Political Transformations: Welfare states in transition. Montenegro: A long drive down a tough road

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of the context of political of transition in Montenegro on the country’s social policy. Two decades of power struggles between the Montenegrin political elites have overshadowed the consolidation of political parties. Consequently, social issues were ad hoc parts the political parties’ agendas, while social values took a detour due to the shadow economy created during the wartime years in the former Yugoslavia. The effect of such a general political environment essentially disallowed Montenegro to move towards a new model of welfare capitalism. Rather, the perpetual remoulding of Montenegrin social policies has generated a hybrid model that seeks to integrate the legacies of the socialist system into the new model of welfare capitalism. Although such models are not uncommon in the transitional countries, it is likely that Montenegro will soon need to recalibrate its welfare model. Thus, in order to be able to adjust to the endogenous and exogenous market forces in light of its aspiration to join the European Union (EU), Montenegro will have to abandon the inherent logic behind its social policy, which largely reflects short-term political interests.