Making a New Consensual Elite in Serbia

Abstract

The text firstly addresses the thesis that systemic transformation – from a socialist to a capitalist order – changes both the preconditions on the basis of which political elite is constituted, and its main characteristics. Considering the specific course of transformation in Serbia, this indicates the difficulties for the transformation of its divided political elite – characterizing the aftermath of the breakdown of socialism – into a consensual elite that represents a type prevailing in liberal-democratic systems. The political elite in Serbia may thus be defined as primarily fragmented, with initial elements of consensuality. The main thesis is examined through an analysis of the changes in the character of political elites at two different levels: subjective, regarding their attitudes towards the EU based on 2007 and 2009 IntUne data; and objective (patterns of recruitment of their members based on 1989, 2003 and 2015 data on intra – and intergenerational mobility). The main findings reveal the gradual (although not yet completed) consolidation of political elites regarding their attitudes towards the EU, but also changing patterns of elite members’ recruitment based on political competition and the increasing self-reproduction of the ruling elites, indicating the formation of biased pluralism.