December 2006
‘A small country with 2 million very pro-active inhabitants.’ That was the first impression Politeia partners got, when they paid a study visit to Slovenia in November 2006.
This study week completed a series of seminars under the title “European Exchange of Good Practises in the Field of Participation and Citizenship of Underrepresented Groups” financed by the Dutch Ministry of Interior.
In its function as host, the Politeia partner Youth Centre of Dravinja Valley, presented various examples of citizens’ participation in nowadays Slovenia. The participation of youth and women were included in the seminars agenda just as the representation of minorities in the young Slovenian democracy.
The examples presented were impressive: the Politeia representatives learnt that Slovenia possesses a very strong and independent youth community, thanks to a unique way of financing youth organisations with special taxes. Also the participation of women in Slovenian politics received special attention through the introduction of a 20% women’s quota implemented for the first time in June 2006.
Also more general issues were raised during the visits to various political and social institutions, for example, the “inflation of referenda” in the early years after Slovenians independence.
With the presentation of the successful “100 km protest walk” against gas terminals in the Mediterranean Sea, which was organised by civic groups in summer 2006, a quite unorthodox method of citizen’s participation was analysed.
Even though Slovenia today looks like a young democracy per excellence, critical topics were included in the programme as well. Surprising to the visitors was the case of the so called “erased citizens”. Some 18.000 citizens of Slovenia (originating from other republics of the former Yugoslavia) were during the xenophobic aftermath in the early days after the Slovenian independence erased from the register of residence. By that act these people lost fundamental civic rights, some of them are still fighting for them today, even though this erasure was declared anti-constitutional by the Slovenian constitutional court years ago.
The organisers were caught by harsh reality as well, when a meeting with representatives of the Roma community had to be cancelled, because of serious confrontations arising between the Roma and the Slovenians in some municipalities just before the study visit.
The final statement of the Politeia study visitors, however, remained positive: especially in the area of youth and minority participation Slovenia has to offer good practices to the rest of Europe.
Tatjana Meijvogel-Volk, IPP, Dutch Centre for Political Participation