Difference between revisions of "Party soldiers (Western Balkans)"

<blockquote>‘For one to advance, and this depends from one party to the next, [...] he/she has to do something for that party. Maybe he/she will distribute flyers or will partake in a ‘door to door’ campaign, or will have to collect secured votes – that person has to prove that they are working non-stop. And then, party officials make a list of the most meritorious activist. [...] These people are first in the employment cue after the elections, when the party wins power’.</blockquote>

<blockquote>‘For one to advance, and this depends from one party to the next, [...] he/she has to do something for that party. Maybe he/she will distribute flyers or will partake in a ‘door to door’ campaign, or will have to collect secured votes – that person has to prove that they are working non-stop. And then, party officials make a list of the most meritorious activist. [...] These people are first in the employment cue after the elections, when the party wins power’.</blockquote>

Across the region, becoming a party soldier is accepted as a viable path toward public sector employment and material benefits. The survey, conducted by the INFORM project in 2017, found a strong popular belief that employment and party affiliation were linked in the countries of the Western Balkans. On a scale of 1 to 10, respondents from Serbia agreed with the statement that employment through membership in a political party or party support was widespread in their country with a mean of 8.4, the highest among the surveyed countries (see Figure 1). The mean of agreement with the statement in other countries was between 7 and 8, apart from Kosovo where respondents agreed with the statement with a mean of 6.3. The survey also suggested that people in the Western Balkan region generally believe that losing or failing to acquire a job because of political party affiliation was widespread (the lowest mean was in Kosovo, at 6.2, and the highest in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at 7.2).  Although the depoliticisation of public administration prior to EU integration is high on the agenda in each of the Western Balkan countries (see European Commission 2018: 5), these findings indicate an excessive and persistent reliance of political parties on patronage appointments across the region.  

Across the region, becoming a party soldier is accepted as a viable path toward public sector employment and material benefits. The survey, conducted by the INFORM project in 2017, found a strong popular belief that employment and party affiliation were linked in the countries of the Western Balkans. On a scale of 1 to 10, respondents from Serbia agreed with the statement that employment through membership in a political party or party support was widespread in their country with a mean of 8.4, the highest among the surveyed countries (see Figure 1). The mean of agreement with the statement in other countries was between 7 and 8, apart from Kosovo where respondents agreed with the statement with a mean of 6.3. The survey also suggested that people in the Western Balkan region generally believe that losing or failing to acquire a job because of political party affiliation was widespread (the lowest mean was in Kosovo, at 6.2, and the highest in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at 7.2).  Although the depoliticisation of public administration prior to EU integration is high on the agenda in each of the Western Balkan countries (see European Commission 2018: 5), these findings indicate an excessive and persistent reliance of political parties on patronage appointments across the region.