AUTHORITARIANISM - RESEARCH ATLASAVtokratija

How the authoritarian system works in Serbia

General research connected to documented examples, findings, and sources from Serbia.

Start with a question→

100questions

20areas

148academic works

130Serbia sources

SIX ENTRIES INTO THE MATRIX

Which question do you want to start with?

Concrete questions are the starting point. The other 94 are available through the map of 20 areas.

22How can elections be unfair if no one stole my vote?What elections are for when they are not fair 62Why do people use connections even when they believe connections should not be necessary?Why people stay silent, adapt, and think they are alone 48What happens to institutions when people are hired and promoted mainly for political loyalty?How the system changes public administration and public services 33How does a court lose its independence while remaining independent on paper?How law, courts, and parliament are used 49Why do employees find it harder to say 'no' when their job or term continually depends on a new government decision?How the system changes public administration and public services 36How can an institution be captured if no one ordered every employee what to do?How independent institutions are neutralized and crises are used

MAP OF THE AUTHORITARIAN SYSTEM

Twenty areas guide you through the system as a whole.

Select an area to see why it matters and which five questions it opens.

01How to recognize authoritarian rule and distinguish its forms5 questions 02How democracy disappears step by step5 questions 03Who really rules and what happens after the leader5 questions 04Why the police, military, and security services obey5 questions 05What elections are for when they are not fair5 questions 06How the ruling party and local networks hold the system together5 questions 07How law, courts, and parliament are used5 questions 08How independent institutions are neutralized and crises are used5 questions 09How money, jobs, and state assistance preserve power5 questions 10How the system changes public administration and public services5 questions 11How those in power shape what people can learn5 questions 12How digital surveillance and bad news change power5 questions 13Why people stay silent, adapt, and think they are alone5 questions 14Why people support the government and how power is justified5 questions 15How associations, unions, schools, and churches are controlled5 questions 16How the system punishes and intimidates without open violence5 questions 17How people organize and when protest changes power5 questions 18How an authoritarian system falls and what remains afterward5 questions 19How authoritarian rulers use support from abroad5 questions 20How democracy is defended and rebuilt5 questions

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WHY THIS AREA MATTERS

How democracy disappears step by step

Democracy is rarely abolished all at once today. More often, it is altered step by step while elections, laws, and institutions formally remain in place.

QUESTIONS IN THIS AREA

06How can democracy disappear even though the constitution and elections formally remain in place?07How do many small changes turn into a completely different system?08Why does each institution become easier to weaken once the first one has been brought under control?09Does an election victory give the government the right to remove every constraint?10How do we know that elections are no longer enough for a country to be democratic?

Research-based answerAUTLAS Research Base

Does an election victory give the government the right to remove every constraint?

Confidence in the conclusionwell substantiated

key academic works5

linked Serbia sources16

Period201226

ANSWER FROM THE MATRIX

No. Election victory gives the authorities the mandate to make decisions within the rules that apply to everyone, not the right to remove the possibility of future defeat. Democracy implies that the majority governs, but also that the minority retains the basic rights, that the courts can stop the illegal decision, that the media can criticize and that the opposition has a fair chance to become a majority.

If the winner changes the election rules, courts, media or state administration so that they serve him permanently, then the mandate is used to abolish the conditions under which the mandate is democratic in general. The practical criterion is simple: can the new rule apply equally when the current government becomes the opposition, or is it designed to provide it with the advantage and protection?

SERBIA CASE STUDY

Example from SerbiaChecked 16 sources; 15 manufacturers

16 related sources; 15 groups of evidence producers; domestic NGOs/research producers: 5

Election victories of the SNS give the authorities the right to implement the program under the Constitution, but not the right to abolish equal competition, subordinate the courts or use state resources as a party. In Serbia, the problem is precisely in mixing majority support with unlimited mandate: the parliamentary majority can legally vote, and that the way of discussion, appointment and control at the same time weakens institutions that must limit any authority.

How the finding is separated in the matrix

01Established fact

The Constitution divides power and guarantees rights, while scientific and parliamentary monitoring notes that the control of the majority over the assembly and appointments can spread the influence of the executive power to other bodies.

