Presentation as part of the Round Table “Mechanisms of Participatory Democracy as a Response to the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century”
Research conducted by the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA) evaluates public attitudes toward democracy by measuring citizen preferences across three primary models:
- Participatory Model: All citizens should always be actively involved in politics.
- Representative Model: Voting in elections to delegate power to politicians is sufficient.
- Political Abstention: Politics should be handled strictly by politicians, not ordinary citizens.
Key Findings on Civic Interest & Participation Demand
Contrary to widespread assumptions regarding public apathy, empirical data reveals high baseline demand for direct political engagement:
- Demand for Participatory Democracy: Nearly 50% of respondents favor the participatory model of democracy.
- Desire for Permanent Involvement: Over 33% of citizens express a desire to be continuously involved in decision-making processes—a solid benchmark relative to international comparisons.
- Local Initiative Activism: Approximately 10% of respondents report active involvement in local civic initiatives within their communities, indicating a resilient grassroots foundation.
Structural Barriers and Efficacy Gaps
The primary bottleneck in Serbian democracy is not civic unwillingness, but a profound crisis of perceived efficacy and a lack of accessible channels.
[ High Public Interest (~50%) ] ──> [ Institutional Blockades / Closed Channels ] ──> [ Low Perceived Impact (14-15%) ]
- Lack of Accessible Channels: Citizens do not recognize accessible avenues for direct participation. Tools they are aware of are overwhelmingly perceived as closed or co-opted.
- Low Perceived Efficacy: Out of the total pool of citizens interested in direct political participation, only 14–15% believe their involvement can actually influence final policy outcomes.
- Preferred Alternative Avenues: When seeking meaningful change, citizens overwhelmingly cite elections and media exposure/whistleblowing rather than institutional participatory tools.
Performance of Direct Democracy Mechanisms
Traditional mechanisms of direct democracy suffer from severe institutional neglect or intentional obstruction:
- People’s Initiatives & Referendums: Citizens view citizens’ initiatives (narodna inicijativa) as largely ineffective due to systematic blocking by parliamentary majorities. Referendums are perceived to occur solely when serving the interests of the ruling elite.
- Context Note: Despite non-existent public campaigns, widespread lack of information, and inflated voter rolls, turnout for the early 2022 constitutional referendum demonstrated that citizens actively participate whenever formally consulted.
- Local Citizens’ Assemblies (Zborovi građana): As the sole remaining local direct democracy institute at the municipal level, citizens’ assemblies have become largely obscure:
- Overall, only 10% of respondents have ever attended a local assembly, situated almost exclusively in rural areas.
- In Belgrade and major urban centers, participation in local citizens’ assemblies is virtually non-existent.