[23][24] Since its formation and the introduction of a multi-party system, the DPS has played a dominant role in Montenegrin politics, forming the backbone of every coalition government until the 2020 parliamentary election, when it entered the opposition.

[25] Prior to the 2020 election, the party strongly supported the controversial religious freedom law, causing tensions across Montenegro and the rise of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegrin politics.

In the 2010s and 2020s, the party is characterized by populist,[14] big tent politics with a slight centre-left lean,[31] alongside elements of nationalism[32] and a pro-European stance towards European integration.

[40][41] According to some analysts, the DPS, together with its coalition partners, as well some newly founded nationalist parties, started pushing the narrative of "Montenegro being left to Serbia by the United States and the EU", but these assessments have no foundation in the post-Ukrainian invasion international scenario.

This series of events, collectively known as the Anti-bureaucratic revolution, swept into power new party leadership in Montenegro, one allied with Milošević, personified in Momir Bulatović, Milo Đukanović, and Svetozar Marović.

During these years, the party endorsed a union and close relations with Serbia, its sole partner in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) from 1992.

Following the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević on 5 October 2000, the DPS showed signs of greater support for Montenegrin independence.

The European Union mediated negotiations between the DPS and the newly elected democratic government in Serbia in 2003 imposed a three-year waiting period before an independence referendum could be held.

During the existence of the union state, the party congress added the goal of a "democratic, internationally-recognized, independent Montenegro" to its official platform.

At the 2020 parliamentary election, DPS decided to run independently, with single candidate spot on the electoral list given to the nationalist Liberal Party of Montenegro.

[47] Election eventually resulted in a victory for the opposition parties and the fall of the authoritarian DPS, after governing the country for 30 years, since the introduction of the multi-party system in 1990.