IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/poango/v13y2025a10041.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Too Far to Reach? Explaining Low Croatian Participation in the European Citizens' Initiative

Author

Listed:
  • Igor Vidačak

    (Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia)

  • Mario Munta

    (Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia)

  • Ana Matan

    (Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia)

Abstract

This article explores the dynamics of Croatian citizen participation in the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), with a particular focus on explaining the notably low level of engagement since Croatia’s accession to the EU in 2013. The study establishes a quantitative baseline of Croatian involvement in ECIs and presents qualitative insights from focus group discussions with students of political science, journalism, and European studies, as well as interviews with CSOs who have participated in ECIs. By combining these methods, the article identifies key barriers and opportunities for increasing Croatian engagement in ECIs. The analysis seeks to understand why Croatian citizens participate significantly less in ECIs compared to broader EU trends. The findings point to a lack of awareness, perceived ineffectiveness, and procedural complexity as major obstacles, while strong CSOs’ involvement and targeted communication strategies emerge as critical factors for improving participation. This research contributes to the broader discourse on participatory democracy in the EU by addressing the challenges faced by newer member states such as Croatia.

Suggested Citation

  • Igor Vidačak & Mario Munta & Ana Matan, 2025. "Too Far to Reach? Explaining Low Croatian Participation in the European Citizens' Initiative," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 13.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:10041
    DOI: 10.17645/pag.10041
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/10041
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/pag.10041?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v13:y:2025:a:10041. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.