Relationship Between Citizen and State in the Countries of Former Yugoslavia: Interdisciplinary Investigations

Abstract

The relationship between citizens and the state has intrigued scholars for centuries. This research proposes a new approach to investigating this interaction: the Bipolar Theory Framework. The Framework presupposes that citizens live between two clusters of elements, grouped in the Positive and the Negative pole, which exert diametrically opposite influences on their political loyalty. The Positive Pole acts to foster feelings of loyalty and is based on factors rooted in shared heritage. These elements include shared ethnicity, territory, religion, and symbols. On the other hand, the Negative Pole primarily comprises elements pertaining to the socio-economic and political environment and works in the opposite direction. The elements presented here are political corruption, low SES, and poor quality of public services. The final question that this Framework aims to address is which of these poles has a greater impact on citizens when they make the decision to emigrate from their state. This is presented under the presumption that emigration is the highest act of disloyalty a citizen can commit in times of peace and war alike. However, in order to get there, this thesis followed a carefully developed structure that addressed multiple hypotheses. The first task was to prove the effect of the listed...