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The author shows modern conservative concepts of politics as a variant of normative political theory. Conservatism shows up as a reaction to enlightened rationalism. In contrast to rationalistic revolutionary constructivism, conservatism pleads for a return to a religious basis for man's spiritual & political life. Conservatism creates policies based on tradition & the family, which sustains feelings of obligation toward the community. The state is not just an instrument for special interests, but an expression of substantial cooperation in the nation & its society. Thus, conservatism leads to a demand for reforms of existing liberal institutions. Adapted from the source document.

The author's starting assumption is the domination of two undemocratic ideological orientations: liberalism & republicanism. The author sees republicanism & liberalism as the ideas proximate to the political or the democratic. These ideas operate semantically but cannot be identified with the political or the democratic. This is not possible as they are not commensurable structures. By providing a theoretical account of various historical traditions the author shows that European republicanism ignored democracy & considered it to be the worst form of government. This is partly true of the liberal political doctrine that evolved later. The author argues it is possible to convert republicanism to democratic pluralism i.e. that this is the biggest common good today. In this way republicanism may be spared its controversies. References. Adapted from the source document.

Using the example of Vojvodina, the author looks into the connection between the "socialist ideology" & the anti-Western orientation. The survey, conducted in Subotica, focuses on the influence of ethnic origin, education, migratory history, & the participation of a respondent's family in the Partisan resistance movement on the latent configuration of certain political orientations (subdimension of "socialist ideology") & the anti-Western orientation. The author claims there are four relatively independent latent dimensions of "socialist ideology": (1) Yugo-nostalgia, (2) Collectivist/statist orientation, (3) Militarist/statist orientation, & (4) Egalitarianism. The study has shown that, basically, the anti-Western orientation is one of the components of the socialist ideological pattern. The "militarist anti-Western orientation" is demonstrated by the Serbs who moved to Subotica between WWI & the recent war on the territory of the former SFR Yugoslavia. Apart from these Serbs -- & unlike the other ethnic groups -- this "militarist anti-Western orientation" is also noticeable in a fraction of Croats from Backa (Bunjevci) who have stated as their nationality "only" -- Bunjevci (Backa Croats). Besides, the study has shown that lower social classes harbor a kind of "socialist anti-Western orientation." The anti-Western orientation, which the author labels as the "Yugo-nostalgic anti-Western orientation," is held by those respondents whose relatives were involved in the Partisan movement. 15 Tables, 19 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author points out that in postcommunist countries, there is a genuine danger of postfascism, which is identical neither to classical fascism nor to neofascism, but shares certain fundamental common traits. Like in classical fascism, expansionism is particularly dangerous in postfascism. The author shows that the project of Greater Serbia is the very roots of the war in the entire territory of former Yugoslavia. Based on the tradition of Croatian antifascism, the author claims that the response to postfascism can only be democratic politics. Globally, it means that democratic countries cannot be morally neutral or passive toward manifestations of postfascism. The historical experience with fascism shows that diplomatic means are insufficient to thwart postfascist projects. Adapted from the source document.

The article begins with a review of difficulties concerning the scientific usage of the term ideology. It also provides an analysis of the results of the existing interpretations of this concept & lists the elements that might represent the foundations for the concept of political ideology appropriate for political science research & analyses. The first section of the article reconstructs the history of this notion, from its original meaning by Destutt de Tracy up to the contemporary Marxist & functionalist concepts. The second section is devoted to the relationship between ideology & power; ideology is a special form of power, whose nature & functions are derived from the fundamental structure & the needs of people & societies. The third part looks into the concept from the point of view of the social/interest roots of ideology & its conceptual structuredness. 28 References. Adapted from the source document.

In defining the main preconditions for successful coexistence in the emerging & constantly changing supranational European Union, the common fundamental values shared by the European population constitute one of the main factors of this integration. The present article strives to assess whether a consensus exists in the European Union with regard to the substance of these values & to examine whether these values are implemented also in the decisions taken every day at EU level. The author attempts to determine the causes of the assumed disparity between the political ideals proclaiming the desired social order & the European reality, & to envisage the consequences to which this situation may lead. The suggested conclusion is that the proclaimed fundamental values of the Union (still) do not find expression in the European reality & that they are (as yet) substituted by other, primarily economic, interests. References. Adapted from the source document.

