Power Preservation, No Matter the Means

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6180695
AutoresVladimir Vučković (0000-0003-2733-8389, Masaryk University), Branislav Radeljić (0000-0002-0497-3470, Universidad Nebrija), Vladimir Đorđević (0000-0001-9273-9643, Police Academy of the Czech Republic in Prague)
Ano2025
Volume58
Fascículo4
Páginas1-23
Data de publicação2025-01-20
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCommunist and Post-Communist Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0967-067X • E-ISSN: 1873-6920
EditoraUniversity of California Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1525/cpcs.2025.2458747
OpenAlexW4406717027
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas5
Referências citadas45

This article examines the Serbian political leadership—the president and government alike—by addressing the dominant political figures’ narratives. We communicate with the theoretical aspects in the study of populism and conspiracy theories as this nexus enables us to examine the specific nature of the domestic politics in Serbia. In our view, the ruling elite complements its populist discourse with conspiracy theory to ensure its survival in power, by regularly generating fear about the threat posed to Serbian statehood and lack of apprehension for Belgrade’s geopolitical preferences and exploration of foreign policy alternatives. Our analysis fills a major gap in the literature, since there has been only sporadic research on this topic and none of it has focused on the merger of populism and conspiracy theory. The findings we have reached—largely those of the elite’s self-victimization narratives and their dissemination of anti-Western sentiments—provide for a fresh contribution to the debate concerning the power struggle and the state of democracy in Serbia, especially given the fact that the key political stakeholders draw heavily on pro-regime media outlets to readily disseminate their self-serving accounts

Physics · Thermodynamics · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · Environmental Science · European Politics and Security · Populism, Right-Wing Movements