Constructing the Political Potential of the Retired Segments of Society

Abstract

The paper represents an attempt to address the issue of ways in which the political potential of the retired population is constructed. This process can be divided into two distinct periods. The first started with the introduction of the multiparty system, when the political potential of pensioners was imbedded into the activities of the Socialist Party of Serbia which had been in power at the time. This indicates the failure of political parties of pensioners to construct the issue of retirees as a political, or broader social issue. The second period is characterized by the loss of influence of the SPS after the political changes of 2000, after which the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS) was formed, in 2005, as an independent political organization. This party, finally, succeeded in constructing the political potential of pensioners as a resource, but it did so with the help of coalition partners among which the regenerated SPS is a major one, a fact which means that the process of construction continues relentlessly. The construed resource, for the political activities of the party as well as for the oldest part of society or pensioners as potential voters, is one of the major indicators of old age as a social issue in the “arena” it shares with other social issues.