ELECTORAL PROCESS FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN BULGARIA: PATRON-CLIENTELISTIC RELATIONS, KINSHIP NETWORKS AND IMITATION OF DEMOCRACY

Abstract

Bulgaria is among the countries of the former communist bloc, which after its collapse are making an accelerated vertical attempt to demo- cratization and economic liberalization in order to be gradually inte- grated into the structures of the European Union. Through the method of participatory observation this article reveals the logic and specifics of the electoral process in a small municipality in Bulgaria and in par- ticular the shortcomings in the functioning of local democracy in all its aspects: election commissions, political participants, and voters’ beha- viour. The conclusions reached in the article are that on a superficial level there is only an imitation of democracy, skilfully undermined by the well-established networks of kinship and patron-clientelistic depen- dencies. Their parasitism on the public resource destroys the social fra- me and makes the process of democratization practically incomplete in an endless period of time.