EXPLAINING PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR THE LAW ON THE USE OF LANGUAGES IN MACEDONIA

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Josipa Rizankoska
Jasmina Trajkoska

Abstract

This article aims to explain citizens’ support for the Law on the Use of Languages (LUL) through their demographic characteristics, political participation, party affiliation, and ethnic belonging. We base this article on an empirical ordered logistic regression model using an original database of 669 Macedonian respondents. We compare the support of the Macedonian public for the LUL with the support for the general idea of promotion of the use of the languages of the non-majority ethnic communities in Macedonia. We argue that both the support for the promotion of minority languages in Macedonia, as well as the support for this concrete Law, depends mainly on citizens’ ethnicity and party affiliation. We find statistically significant opposition for the LUL among the ethnic Macedonians, the (Macedonian / mainstream) opposition parties, the participants in the so-called ‘For a Shared Macedonia’ initiative, and those whose mother tongue is a minority language other than the Albanian.

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How to Cite
Rizankoska, Josipa, and Jasmina Trajkoska. 2020. “EXPLAINING PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR THE LAW ON THE USE OF LANGUAGES IN MACEDONIA”. Journal of Liberty and International Affairs 5 (1):9-30. https://e-jlia.com/index.php/jlia/article/view/138.
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Articles
Author Biographies

Josipa Rizankoska, DIALOGUE – Center for Deliberative Democracy – Prilep, North Macedonia

Josipa Rizankoska holds a Ph.D. in Political Science, Comparative and European Politics from Siena University (CIRCaP). She defended her dissertation in the field of ethno-regionalist parties in Central and Eastern Europe in May 2017. In the fall semester of 2013/2014 she was a visiting doctoral student in the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She holds an MA degree in Eastern European Research and Study (MIREES) from Bologna University. Since August 2016 Josipa is the President of DIALOGUE- Center for Deliberative Democracy in Prilep, Macedonia. From 2007 to 2012 she worked as a Researcher and a Project Manager at the Institute for Democracy 'SocietasCivilis'- Skopje. Her main topics of research interest are ethno-regionalism and nationalism, multiculturalism, political parties and elections, public opinion, civil society and social movements, and her area of expertise is Central and Eastern Europe.

Jasmina Trajkoska, FON University - Skopje, North Macedonia

Jasmina Trajkoska is an Associate Professor at FON University in Skopje. She ended her Ph.D. studies in 2016 at "Ss. Cyril and Methodius University", on topic 'Inter-ethnic conflicts in the EU and their economic consequences'. Since 2010, she holds an MA degree from FON University-Skopje on topic 'The diplomatic methods in inter-ethnic conflicts reconciliation in the Former Yugoslav Federation.' Since 2016 she is the Vice-president of the Macedonian Political Science Association. She is Project Manager and a Researcher in the DIALOGUE- Center for Deliberative Democracy in Prilep. Her main research topics are comparative political systems, civic society, deliberative democracy, inter-ethnic conflicts and peace building processes.