The Uncertain Future of Slovenian Exceptionalism

Abstract

The political-economy literature has so far almost unanimously regarded Slovenia as the social-democratic exception in Central and Eastern Europe, due to a combination of highly consensual democratic institutions, low party polarization, strong social partners, and developed social dialogue. However, the situation, since the fall of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS), which governed in 1992–2004, seems to be swiftly changing. Polarization has increased, union legitimacy declined, and social dialogue—especially in the aftermath of the 2007–2009 financial crisis—has all but collapsed. The 2010 pension reform is an archetypical example of how Slovenia now much more resembles its quarrelsome Eastern neighbours than the idealized exception that political scientists usually point at.