Serbia: documented application of the same framework
Academic research base
How does the government build a major advantage long before election day?
The government can build a great advantage long before elections are called. It turns functions and official travel into a permanent campaign, uses public projects and budgets to reward desirable environments, provides much greater space in the media and puts companies, donors and employees at risk if they support opponents.
It can change the electoral rules, the boundaries of the units, the composition of the electoral bodies or the conditions of financing while the opposition does not yet have the strength to react. Thus, the difference on the day of voting arises not only from the support of voters, but also from unequal access to money, information, people and protection. The practical question is whether the advantages of the government are the result of its political work or the use of public position and resources that are not available to any opponent.
A major electoral advantage in Serbia arises months before the campaign. The president and the ruling party have far more television time, public events turn into political promotion, state aid is announced before the elections, and local party networks visit voters and check support. Until the election day, the opposition therefore competes not only with the other party, but with the merger of the party, public function and state resources.
How the finding is separated in the matrix
CRTA measures media dominance, ODIHR records official campaign and pressures, and Transparency Serbia monitors the use of public money and blurred border between state, party and president.
The advantage is strongest when each individual move looks legal or small, but their sum gives one side visibility, money, data and organization that competitors do not have.
Yes several independent methodologies record different parts of the same pre-election advantage.
The official has the right to perform his work during the campaign, and the state has the right to pay legal fees. It is disputed when the time, manner and presentation of these activities are used for party benefit without equal control.
The fact that the government is more visible is not an abuse in itself. It is necessary to show that it used public money, a position or rules that were not available to opponents.
Works supporting this answer, with their evidence type and an explanation of how they relate to the claim.
Explain how the system works
Greene, K. F. (2007), Why Dominant Parties Lose, Cambridge University Press.
- Contribution to this answer
- Greene shows how the government derives resources, organization and visibility from the control of the state long before the campaign. The advantage is built for years through access to money, jobs and institutions, and not just during the election day.
comparing several countries or cases
Schedler, A. (2013), The Politics of Uncertainty: Sustaining and Subverting Electoral Authoritarianism, Oxford University Press.
- Contribution to this answer
- “Schedler shows that the government can shape the entire electoral arena in advance from media and candidacy to rules, administration and access to resources so that the opposition enters the campaign with an already built-in handicap.
Explain how the system works
Gehlbach, S. i Sonin, K. (2014), „Government Control of the Media“, Journal of Public Economics 118: 163–171.
- Contribution to this answer
- Gehlbach and Sonin show how control or influence on the media can systematically change the information that voters receive and how convincing that information is. This creates a structural advantage of the authorities before voting begins.
review more research
Moustafa, T. (2014), „Law and Courts in Authoritarian Regimes“, Annual Review of Law and Social Science 10: 281–299.
- Contribution to this answer
- Moustafa shows how formally independent institutions in autocracy can have selective boundaries precisely in politically sensitive issues. For electoral advantage, this work is indirect, but it helps to understand how the legal protection of the opposition can be weaker than it looks on paper.
Study of Serbia
Petrović, V. (2026), „Under Pressure: The Politics of Clientelism and Coercion in Serbia“, Democratization.
Petrović, V. (2026), “Under Pressure: The Politics of Clientelism and Coercion in Serbia”, Democratization.
- Contribution to this answer
- Petrovic shows how dependence on public work, services or political networks creates pressure that exists long before voting. This builds political advantage into everyday life, not just a formal campaign.
Sources supporting the Serbia example, with the claim they support and their limitations.
Domestic NGOs systematic media monitoring - Verified 21.08.2026
CRTA. 2025. Media Monitoring of Political Pluralism: Government in Focus, Opposition Almost Invisible. Beograd: CRTA.
- What the source records
- Monitoring finds that more than half of the time intended for political actors went to the president, who had 354 live television broadcasts and almost exclusively neutral or positive treatment.
- Claim it supports
- Claim that the decisive advantage is built months before the election day through visibility, money, function and the dependency network.
- Source limitation
- The sample includes the central news of five national TV stations, but does not measure all media, the entire program offer, the audience or the direct impact of such reporting on voting.
Domestic NGO campaign financing monitoring - Verified 21.08.2026
Transparentnost Srbija. 2024. Povećanje nesrazmere među akterima, procena ukupne vrednosti kampanje i preliminarni izveštaji: monitoring izbora 2023. Beograd: Transparentnost Srbija.
Transparency Serbia. 2024. Increase of disproportion among stakeholders, estimate of total campaign value and preliminary reports: monitoring of elections 2023. Belgrade: Transparency Serbia.
- What the source records
- Monitoring records the promotion of the list of authorities with public resources, intensive official campaign, lack of timely reaction of competent authorities and estimates that the allowed immediate costs of the campaign were not less than 20 million euros.
- Claim it supports
- Claim that the decisive advantage is built months before the election day through visibility, money, function and the dependency network.
- Source limitation
- It is a preliminary and narrowly thematic report for a single campaign; part of the conclusions are estimates and arguments for doubts, not legally determined infringements.
Domestic NGO ten-year monitoring synthesis - Verified 21.08.2026
CRTA. 2026. A Decade of Election Observation: Is Everything the Same, Worse, or Better? Beograd: CRTA.
- What the source records
- “The synthesis concludes that the key electoral problems have not been solved and that many have deepened, with a ten-year deletion of the border between the state and the ruling party.