This is the first chapter of Mirjana Gross's book, Izvorno pravastvo -- ideologija, agitacija, pokret (Genuine Party-of-Rights Spirit -- Ideology, Canvassing, Movement), which is to be published this year. Starcevic & Kvaternik's ideology, revolving around the central rallying cry for an independent Croatian state, is a sort of a combination of liberalism (in Starcevic's liberal democracy) & nationalism, ie, linking the influence of certain European thinkers & ideologues, from the antiquity to the mid-19th century, with the Croatian tradition & sociopolitical circumstances. This chapter briefly outlines those European political doctrines that inspired the Party-of-Right ideologues & that, partly adopted & interpreted in line with the Croatian national-integrational ideology, became part of their teaching. Adapted from the source document.

The notions of Left & Right form a fundamental semantic pattern within which voters construct their political perceptions & attitudes. Their universal meaning lies in a simple spatial approach to politics as conflict; functionally, Left & Right are "shortcuts" for political communication. In the empirically oriented political science, the Left-Right scale has become a standard variable in public opinion polls. After the initial pessimistic interpretations, in the last 20 years or so, this scale has increasingly demonstrated its validity & reliability. The sources of the Left-Right identification may be manifold, & not solely ideological. Also, the Left-Right scheme has demonstrated a remarkable potential to -- in time -- encompass new political contents & thus create a need for new cross-national & longitudinal studies. Voters -- not scientists -- are those who define what is Left & what is Right. 19 References. Adapted from the source document.

This essay is an attempt to explore structural, value, ideological, & performance premises of partyism. It has been modeled after the methods & findings of eminent researchers (eg, Inglehari, Klingemann, Knutesen, & others), who have devoted a major portion of their research to the relations among the mentioned concepts. The empirical research was conducted on a sample of Croatian students in 1998/99. By using complex analysis models of the mentioned variables we have shown that the ideological (left-right) orientation is more important for the electoral choice of Croatian students than the value orientations (religious/secular, left/right materialism, & materialism/postmaterialism). The author then shows why (in line with the results of European studies) the party orientation is more important than the values. What is most important here, however, is the finding that the two variables (the assessment of the democratic performance of the system & the ideological left/right orientation) are relatively the most significant variables for explaining the party identity & electoral choice of Croatian students. It has been shown that the leftist & the opposition parties in Croatia can count on the more left-oriented students & those who are dissatisfied with the functioning of democracy in Croatia, plus those more secularly & post-materialistically oriented. The used analytical methods can contribute to a more detailed elaboration of the theory of partyism (party identities & electoral choices) & to the model of political polarization in society. And this is surely one of the central tasks of modern political science. 8 Tables, 1 Graph. Adapted from the source document.

The author poses the question about the fate of neoconservatism, the official political orientation in the 1980s US. Twenty years later, one can see how anticommunism & antimodernism, neoconservatism's fundamental ideological premises, have changed political practice & awareness, both (& equally) in foreign & in national policy. Though conceptually incoherent, neoconservatism has proved to possess exceptional clout. This has led the author to conclude that neoconservatism, despite the claims by neoconservatives themselves that it is dead, still has much leeway, since voters' awareness has been changed: they have become used to the new political context, & they vote for well-balanced "mixtures" of rightist & leftist ideologies. 24 References. Adapted from the source document.

Using the results of the poll on the eve of the 2003 parliamentary elections, the author analyzes the determinants of their ideological cleavages. The analysis shows that the most significant determinants are the attitudes concerning the role of tradition & the Catholic Church in the society, the role of women in the society, the attitude towards the minority groups & the attitude to the Croatian history, primarily regarding World War Two & the post-war period. Of all the attitudes-measuring variables the most significant ones for the ideological left-right self-identification are those concerning the role of the Church & tradition & the attitude towards the history. The most important determinants of concrete ideological orientations in Croatia are those variables that measure the attitudes to traditional values & the role of the Church in the society, the attitude to the minorities & the position of women & the attitude to the history. While the attitudes to tradition & the role of the Catholic Church, & to a somewhat smaller extent to the minorities & the position of women in the society distinguish the liberals & social-democrats from the Christian-democrats, the attitude to the history distinguishes primarily the liberals from the social-democrats. The analysis has also shown that the variables measuring the attitude to the parties undoubtedly have the biggest influence on ideological self-identification, whether this is the left-right self-identification, or the identification with a concrete ideological orientation. However, in interpreting these results one should bear in mind that the causal link among these variables can be established both ways. Nevertheless, regarding the level of political sophistication of the public it might be said that the respondents will more easily identify with a party than an ideology, which for most voters is an abstract category. Party identification (preference) may be a consequence of a variety of factors ranging from the early political socialization in the family to the ideological affinity concerning certain issues or trust in party leadership etc. Hence we can conclude that regarding their ideological self-identification the respondents use their party identification as an information shortcut in order to get their bearing in, for most voters, the abstract world of ideologies. Tables, Graphs, Appendixes, References. Adapted from the source document.