Croatia: breaking fragile trust

Book section : Chapter

Croatia’s proximity to hard-hit Italy and considerable issues affecting its health system (including the emigration of medical personnel) were among the factors that warranted a firm government response at the beginning of the crisis. In spite of these challenges, Croatia managed to contain the infection in spring 2020, but reopening to facilitate tourism has led to a spike in cases in early summer and very high infection rates in the autumn–winter. This chapter traces the perceived politicisation of the handling of the crisis and explains how this led to a breakdown of citizens’ trust in government. The perception that the lifting of restrictions was linked to early parliamentary elections—won resoundingly by the ruling party—and aimed at capitalising the good early handling of the crisis led to lower trust in government. This was later deepened by scandals concerning the flouting of rules by political and business elites. From a bottom-up perspective, the persistent cultural phenomenon of rejecting the authority of institutions, as well as the perception of the government as a “puppet” of big capital, underpinned a shift in the understanding of political agency and democratic participation.

Authors: Prelec, T; Bojanić, S

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Host title: Governments' Responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic in Europe: Navigating the Perfect Storm
• Pages: 183-194
• Place of publication: Cham, Switzerland
• Publication date: 2022-12-02
• Edition: 1st
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-14145-4_16
• ISBN-10: 9783031141454
• ISBN-13: 9783031141447
• Language: English
• Subtype: Chapter