“Yes to Democracy, But This Is Not What We Had in Mind!”: Satisfaction with Democracy Among Post-Yugoslav Youth in the 2008–2018 Period

Concerns about the “crisis of democracy” in late modern societies are driven by observable trends in citizens’ attitudes and behaviors (Crozier et al., 1975; Bromley et al., 2004; Macedo et al., 2005; Petring & Merkel, 2012; Wagenaar, 2015). Citizen participation—activities by which citizens exercise their influence on decisions affecting life in their political community (Kaase & Marsh, 1979; Macedo et al., 2005; Zukin et al., 2006)—has been declining since the last several decades. This decline encompasses voter turnout, party membership, and membership in voluntary organizations, as evidenced by numerous studies (Abramson & Aldrich, 1982; Katz et al., 1992; Rosenstone & Hansen, 1993; Putnam, 1995, 2000; Wattenberg, 1998; Gray & Caul, 2000; Macedo et al., 2005; Dalton, 2006; Scarrow, 2007; Blais, 2007; Kostelka & Blais, 2021; Cameron, 2021). The decline in citizen participation correlates with citizens’ diminishing trust in key democratic institutions, including decreasing levels of citizens’ attachment to political parties (Schmitt & Holmberg, 1995; Dassonneville, 2022), declining trust in politicians (Holmberg, 1999; Dalton, 2017), and in state institutions (Crozier et al., 1975; Listhaug & Wiberg, 1995; Citrin & Stoker, 2018; Brady & Kent, 2022). The ongoing decline in both citizen participation and trust in democratic institutions is a concerning trend that threatens the foundational principles of democratic societies, warranting further investigation.