Party fragmentation, the proportional system and democracy in Slovenia

Fink-Hafner, Danica (author), Novak, Meta (author)

In Slovenia, political parties have been the key actors in opting for a proportional electoral system and constitutional choice of a parliamentary system, both of which are believed to help to develop a consensual type of democracy. However, a vicious circle involving a fragmented party system and a proportional electoral system has not only led to polarisation within the party system, but has also contributed to problems of democratic governability and legitimacy. The destabilisation of the party system since 2011 has not only caused a crisis of political legitimacy and accountability, but has also contributed to a recent trend of de-democratisation. At the moment, there does not appear to be a realistic alternative to the existing electoral rules in the near future, in spite of recurring calls by an anti-communist party (Slovenian Democratic Party) to introduce a majoritarian system.

• Language: English
• Keywords: party fragmentation, party systems, Slovenia, electoral system, democracy, political parties, election systems
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2022
• Number of pages: Str. 578-591
• Numbering: Vol. 20, iss. 4
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-142577
• UDC: 329:324(497.4)
• ISSN on article: 1478-9299
• DOI: 10.1177/14789299211059450
• COBISS.SI-ID: 87532035
• Publication date in RUL: 14.11.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Political studies review
• Publisher: Political Studies Association, SAGE
• ISSN: 1478-9299
• COBISS.SI-ID: 124280832

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
• Description: A creative commons license that bans commercial use, but the users don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: strankarski sistemi, politične stranke, volilni sistemi, demokracija, Slovenija

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P5-0136
• Name: Politološke raziskave