Srdjan Cvijic

The aim of this research is to focus on the question of trust as the basis of a social contract between the ruler and the ruled in a democratic polity. To do this, the study focuses on the example of the democratic transition of Serbia from 5 October 2000 until the COVID-19 pandemic, to demonstrate how the inability of the post-authoritarian governments to build a relationship of confidence with their citizens has had a detrimental impact on the success of the country’s democratic experiment.