Voting preferences of the transitional losers: A perspective from Serbia

Economic crises create specific social conditions that affect voter preferences and behaviors. The Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2008 spilled over to Serbia a year later, causing a major shock to the fragile Serbian economy, already burdened by wars and international isolation of the 1990s, along with inequalities and uncertainties caused by the late transition. Subsequent elections brought the collapse of the post-2000 political consensus, with many liberal and social democratic parties never recovering and moreover the party system being dominated by the populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) from there on. Main hypothesis of this manuscript stipulates that the 2008 crisis cemented the pool of transitional losers composed of low skilled workers, unemployed, low educated, rural, and elderly populations, providing continuous support for the SNS ever since. Authors will examine whether their socioeconomic status still replicates to the SNS votes, even though the party has been in power for almost 12 years. This would mean that the old economic traumas are still relevant for directing the voter preferences. Authors will employ the findings from the nationwide public opinion surveys