- Claim it supports
- Claim that the decisive advantage is built months before the election day through visibility, money, function and the dependency network.
- Source limitation
- It is a short institutional retrospective, not a new methodological report; the claims should be checked in the individual election reports on which the synthesis is based.
Official election monitoring - Verified 21.08.2026
OSCE/ODIHR. 2024. Republic of Serbia: Early Parliamentary Elections, 17 December 2023 — Election Observation Mission Final Report. Warsaw: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
- What the source records
- The monitoring mission noted the real choice of political alternatives, but also the decisive participation of the president, the systemic advantages of the government, media bias, pressures and misuse of public resources.
- Claim it supports
- Claim that the decisive advantage is built months before the election day through visibility, money, function and the dependency network.
- Source limitation
- Proves the quality of one electoral process, not independently the entire type of regime or all the events after February 2024.
Reviewed scientific paper analysis of election strategies - Viewed full open work, method, findings and bibliographic record
Bursać, Dejan, and Dušan Vučićević. 2025. “Electioneering Strategies in the Hybrid Regime: Another Regular Snap Election in Serbia.” New Perspectives 33(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2336825X241308429
- What the source records
- It connects the timing of elections, nationalization of local competitions, the president’s popularity, media dominance, promotion of projects and targeted monetary contributions.
- Claim it supports
- Directly supports multiple channels through which the advantage is built before the official election day.
- Source limitation
- It does not establish that any social or infrastructure measure was introduced solely for the sake of votes.
Domestic NGOs multi-cycle election monitoring and dispute analysis - Reviewed full report, method, dispute tables and recommendations
CeSID. 2024. Oko izbora 24. Beograd: Centar za slobodne izbore i demokratiju.
CeSID. 2024. Around the elections 24. Belgrade: Centre for Free Elections and Democracy.
- What the source records
- Follow the political context, electoral roll, administration and legal protection before and after the 2023-2024 elections.
- Claim it supports
- “It shows that advantage and risk are created not only in the campaign, but also through rules, records and how to resolve disputes.
- Source limitation
- Not all the allegations are confirmed and different types of problems do not have the same impact on voters.
International Network of Election Observers Final Report - Reviewed full final report, method and recommendations
European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO). 2022. Presidential and Early Parliamentary Elections, 3 April 2022, Serbia — Final Report.
- What the source records
- ENEMO records unequal campaign resources, media position and pressures in the 2022 election cycle.
- Claim it supports
- Gives separate international confirmation that institutional and economic advantage accumulates before voting.
- Source limitation
- The observational finding does not measure the exact number of votes produced by each mechanism.
International Technical Assessment of the Electoral System - Review full report, methodology and recommendations by area
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). 2021. Technical Election Assessment Mission in Serbia, March 2021.
- What the source records
- Technical estimates of financing, administration, supervision, accessibility and dispute resolution after the 2020 elections.
- Claim it supports
- It shows that long-term systemic vulnerabilities can maintain inequality between election cycles, before the campaign itself.
- Source limitation
- Technical assessment is not a direct observation of political pressure or media content.
Official international election monitoring - Full official report reviewed
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). 2024. Observation of the Early Parliamentary Elections in Serbia (17 December 2023). Doc. 15895.
- What the source records
- PACE notes negative campaigning, media problems, official advantage and allegations of organized voter adoption in 2023.
- Claim it supports
- substantiate that the electoral advantage includes information, position and administrative resources.
- Source limitation
- Part of the quotation is not legally established and refers to one cycle.
Primary source official regulatory monitoring of media - Full official report, methodology and end tables
Regulatorno telo za elektronske medije (REM). 2025. Izbori 2023 — završni izveštaj monitoringa pružalaca medijskih usluga.
Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM). 2025. Elections 2023 final report of monitoring of media service providers.
- What the source records
- The official regulator provides its own monitoring of the representation of electoral actors on media service providers.
- Claim it supports
- Adds primary data for checking media visibility, instead of relying only on NGO assessments.
- Source limitation
- The methodology, scope and interpretation of REM differ from independent monitors; the presence of data only does not prove equality.
Domestic research organization systematic analysis of online media - Full report and methodology reviewed
Bajić, Mila, Snežana Bajčeta i SHARE Fondacija. 2024. Izbori 2023. na informativnoj margini: analiza predizborne kampanje u onlajn medijima.
Bajić, Mila, Snezana Bajčeta and SHARE Foundation. 2024. Elections 2023. on the information margin: analysis of the election campaign in online media.
- What the source records
- Systematically analyzes online media during the 2023 campaign and measures the position of electoral topics and actors in the information space.
- Claim it supports
- Complements television monitoring with proof that the advantage in visibility is also built through online information.
- Source limitation
- The online sample does not represent the entire media system or measure how each voter received the message.
Local NGO monitoring of local election campaign - View full report and official summary
Transparentnost Srbija. 2024. Lider novog sveta: raspisuj lokalno, plaši globalno — monitoring lokalnih izbora 2. juna 2024.
Transparency Serbia. 2024. Leader of the new world: publish locally, scare globally monitoring of local elections 2 June 2024.
- What the source records
- Monitoring of local elections 2024 monitors the official campaign and use of public function for political promotion.
- Claim it supports
- Adds local and recent evidence that the advantage of the government is built on official events and recognition of the function.
- Source limitation
- Functional visibility is not an automatic abuse; the purpose, resource and availability to other actors must be assessed.
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