Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.20901/pm.63.1.05
INEQUALITY AND ELECTORAL CLEAVAGES IN CROATIA, 1990–2020
Velibor Mačkić
orcid.org/0000-0002-3200-8571
; Faculty of Economics & Business, University of Zagreb
Filip Novokmet
orcid.org/0000-0001-9352-0344
; Faculty of Economics & Business, University of Zagreb
Filip Rusmir
; Faculty of Economics & Business, University of Zagreb
Abstract
Based on harmonized election polls, the paper analyses the evolution of political cleavages in Croatia from 1990 to 2020. It is found that the educational cleavage has remained stable over the observed period: highly educated voters are more likely to vote for the Center Left, and less educated voters for the HDZ. For the first time, an income pattern of support is found according to which the winners of the transformation process are more likely to vote for the Centre Left. Since the 2000 elections, which represent a point of discontinuity, a more pronounced positive income pattern of support for the Center Left has been recorded, while voters with lower incomes are increasingly inclined to abstain from voting. In the theoretical framework of the two-dimensional political space, it is shown that the dominance of the cultural-identity dimension based on the educational cleavage has contributed to the “obscuration” of economic conflict in political competition. Despite growing inequality, the economic cleavage remains non-politicized. The findings point to the restructuring of the political space in Croatia and the need for further research into the mechanisms that shape the transformation of political cleavages.
Keywords
Political Economy; Inequality; Cleavages; Polls; Left
Hrčak ID:
347125
URI
Publication date:
12.5.2026.
Visits: 789 *