ABSTRACT
Introduction The key idiosyncrasies of the development of the party system in Slovenia up to 2004 were gradualism, a lack of any clear-cut ideological shifts or electoral engineering, as well as a combination of ideological polarization with broad governmental coalition-building with the same party in the centre for most of the 1990-2004 period. To understand the idiosyncratic party system developments in Slovenia a historical sequencing of the transition to a democracy – identifying the periods of the liberalization, transition and consolidation of democracy (e.g. Dahl 1971, Linz 1990, Huntington 1991) – is very important. The liberalization and transition stages took place when Slovenia was still part of former socialist Yugoslavia. Especially when Slovenia is compared to party system developments in other states emerging from the territory of former Yugoslavia, it serves as an example supporting the theory that a continuous, consensual and less violent transition ensures better circumstances for the consolidation of democracy (e.g. Dahl 1971, Huntington 1991) and that transplacement (a mix of transformation and replacement) is most supportive of democratic consolidation (Huntington 1991). In addition, it also supports expectations that gradual and moderate long-term transformation supports the success of transformed old political organisations. The key difference between transformation and replacement is the stage of liberalization. At this stage the ruling party of the old regime still has the ruling position but it tolerates the opposition. In circumstances where the opposition is strong enough, the ruling party also negotiates with it. In the liberalization stage a peaceful transition to a democracy is prepared. While the ruling party appeases the political opposition it also adapts to the pluralist circumstances. The Slovenian experiences are in line with Golosov’s (1996) estimation that this kind of (re)creation of party systems is partially formed under the influence of communist rules and partly according to democratic rules. But, as Cotta (1994) stresses, a continuous transition to a democracy is both a challenge and opportunity for the ruling party from an undemocratic regime and its survival in the new democratic
system for the following reasons: a) at least to some extent the circumstances described allow the ruling party to control events; and b) it ensures the most favourable opportunities for the possible survival of such a party (due to its vital interests it has to continuously adapt to the changing circumstances). But the success or failure of a certain party cannot be fully understood without taking into account the characteristics of party competition (Sartori 1976): first, the relationships between political parties in the party system and, second, the characteristics of how the party system functions. In this article we analyse the Slovenian party system development from two angles: (1) which cluster of parties (old / new; centre-left / centre-right) and which individual parties have been the most successful in the continuous transition to a democracy; and (2) how the cleavages between the liberal and conservative clusters of parties have been expressed and politically managed. It could be said that the cluster of the reformed old and centre-left political organizations has benefited from the idiosyncratic gradual transition to a democracy as well as from its consolidation right up until the 2004 parliamentary elections. New and predominantly centre-right parties have been consolidated with a time lag. It was not possible before the 2004 elections for the centre-right ruling coalition to become a realistic alternative. It seems that the 2004 parliamentary elections have started a new period in the development of the Slovenian party system. Two Clusters of Parties (Dis-)Continuities in the Transition to Democracy Party development started gradually in Slovenia in 1988. In the liberalization stage, oppositional proto parties developed within what was still formally a oneparty system. The legal space for oppositional movements and parties was first partially given by the League of Socialist Youth of Slovenia (represented in the Socio-political Chamber of the Socialist Assembly) and, with a time lag, partly within the Socialist League of Working People. We can only talk about democratization when political pluralism was legalised. Multipartism was first legally guaranteed by amendments to the old Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia adopted in September 1989 and later by the Law on Political Association adopted in December 1989 by the old assembly – while federal Yugoslavia still had a one-party system. Since there was no agreement on the transition to a democracy, the Yugoslav democratization project became a national project which was carefully prepared to proceed in a legal way. Slovenian independence (declared in June 1991, like Croatia’s independence) enabled the creation of a democratic polity (the Constitution establishing the new political system was adopted in December 1991). Multipartism flourished in these liberalised circumstances and also later on the basis of pluralist legal norms. The first free elections in spring 1990 helped spread
the first multiparty system. Transition in the narrow meaning involved a very short period of practical change in the political system: preparation and the holding of the first free elections, adoption of the new Constitution by the new multiparty assembly in December 1991 and the holding of elections to democratically ‘flesh out’ the new political institutions. In Slovenia this stage lasted from autumn 1989 to December 1992. The consolidation stage is still going on, although 2004 could be understood as a milestone in the maturing of the party system. Organizational Advantages of the Old Cluster of Parties over the New The flourishing of many new political organizations, typical of the transition to a democracy (Dahl 1971), took place in Slovenia in the period from 1989 to 1992. While in the old political system only five political organizations were allowed and had a formally defined number of seats in the socio-political Chamber of the Slovenian Assembly, the number of registered political organizations, after the legalization of political pluralism, had reached 124 by 31 December 1993. Election results together with the effects of a new law on political parties 1994 brought about normalization – a relatively sharp decline in that number. By 2003, on the basis of the 1994 law the number of newly registered or re-registered (previously) legal political parties had grown to 38. Most of these parties are minor nonparliamentary parties, which are not visible in public life. Many of these do not have much of a public profile. Given the legal provision that a political party should be erased from the register in the event it does not compete in two consecutive elections, at least some of them can be taken off the list while a few parties established before the 2004 election have still not been added to the published list. In the first two stages political parties developed from various social movements and organizational roots. By 2004 the predominant cluster of parties had developed from the reformed old socio-political organizations. The successful ones were the League of Socialist Youth of Slovenia and the League of Communists of Slovenia, while the reformed Socialist League of Working People soon disappeared from the party arena. New political parties developed out of a variety of organizational sources, such as: (1) new social movements (such as the Greens of Slovenia); (2) social opposition to the old regime – such as the Society of Slovenian Writers; the group around Nova revija – New Journal (proto parties such as the League of Intellectuals which was later renamed the Slovenian Democratic League); (3) mobilization of new social groups – farmers, craftsmen (new parties that at least initially presented themselves as ‘class’ parties); (4) political organizations of previously apolitical social groups such as pensioners (pensioners’ parties); (5) political expressions of regional interests (such as the League for Haloze; the Party of the Slovenian Štajerska; the League for Primorska);
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1 political parties at the national level (national parties). 2 local organizational units of national political parties. 3 pro-Yugoslav parties or organizational units of parties with their central party offices in other republics of the socialist Yugoslavia. 4 associate organizations of national parties (youth, women’s organisations). 5 societies, social organizations, trade unions. 6 social movements. Socio-political organizations are as defined in the 1974 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia; political organizations are organizations registered on the basis of the 1989 Law on Political Association.
