Informal Practices of Capturing Economic Resources by Political Elites: Exploring Party Patronage in Kosovo and Serbia

Cvejić, Slobodan and Babović, Marija and Pešić, Jelena and Stanojević, Dragan and Gundogan, Dragana and Hoxha, Adnan and Milovanović, Dina and Buzhala, Yllka (2015) Informal Practices of Capturing Economic Resources by Political Elites: Exploring Party Patronage in Kosovo and Serbia. [Study]

Study description

Informality represents an important feature of post-socialist societies. Informal and personal networks that predate from the socialist period are an important legacy for development of democratic systems and market economy in former socialist countries. Particularly in the context of weak and blurred institutional and normative framework, individuals tend to rely more on informal institutions and practices. Because of that, patterns of clientelism and question of the ‘culture of informality’ are important for understanding of contemporary trajectories in political and economic subsystems of former socialist societies. The general aim of the research was to identify main forms, determinants and social effects of informal norms, relations and practices through which political elite captured economic resources in Kosovo* and Serbia. It serves the identification of mechanisms regulating the reproduction of social inequalities as well as the access of various groups to crucial resources. The study helps pinning down the patterns of social justice and social conflicts and shall uncover overall prospects for development of welfare policies.

Keywords:	clientelism, institutions, informality, political patronage, informal power networks, political elite, economic elite, informal practices
Depositing User:	Jelena Banovic
Date Deposited:	22 Oct 2019 12:40
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2019 12:40
URI:	http://dcs.ien.bg.ac.rs/id/eprint/56
Additional details Additional details Creators: Creators Email Cvejić, Slobodan UNSPECIFIED Babović, Marija UNSPECIFIED Pešić, Jelena UNSPECIFIED Stanojević, Dragan UNSPECIFIED Gundogan, Dragana UNSPECIFIED Hoxha, Adnan UNSPECIFIED Milovanović, Dina UNSPECIFIED Buzhala, Yllka UNSPECIFIED Type of data: no data Study period: From To 1 July 2014 30 November 2015 Temporal coverage: From To 2000 2015 Date: 26 August 2015 Geographic coverage: Serbia and Kosovo* Study method: In order to identify, describe and explore the informal practices of capturing economic resources by political elite, qualitative research design have been chosen. The research goal was thus accomplished in two steps: 1. Analytical reviewing of relevant literature and data sources with the aim of recognizing: a) trends in relations between economic and political elite over the last 20 years; b) current state-of-art research and analysis; The research relied heavily on social science journals and books in order to grasp a better understanding on the historical legacies and changes in the social context of the two societies. 2. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews with three groups of respondents: a) In politics –people occupying high positions in public administration, influential people in political parties (on the national and local level); b) In economy –executives/managers in private companies (small, middle and big enterprises). c) In the area of expertise –specialists and experts; In order to ensure historical relevance of the collected data the interviews were conducted with both current and former power holders. Also, we took consideration of representation of women and ethnic minorities. Resource language: English Metadata language: English Publisher: UK Data Archive Copyright holders: RRPP Contact email address: scvejic65@gmail.com Last Modified: 22 Oct 2019 12:40