AbstractsPolitical Science

The aim of this paper is to examine Serbia’s democratic consolidation in the judiciary and public and state administration, as well as the  role of European Union and EU conditionality in this process. This paper discusses the democratic consolidation in the judiciary and public and state administration of Serbia between the years 2000 and 2010, the role of the EU in this process, and the effects of EU conditionality in these two areas. The theories applied are Linz’s theory of inter-relating arenas of consolidated democracies, and Whitehead’s international dimensions of democratisation. This paper is based on the method of qualitative study and through extensive reading and research, it has come to the conclusion that the judiciary and public and state administration between 2000 and 2010 have seen some improvement. However, democratic progress has been very slow due to remains from Slobodan Milosevic’s regime and communism. The EU, as one of the major actors in the region, has through various projects, agreements, cooperation, and conditionality, brought about improvements in the judiciary and public and state administration. Yet, EU involvement and conditionality have not had great democratic effects; they have been significantly slowed down by inefficiency, low professionalism and corruption.