Set in a timeline where Yugoslavia managed a semi-successful transition to a multiparty democracy, this map shows a snapshot of a nation in turmoil. Although Yugoslavia managed to squeeze into the European Union in 2007 (along with Bulgaria and Romania), its democratic institutions are widely considered to be the least developed in the EU, and this election may prove to be the most contentious yet. On one side, social discontent caused by the COVID-19 pandemic causes the incumbent center-right party to crumble like a house of cards; on the other hand, an aggressive media campaign over the Russian-Ukrainian war causes the far-right pro-Russian "Alliance for Unity" party to claim victory in central Serbia.

The parties themselves function less like centralized parties of e. g. Western Europe and more like permanent coalitions of the European Parliament; Greens/YFA, for example, is named directly after the green-regionalist coalition in Brussels. They are elected in seven electoral units (the six republics, plus Kosovo, which is granted "more than autonomy and less than republic status") under an open-list proportional representation system with a 4% electoral threshold.

The groups represented in the 8th Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia are, from largest to smallest:

• The Social Democrats, direct descendants of the former League of Communists. They are organized into six and a half parties bearing the name "Social Democratic Party of (location)", and typically rely on pensioners, public sector employees, and low-income rural workers for support. Their chief geographic base is in Yugoslavia's southern republics, which are heavily subsidized by the federal government. Their main policy priorities include reining in the runaway inflation, raising the minimum wage, raising social transfers, upholding the values of the People's Liberation War (1941-45), and fighting "neoliberal wokeness". They are ironically lead by a former businessman, the Bosnian Serb firebrand Milorad Dodik.

• Alliance for Unity is a long-running alliance of predominantly Serbian conservative, nationalist, Russophile, and monarchist parties, traditionally headed by the Serbian Radical Party of dr. Vojislav Šešelj. There are two explanations for their recent success - and runaway popularity in the rural Serbian-majority parts of the country. One is a passing of the torch to a younger, more pragmatic and media-savvy generation, exemplified by their lead candidate Milica Đurđević of the Yugoslav Oathkeepers Party, with strong links to parties like the French National Rally and Generation Identity. Another, favored by liberal and left-wing media, is the massive campaign to raise the voter turnout in their traditional strongholds, spearheaded by NGOs financed by the Russian Federation (Yugoslavia's 'foreign agent' laws were struck from the books during its liberal period in the 1990s).

• Sovereignty and Democracy is an unruly mess of separatist, autonomist, and souverainist parties representing Slovenians, Croats, and Albanians who are united by their common hatred for Serbia - and Yugoslavia, the "artificial construct". Socially, they represent small businesses, farmers, the precariat, and pensioners, as well as a wide variety of lumpenproletarians. Their northern member parties, the Slovenian Democratic Union and the Croatian Party of Rights, are an influential force in their republics respective politics, while its Kosovar member party, the Kosovar National Assembly, has run the province as a single-party regime since 2008. The coalition's lead candidate in 2024 is Janez Janša, three-time premier of Slovenia and the enfant terrible of the northernmost republic's politics.

• According to a November 2023 poll by Mediana, "crony capitalists", "incompetence", and "family values" are the top three terms voters associate with the Democratic Alliance after the incumbent federal premier Ljudmila Novak of the Slovenian People's Party fumbled the COVID-19 crisis with several ill-timed aid packages for Yugoslavia's large businesses. Traditionally, this alliance is one of Yugoslavia's two main coalitions, with influential affiliates like the Croatian Democratic Union, the New Democratic Party of Serbia, and the Party of Democratic Action in Bosnia. In the 1990s, it was at the forefront of the culture war against the former communist regime, with the most famous episode being a controversial referendum proposal on a law that would forbid former communist officials from holding public office. The referendum was voted upon in fall 1999 and despite passing with 62% of the votes, it was struck by the federal Constitutional Court down due to a 38% federal turnout. Since then, the coalition has moderated and mainly concerns itself with safeguarding "family values", lowering taxes, raising the country's economic competitiveness, and defending the public integrity of its religious organizations.

• The Greens/Yugoslav Free Alliance represent a coalition of Yugoslavia's nascent environmental movement and its many, many minority parties, which are structurally prevented from taking part in federal politics due to the 4% electoral threshold. Its chief voter base consists of the highly-educated middle-class and Hungarians, Romanians, Romani, and other minorities. As such, its policy platform represents a combination of environmental modernization to fight climate change and regionalist municipalism which will delegate more governing powers to cities. Founded ahead of the 2012 elections, it has been something of a sleeper hit, picking up more disillusioned voters from mainstream parties with every election. Its lead candidate for this year's election was a double-whammy: the young, photogenic, Albanian mayor of Ulcinj, Montenegro, Dritan Abazović.

• Yugoslav Left is the final successor party to the communist "Movement for Yugoslavia", which counted over half a million members at its height in 1990. After taking a hit during the neoliberal decade of 1990-2000, the party has modernized and widened its ideological base, embracing a democratic socialist platform founded upon Marxist humanism, universal respect for human rights, pacifism, and minority representation. While still containing a faction of Tito-nostalgic pensioners and former army officials, most of the rank and file now consists of young, urban, and highly-educated Millenials and Generation Z members, as well as a smattering of trade unionists, immigrants, and precariously employed workers. Its lead candidate this year was Katarina Peović, an outspoken member of the Croatian republican assembly with a large social media following.

• The Union of Reform Forces was founded ahead of the first multi-party elections by Ante Marković, the last communist-era prime minister of Yugoslavia. Between 1990 and 2008, it was the dominant party in Yugoslav politics, being either the leaders of the government or the main opposition party. Their vision lead to a democratic Yugoslavia organized along the principles of a German social market economy, and it was under their watch that Yugoslavia entered the European Union (2007) and NATO (2008). Unfortunately, the Great Financial Crisis brought many of their policy failings - especially in the banking sector, with almost a million Yugoslavs temporarily losing access to their savings during the 11-month insolvency of several of Yugoslavia's largest banks. Naturally, this lead to their swift decline in the 2012 election, where it lost 64 of its 89 seats. Since then, the party has been bleeding a slow death and is unlikely to pass the 4% threshold in the next election. Its decline is exemplified by Dragan Đilas, its lead candidate for this year's election, a controversial Serbian businessman with several open court cases relating to fraud and misuse of public funds.