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Institutional and symbolic aspects of illiberal politics: the case of North Macedonia (2006–2017)

Gjuzelov, Borjan and Ivanovska Hadjievska, Milka LU (2019) In Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 20(1). p.41-60
Abstract
The paper discusses the underlying characteristics of Macedonian illiberal politics during the 11-year rule of the centre-right party VMRO-DPMNE (2006–2017) focusing on two aspects: institutional and symbolic. We argue that the unfair political competition was enabled by the weakness of pre-existing institutions and the population’s clientelist preferences, which were systematically exploited and expanded by VMRO-DPMNE. We also argue that the multi-ethnic character of the country, the disputed Macedonian national identity and the lack of viable international prospects allowed VMRO-DPMNE to construct a strong nationalist narrative that appealed to voters and further isolated the opposition.
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
North Macedonia, illiberal politics, VMRO-DPMNE, competitive authoritarianism, case study analysis
in
Southeast European and Black Sea Studies
volume
20
issue
1
pages
20 pages
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:85074516370
ISSN
1468-3857
DOI
10.1080/14683857.2019.1672941
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
aabe9bdf-0006-4262-a7ab-fc3a5bbf3427
date added to LUP
2020-05-03 16:03:21
date last changed
2022-04-18 22:01:36
@article{aabe9bdf-0006-4262-a7ab-fc3a5bbf3427,
  abstract     = {{The paper discusses the underlying characteristics of Macedonian illiberal politics during the 11-year rule of the centre-right party VMRO-DPMNE (2006–2017) focusing on two aspects: institutional and symbolic. We argue that the unfair political competition was enabled by the weakness of pre-existing institutions and the population’s clientelist preferences, which were systematically exploited and expanded by VMRO-DPMNE. We also argue that the multi-ethnic character of the country, the disputed Macedonian national identity and the lack of viable international prospects allowed VMRO-DPMNE to construct a strong nationalist narrative that appealed to voters and further isolated the opposition.}},
  author       = {{Gjuzelov, Borjan and Ivanovska Hadjievska, Milka}},
  issn         = {{1468-3857}},
  keywords     = {{North Macedonia; illiberal politics; VMRO-DPMNE; competitive authoritarianism; case study analysis}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{41--60}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Southeast European and Black Sea Studies}},
  title        = {{Institutional and symbolic aspects of illiberal politics: the case of North Macedonia (2006–2017)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14683857.2019.1672941}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/14683857.2019.1672941}},
  volume       = {{20}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}