"A large part of Bulgarian citizens say - this political elite does not protect our interest, which is why we refuse to we legitimize it. It's not simple – I'm bored, or because it's the sixth election in a row, I won't vote. "All are mascaras" is a cliché. Behind "All are mascaras" multiple factors lie – that I do not live better, despite all the declarations and promises, the discrepancy between the preliminary requests of the political elite and the subsequent actions."
This is what the sociologist Stefan Georgiev said in an interview with BNR. He is one of the authors of the study "Unrepresentative Democracy", together with Petar Bankov and Stanislav Dodov. The research is supported by the "Friedrich Ebert" foundation.
In our publicity, not so much is said about representation in the political process. The narrower focus is who voted, Georgiev pointed out.
By election day, the discourse is usually reduced to what is desired, and after election day – to the possible, which leads to another portion of disappointment, added the sociologist quoted by BNR.
"It is about an absolutely critical attitude towards the way in which politics is produced in our country and, above all, the results of this policy."
Georgiev drew attention to those voting for a small formation that does not cross the 4% barrier, which makes them automatically unrepresented. Over the years, this share has varied – from 25% to 7%. Usually, when there is a new political actor or a formation that succeeds in mobilizing for the first time and has mobilization potential, then the dispersion among the smaller formations decreases, he specified.
Since the appearance of the box "I do not support anyone" an upward trend has been observed so far – the number of people who are going to indicate exactly this is growing, the sociologist pointed out, recalling that in the last parliamentary elections, 109,000 people chose this option.
"This is not selective passivity and refusal to participate in the political process. This is a purposeful political act of a considerable part of the Bulgarian voters."
Another group is that of the nominally represented, who vote for those entering the parliament, but do not really feel represented, reports Stefan Georgiev, who refers to research data.
"Certainly the issue of legitimacy is one of the most serious, one of the most painful."
Unwittingly, we begin to equate one or another ethnic group with a bought and controlled vote. One or another category of society is more susceptible to vote buying. Perhaps this is related to extreme poverty, and not to ethnic identification, commented Stefan Georgiev in the show "Nedelya 150".
Regarding the demographic profile, he noted that, contrary to popular beliefs, the oldest part of the population is less represented in the National Assembly compared to the share of people of active age.
"Rather, people of active age and in larger cities are better represented than people in small towns and villages."
Georgiev summarized that a large part of non-voters believe that politicians do not work for their welfare.
"A very large part of our population, especially the lower income groups in the smaller settlements, do not recognize the benefit of the way politics happens in our country. Therefore, much more often such people say – I prefer not to legitimize this political elite that is playing against my interest."