New Paper: Valentina Petrović on «Under pressure: the politics of clientelism and coercion in Serbia»
With Serbia witnessing its largest wave of protests in years, Dr. Valentina Petrović's new paper sheds light on how coercive clientelist practices shape everyday political life — and which citizens feel most pressured.
This article examines the correlates of perceptions of clientelism in Serbia, drawing on original survey data collected in 2024. The analysis explores how employment status, regional differences, and political alignment shape individuals’ perceptions of clientelist exchanges. The findings indicate that regional differences are evident, with respondents from the more developed regions of Belgrade and Vojvodina reporting higher awareness or prevalence of clientelist exchanges than those in Central and Southern Serbia. An analysis of the interaction between voting behaviour and regions indicates a strong partisan effect. Notably, respondents who did not disclose their vote report levels of perceived coercion nearly equivalent to those of opposition voters in the South. These findings align with theoretical expectations that coercive clientelism is not uniform across different contexts but are influenced by local variations in both political and economic competition. This article contributes to broader debates on the persistence of clientelism in post-communist democracies and highlights the diverse forms of clientelism, including its overlap with coercion.
Read the full open access article here: doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2025.2520349
Weiterführende Informationen
BlueSky Instagram Linkedin Mail