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Thirty years after Bulgaria's democratic breakthrough, this book provides a "balance sheet" of the country's democratic institutions through a number of interdisciplinary contributions. The volume is organized around three themes-democratic institutions, civil society, and European Union (EU) processes-and examines such topics such as voting, political parties, populism, media, civil society organizations, identity, and the rule of law. While the contributors argue that Bulgaria's democracy is successful in terms of the procedural norms of democracy, civic participation, and compliance with EU rules, they also identify serious problem areas. Bulgaria's democratic institutions struggle with obstacles such as populist Euroscepticism, political elitism, corruption, and a lack of political accountability, though this volume fully acknowledges the historical development of Bulgarian democracy, including its achievements and continuing setbacks.
List of contents
Chapter One: Thirty Years of Bulgarian Democracy: Lessons (Partly) Learned
Petia Kostadinova
Part I: The National Electoral Process
Chapter Two: Direct Democracy and Electoral System Reform
Tanya Bagashka
Chapter Three: Preferential Voting and Party Loyalty: How Bulgarian Voters Respond to Parties' Choices
Tatiana Kostadinova
Chapter Four: Representation Trends in Pledge Making: Do Election Promises Reflect Distinctions between Political Parties in Bulgaria?
Petia Kostadinova
Chapter Five: State Capture: A Crippling Political Affliction and the Search for Antidotes
Stoycho P. Stoychev
Part II: Civil Society
Chapter Six: Bulgarian Populist Nationalism on Digital Steroids: The Case of Siderov's Ataka Party
Elza Ibroscheva and Maria Stover
Chapter Seven: The Permutations of Bulgarian Citizens and Migration Post-1989
Maria Stoilkova
Chapter Eight: Digital Media and the Thinning Out of Civic Activism: Empowerment/Disempowerment of the Savvy Few
Maria Bakardjieva and Kjell Engelbrekt
Part III: The European Context
Chapter Nine: The Role of Civil Society in EU Policy Implementation in Bulgaria
Asya Zhelyazkova and Reini Schrama
Chapter Ten: When Anti-establishment and Euroscepticism Converge: Bulgarian Party Politics 2001-2019
Dragomir Stoyanov and Plamen Ralchev
Chapter Eleven: The Post-Communist Judiciary: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Maria Popova
Chapter Twelve: Concluding Thoughts
Kjell Engelbrekt
About the author
Edited by Kjell Engelbrekt and Petia Kostadinova - Contributions by Tanya Bagashka; Maria Bakardjieva; Kjell Engelbrekt; Elza Ibroscheva; Petia Kostadinova; Tatiana Kostadinova; Maria Popova; Plamen Ralchev; Reini Schrama; Maria Stoilkova; Maria Stover; D
Summary
This collection analyzes the state of democratic institutions and civil society in Bulgaria. The contributors argue that despite the country’s high level of civic participation, there remain significant obstacles to its full democratic development, such as corruption, political illegitimacy, populism, and weak judicial oversight.
