hand, there are more and more civic initiatives coming from below, but they are mostly of a local character with small capacities and opportunities to address a wider audience (partly due to media control). Educating citizens for democracy, better communication and more direct contact of CSOs with citizens while guaranteeing media freedom are necessary steps towards overcoming this situation. It is necessary to encourage civic activism and the involvement of citizens in the activities of civil society.
Class inequalities and Democracy
CLASS INEQUALITIES AND DEMOCRACY
Improve institutional mechanisms to increase the chances for entry into the education system and the labor market
Class (im)mobility is a process with deep structural roots and long duration. For a change in this particular area, it is necessary to change institutional mechanisms and practices.
The two key areas for intervention are entry and movement through the education system and entry and movement through the labor market. In the field of education, it is necessary to increase the chances of entering the education system for underrepresented groups at all levels (from preschool to higher education) and in all areas (e.g. grammar schools for children from lower grades, universities, and not only higher education institutions). As for the labor market, it is necessary to encourage development of entrepreneurial skills and self-employment of young people from all walks of life. It is also very important to eradicate party employment and nepotism in the public sector. This can be done by increasing the transparency of the employment process and strengthening law application in this area. In this way, the field of attributed privileges for the descendants of the ruling and middle class will be limited.
CLASS INEQUALITIES AND DEMOCRACY
Strengthen support for democracy values through strengthening democratic institutions
The weakening of support for the values of democracy among the lower social classes is the result of a loss of trust in democratic institutions and the perception of basic social relations as unjust.
Changing this perception and restoring confidence in democratic principles requires all those changes that lead to the strengthening of democratic institutions and increased participation in politics. Especially the fight against corruption and political clientelism that lead to the usurpation of public resources by economic and political elites and disproportionate economic inequalities.
CLASS INEQUALITIES AND DEMOCRACY
Strengthen solidarity and mutual trust through strengthening civil actions
Distrust in institutions and other people is tightly knit with the passivity of citizens, and for strengthening and maintaining democracy civic activism is necessary.
Civic activism in Serbia has strengthened somewhat in recent years, but is largely limited to the activities of the middle class. Achieving greater goals requires a broader class coalition, and this requires raising civic awareness among all members of society. Free media, the promotion of democratic values and the strengthening of institutions and political participation are key activities in this area. In this sense, the role of civil society organizations, their choice of goals, target groups and key messages is especially important.
International influence on Democracy in Serbia
INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE ON DEMOCRACY IN SERBIA
Adjust pro-democracy incentives to changed circumstances
Although good cooperation with the authorities and focus on state institutions are preconditions for the positive influence of international actors on domestic democracy, aid providers should be more sensitive to the democratic deficits of the current regime, and accordingly change their priorities and allies in promoting further democratization in Serbia.
Equally, pro-democracy actors from civil society should be quicker in adapting to their old role of a "rival" of the state, into which they have unfortunately been pushed again. Seeking help by inertia for activities that would only be effective if the short-termed partner relations with the state managed to last is a strategy that does not work.
INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE ON DEMOCRACY IN SERBIA
Rebrand the European integration process
All involved domestic and international actors should find a way to stop further alienation of citizens from the European integration process.
Its bureaucratic nature, and the way the government approached it, made citizens perceive accession to the EU as opening and closing of some abstract chapters, and not as a process of reform that enhances their legal, economic, social and any other security. Political representatives should prevent the growing euroscepticism among citizens from further decreasing their commitment to democracy as the best form of government for Serbia.
INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE ON DEMOCRACY IN SERBIA
Protect the legal order from corrosive foreign capital
The short-term economic gains, as well as the political gains of the ruling structures whose popularity fast money and new jobs undoubtedly help, do irreparable damage to the domestic democratic order and the well-being of the citizens.
All domestic and international actors should, therefore, vigilantly monitor and prevent the making and implementation of international political, economic and business arrangements that place the interests of corrosive capital in an impermissibly privileged position, whether through secret agreements, lex specialis, subsidies or other legal and economic shortcuts and subsidies.
INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE ON DEMOCRACY IN SERBIA
Separate foreign policy cooperation from the promotion of non-liberal governance models
The current trend of glorifying, and often imitating, the model of governing with an "iron fist" by political representatives, should be stopped in order to prevent a further increase in anti-democratic and authoritarian tendencies among the citizens of Serbia.
The hypersensitivity of the EU, the US and parts of the domestic civil sector to the growing influence and popularity of Russia and China can lead to a "self-fulfilling prophecy". Constant vigilance and responsibility of all political actors is needed to ensure that maintaining good cooperation and friendly relations with countries suffering from democratic deficits does not negatively affect the commitment of political representatives and citizens to democratic values.
INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE ON DEMOCRACY IN SERBIA
Make efforts to solve issues in the region
Peaceful resolution of all open issues, from border disputes, through the position of minorities, to the status of Kosovo and Republika Srpska, would undoubtedly reduce the anti-democratic potential that incendiary rhetoric and occasional rattling of weapons in the region, including Serbia, bring with them.
In order for the solutions to these issues to be accepted and lasting, they need to be reached through a true internal dialogue of all relevant political and social actors, with informed citizen participation and an atmosphere that does not involve lynching anyone who thinks differently from the government. While international influence on resolving these issues is inevitable, strong local ownership of peace, stability and democracy should be an imperative for all political actors and citizens of Serbia.