Anticorruption as a Shaper of the Party Scene in Post-2012 Serbia

The paper examines anticorruption as an electoral mobiliser in post-2012 Serbia, which has crucially shaped the political scene of the country. It focuses on the power aggrandisement cycle of the current ruling regime of Aleksandar Vučić, beginning with its high-profile anticorruption campaign initiated in the early days of the regime. While this paved the way for Vučić’s unprecedented rise and concentration of power, it simultaneously opened a significant corruption space for the newly established political elite, as all major institutional and stakeholder checks became suppressed or dismantled through the regime’s autocratic drive. Yet, as perceptions proliferated over time that the new poltiical elite is mired in corruption, a major wave of anti-regime mobilisation erupted, driven by anticorruption sentiments towards the now consolidated and autocratic regime.
 Retracing these developments, the paper explores the connection between popular support and anticorruption sentiments and how these shape the party scene in Serbia, proposing a circular model. This model is centered around the division into two broad electoral bases, whose activity and sentiment towards the two poles of the political spectrum rise and fall over time, depending on the phase the regime is in. The resulting framework suggests a cyclical model where two major halves within the electorate alternate over time in their level of engagement concerning anticorruption issues. This alternation influences the public agenda and the political platforms of key actors in both the government and the opposition.