02Our interpretation

The Democratic majority decides who governs, but constitutional restrictions determine what the winner must not do. Without these limits, electoral victory becomes a means to permanently remove future competition.

03Does it show the same process?

Yes the electoral mandate exists, but sources show why it cannot be identified with the right to unlimited power.

04Important caveat or alternative explanation

Criticism of the majority is not the same as contesting elections. It is necessary to check the constitutional basis, procedure, proportionality and effect on rights and political competition for each measure.

LIMITS OF THE CONCLUSION

What the general answer does not allow us to conclude

Not every change of constitution or institution is an abuse. It is important whether the rule serves everyone or gives the current government a lasting advantage.

GENERAL RESEARCH BASE

Works supporting this answer, with their evidence type and an explanation of how they relate to the claim.

A01

critical review of more research

Przeworski, A. (2023), „Formal Models of Authoritarian Regimes: A Critique“, Perspectives on Politics 21(3): 979–988.

Contribution to this answer: Przeworski shows how many theories about authoritarian regimes can easily become too neat: often presuppose what the dictator wants, why people support him and how repression, propaganda or good effect work. His main message is that these assumptions should be proven, not taken for granted.

How the authoritarian system works in Serbia

Which question do you want to start with?

How democracy disappears step by step

How the finding is separated in the matrix

Przeworski, A. (2023), „Formal Models of Authoritarian Regimes: A Critique“, Perspectives on Politics 21(3): 979–988.

Ginsburg, T. i Huq, A. Z. (2018), How to Save a Constitutional Democracy, University of Chicago Press.

Landau, D. (2013), „Abusive Constitutionalism“, UC Davis Law Review 47: 189–260.

Varol, O. O. (2015), „Stealth Authoritarianism“, Iowa Law Review 100: 1673–1742.

Scheppele, K. L. (2018), „Autocratic Legalism“, University of Chicago Law Review 85(2): 545–583.

Republika Srbija. 2006. Ustav Republike Srbije, Službeni glasnik RS 98/2006, engleski prevod Narodne skupštine.

Milačić, Filip. 2025. “Democratic Backsliding Through Legislative Capture in Serbia: A One-Man Show.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 712(1): 47–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162251316346

Jovanović, Milan. 2022. “Presidentialization of Parliamentarism in Serbia – Causes and Consequences.” Politeja 19(1/76): 345–363. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.19.2022.76.17

Otvoreni parlament. 2025. Godišnji izveštaj o radu XIV saziva Narodne skupštine, februar 2024 – april 2025. Beograd: CRTA.

European Commission. 2025. Serbia 2025 Report. Commission Staff Working Document. Brussels: European Commission.

Koalicija prEUgovor. 2025. Alarm Report on Progress of Serbia in Cluster 1 – May 2025. Beograd: prEUgovor.

Cvijić, Srđan. 2018. When Law Doesn’t Rule: State Capture of the Judiciary, Prosecution, Police in Serbia. Open Society European Policy Institute, Transparentnost Srbija i CINS.

Beogradski centar za ljudska prava. 2026. Human Rights in Serbia 2025. Urednik Dušan Pokuševski. Beograd: Beogradski centar za ljudska prava.

Beširević, Violeta. 2014. “Governing Without Judges: The Politics of the Constitutional Court in Serbia.” International Journal of Constitutional Law 12(4): 954–979. https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/mou065

European Commission. 2025. 2025 Rule of Law Report: Country Chapter on the Rule of Law Situation in Serbia. SWD(2025) 931 final.

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). 2024. Observation of the Early Parliamentary Elections in Serbia (17 December 2023). Doc. 15895.

European Parliament. 2024. Resolution of 8 February 2024 on the Situation in Serbia Following the Elections. P9_TA(2024)0075.

OECD. 2026. Anti-Corruption and Integrity Outlook 2026: Serbia.

Transparency Serbia. 2024. Assessing Political Integrity Rules in Serbia. Belgrade: Transparency Serbia.

Poverenik za informacije od javnog značaja i zaštitu podataka o ličnosti. 2026. Izveštaj o radu Poverenika za 2025. godinu.

Agencija za sprečavanje korupcije Republike Srbije. 2026. Annual Report 2025.

Based on academic research

Practice documented in Serbia

Sources open to scrutiny

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Focus on the system, not on blaming people

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