MCC Votes & Seats Podcast by Mathias Corvinus Collegium, Budapest

Talking about the constant political crisis, our guest commentator, Dr. Katia Mihailova from the University of National and World Economy lays it down to us that Bulgaria needs new ethics to overcome the 4 year-long political agony in the country. Looking at the election results, the political sociologist calls our attention to the unequivocal decline of the socialist and neoliberal parties in Bulgaria. This marks the downcome of the citizens’ illusions too.

Dr. Mihailova explains that in exchange, parties with clear identities managed to increase their electorate (e.g. the ethnic Turkish DPS party or the anti-establishment ITN movement). The associate professor also stresses that the proportion of the nationalist electorate has reached the share of the pro-EU, pro-NATO voter base in Bulgaria. This should be seen as a warning, the analyst comments. As for the record low turnout, according to Dr. Mihailova, the silence of voters is another flagrant exclamation mark showing that the moral, the social, and the emotional relationship between political parties and the Bulgarian citizens is broken for good. That connection has to be rebuilt in order to put an end to the constant political apathy. The way out of the crisis will not come from abroad but must be found in Bulgaria, the expert concludes. For further mind-blowing facts and interesting theories, give a listen to our podcast on the 2024 Bulgarian snap parliamentary election.

Katia Mihailova Associate Professor (UNWE Department of Economic Sociology)

Bálint L. Tóth Researcher (MCC Center for Political Science)