ESSAYS AND STUDIES
THE ROLE OF THE OMBUDSMAN IN STRENGTHENING HORIZONTAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF SERBIA
Abstract
The author in this paper starts from the paradigm that
in most of young democracies, especially in the postcommunist
part of Europe, there is a pronounced
domination of the executive authority in relations with
the legislative and judicial branch of government, which
jeopardizes the chances for a successful democratic
development. In such a distribution of political power
there is a deficit of horizontal accountability, and
searching for new institutions that will solve this
systemic problem has led to development of new forms
of controlling the work of public authorities, with the
help of independent bodies, such as the Ombudsman.
By analyzing the role of the Ombudsman in the
process of strengthening horizontal accountability in the
political system of Serbia, mutual relations realized in
practice between the Ombudsman and public authorities
are determined more closely. Based on empirical data
and individual cases that this independent control
body has led, the author points out the importance
of this independent control body in the process of
democratization of the political system in Serbia.
The aim of the paper is to draw conclusions
based on theoretical observation and empirical analysis
of individual cases that the Protector of Citizens has
led in the past period. These conclusions in the form of
recommendations would further improve the work of the
Protector of Citizens, thereby encouraging strengthening
horizontal accountability within the political system,
which would implicitly lead to better democratization
of the political system in Serbia.
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