Възход и падение на орехът

The case study examines the trajectory of the Croatian Green party ORaH, which peaked at 16.8% approval in 2014 before collapsing to 0.6% after the 2016 elections. The author attributes this failure to a combination of strategic errors—such as supporting a candidate perceived as a satellite of the SDP—and internal structural weaknesses, including a lack of political experience among 80% of its members and an 'elitist' communication style. The text concludes that future Green success in Croatia requires a bottom-up organizational approach and stronger knowledge transfer from Western Green organizations.

• ORaH experienced a dramatic shift in public support, rising to a peak of 16.8% approval by October 2014, only to fall to 0.6% following the 2016 parliamentary elections.
• The party's initial success was driven by general dissatisfaction with the government of Zoran Milanović and the unpopularity of the HDZ leader Tomislav Karaiko, combined with the personal charisma of Mirela Holy.
• A critical strategic error occurred when ORaH declined to run its own candidate in the presidential elections and instead supported Ivo Josipović, which reinforced the public perception that the party was a satellite of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
• Internal organizational failures contributed to the party's decline, specifically a lack of political experience among 80% of its members, a complex internal structure that hindered decision-making, and a specialized discourse that made the party appear 'elitist'.
• The author argues that for a Green party to succeed in Croatia and Eastern Europe, it must move away from the 'top-down' approach used by ORaH and instead be built gradually from within society and regional organizations.

APA

Popovic, M. (2016). Възход и падение на орехът. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/%d0%b2%d1%8a%d0%b7%d1%85%d0%be%d0%b4-%d0%b8-%d0%bf%d0%b0%d0%b4%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%b5-%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d0%be%d1%80%d0%b5%d1%85%d0%b8%d1%82%d0%b5/

Chicago

Popovic, Marko. Възход и падение на орехът. Green European Journal, 2016. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/%d0%b2%d1%8a%d0%b7%d1%85%d0%be%d0%b4-%d0%b8-%d0%bf%d0%b0%d0%b4%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%b5-%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d0%be%d1%80%d0%b5%d1%85%d0%b8%d1%82%d0%b5/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Popovic |first1=Marko |title=Възход и падение на орехът |publisher=Green European Journal |date=1 September 2016 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/%d0%b2%d1%8a%d0%b7%d1%85%d0%be%d0%b4-%d0%b8-%d0%bf%d0%b0%d0%b4%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%b5-%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d0%be%d1%80%d0%b5%d1%85%d0%b8%d1%82%d0%b5/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{popovic2016, author = {Popovic, Marko}, title = {{Възход и падение на орехът}}, institution = {Green European Journal}, year = {2016}, month = sep, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/%d0%b2%d1%8a%d0%b7%d1%85%d0%be%d0%b4-%d0%b8-%d0%bf%d0%b0%d0%b4%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%b5-%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d0%be%d1%80%d0%b5%d1%85%d0%b8%d1%82%d0%b5/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }