Social Interests, Policy Networks, and Legislative Outcomes: The Role of Policy Networks in Shaping Welfare and Employment Policies in Serbia

Abstract

The article analyzes how various societal interests and groups influenced employment and social policies in contemporary Serbia. These policies were shaped under the influence of international actors and current mainstream ideas. However, various societal interests and interest groups have affected them. Using policy network analysis, we identified key actors, their interests and ideological preferences, and the influence they exerted on the employment and welfare policies. The research indicates that the potential for the redistribution of power and resources is a trigger for establishing policy networks. In the field of social welfare we identify a stable policy network connecting various professional groups (from the public sector, academia, and the nongovernmental sector). There was a lack of other social interests in the debate, that is, welfare beneficiaries or civil society pressures that would influence policy process. The policy network was thereby primarily based on clearly identified interests of professional groups, and new welfare policies redefined and improved their professional and social status. In the field of employment policies, there was a lack of societal interests and organized interests groups that would influence policy process and outcomes. No policy network was identified, and obviously key actors in shaping of employment and labor policies (i.e., economic elites) were not even among the direct participants in the process. During the course of the policy reforms, direct and specific redistributive interests of groups that could have benefited from the new policies had mediated various policy inputs and at the end prevailed over the broader ideological frameworks.