ANALYSIS OF CHANGE IN PARTY POSITIONS TOWARDS THE EUROPEAN UNION AGENDA IN SERBIA

Abstract

Following many years of political competition in Serbia between reformists and nationalists, critical presidential and parliamentary elections were held in 2008 during the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo by Albanians in the shadow of the European Union (EU) agenda. 2008 elections reshaped party politics in favour of pro-Europeanism. This article analyses the change in party positions towards EU membership with the help of “process analysis” by referring to the independent variables of compliance, identification, and internalization, modelled by Herbert Kelman. The study focuses on following political parties that have shaped Serbian politics for a long time: The Democratic Party of Serbia (Demokratska Stranka Srbije - DSS), the Democratic Party (Demokratska Stranka - DS), the Serbian Progressive Party (Srpska Napredna Stranka-SNS), and the Socialist Party of Serbia (Socijalistička Partija Srbije - SPS). Contrary to arguments, which suggest that party positions have changed due to EU conditionality with the help of internalisation variable; this article argues that for SNS and SPS “compliance”, for DSS and DS “identification” variable offers a more comprehensive causal explanation.

Keywords

• Serbia,European Union,Europeanization,Party Politics,Position Change

SIRBİSTAN’DA AVRUPA BİRLİĞİ GÜNDEMİNE İLİŞKİN PARTİ POZİSYONLARINDAKİ DEĞİŞİMİN ANALİZİ

Abstract

Sırbistan’da reformistler ve milliyetçiler arasında uzun yıllar süren siyasi rekabetin ardından, özellikle Arnavutların Kosova’nın tek taraflı bağımsızlığını ilan ettiği 2008 yılındaki kritik cumhurbaşkanlığı ve parlamento seçimleri Avrupa Birliği (AB) gündeminin gölgesinde gerçekleşmiştir. 2008 seçimleri, parti politikasını Avrupa-taraftarlığı lehine yeniden şekillendirmiştir. Bu makale, “süreç analizi” yardımıyla Herbert Kelman tarafından tasarlanan uyum, özdeşleşme ve içselleştirme bağımsız değişkenleri üzerinden AB gündemine ilişkin parti pozisyonlarında gerçekleşen değişimleri analiz etmektedir. Çalışma, Sırp siyasetini uzun süre şekillendirmiş olan Sırbistan Demokrat Partisi (Demokratska Stranka Srbije - DSS), Demokrat Parti (Demokratska Stranka - DS), Sırp İlerleme Partisi (Srpska Napredna Stranka - SNS) ve Sırbistan Sosyalist Partisi (Socijalistička Partija Srbije - SPS) üzerine odaklanmaktadır. Makale, parti pozisyonlarındaki değişimi “içselleştirme” tezi yardımıyla AB koşulluluğuna bağlayan savların aksine SNS ve SPS için “uyum”, DSS ve DS için “özdeşleşme” faktörünün daha kapsamlı bir nedensel açıklama sunduklarını iddia etmektedir.

Keywords

• Sırbistan,Avrupa Birliği,Avrupalılaşma,Parti Politikası,Pozisyon Değişimi

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