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Nakon raspada SSSR-a 1991.godine, zemlje Južnog Kavkaza našle su se pred novim izazovom: stvaranjem neovisne države sa svim svojim institucijama. Bez, ili s vrlo malo prethodnog demokratskog iskustva, sve su se tri južnokavkaske države suočile s tranzicijom koja se ne može nazvati demokratskom. U ovom radu problematizira se institucija predsjednika države koja je igrala iznenađujuće veliku ulogu u stvaranju političkog režima i institucija kakve danas postoje u Azerbajdžanu, Gruziji i Armeniji. S obzirom da je politička povijest ovih zemalja vrlo slična, zanimljivo je promatrati kako su, i zbog kojih razloga, izgradile svoje političke režime. Nalazeći se na poprištu različitih političkih utjecaja i s azijske i s europske strane, ove države usvojile su ponešto iz oba svijeta: demokratske elemente sa zapada i autokratske elemente s istoka. Iako je prošlo skoro 30 godina od osamostaljenja, uloga predsjednika države u kreiranju državne politike snažnija je nego u mnogim europskim zemljama koje su prošle demokratsku tranziciju. ; After the dissolution of USSR in the 1991, countries of South Caucasus face new challenges: making of independent state with all of its institutions. Without, or with very little previous democratic experience, all three of Soutcaucasian countries faced a transition that cannot be called democratic. This thesis delas with the institution of state's president who played an amazingly important role in creating political regimes and institutions that exist in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia today. Given that the political history of these countries is very similar, it is interesting to observe how, and for what reason, these countries built their political regimes. Faced with variety of political influences from both Asian and European sides, these countries have adopted somewhat of both worlds: democratic elements from the West and autocratic elements from the East. Although nearly 30 years have passed since their independence, the role of the state's president in creation of state policies is ...

Hrvatska i Slovačka imale su tijekom 1990-ih državnike s autoritarnim tendencijama vladanja. To je na različite načine bilo povezano i s institucijom predsjednika države te je 1999., odnosno 2000. ustavnim promjenama koje su se ticale i te institucije uspostavljen parlamentarni sustav s izravno izabranim predsjednikom. U ovom radu pokušava se utvrditi je li to utjecalo na funkcioniranje sustava vlasti i konsolidaciju demokracije. S obzirom na to da su promjene trebale spriječiti pojavu novih autoritarnih državnika, pretpostavka je da su one trebale pozitivno utjecati na demokratsku konsolidaciju. S druge strane, uvođenje parlamentarnoga sustava s izravno izabranim predsjednikom stvara opasnost da će ustavno slab predsjednik pozivom na svoju veliku legitimnost, dobivenu na izravnim izborima, nastojati zadobiti ovlasti koje mu ne pripadaju. Sustav će zbog toga imati obilježja defektne demokracije, a neće se pretvoriti u konsolidiranu liberalnu demokraciju. Usporedbom ustava i političke prakse pokušava se dobiti odgovor na to. ; In the 1990s, Croatia and Slovakia had statesmen with authoritarian tendencies. This was in many ways associated with the institution of the president and the 1999 and 2000 constitutional reforms, which were connected with this institution, established a parliamentary system with a directly elected president in those countries. This paper tries to determine if that affected the functioning of the system of government and the consolidation of democracy. Given that those changes were meant to prevent the emergence of new authoritarian statesmen, premise is that they should have had a positive impact on democratic consolidation. On the other hand, the introduction of a parliamentary system with a directly elected president created a risk that a constitutionally weak president, by calling on his great legitimacy acquired by direct vote, would strive to get powers that do not belong to him. The system would therefore receive the characteristics of a defective democracy and would not turn into a consolidated liberal democracy. By comparing constitutions and political practice we try to get an answer to this question.

What are the reasons for change of electoral system in a country in transition? Who are the actors involved and how they do that? What consequences it has for parliament and the party system? This paper attempts to provide answers to these questions in the case of Ukraine. In that country, in less than two decades three types of electoral systems have been implemented: majority system in 1994, mixed system in 1998, 2002 and 2012, and proportional system in 2006 and 2007. Such frequent changes occurred due to elite-manipulation which aimed at satisfying self-interests of political elites. Both parliamentary and non-parliamentary elites have been involved in that process, and the most important actors among them have been oligarchs and the President. When the Ukrainian oligarchs as veto-players began to intensively participate in parties' activities, parties began to play a more important role than they did before. We conclude that the type of electoral system and oligarchic influence on parties and elections impacted the way how the party system has been shaped. We show that this system has been instrumentalised to achieve particular objectives of the dominant segments of political and business elites in Ukraine. Adapted from the source document.

U svim dosadašnjim radovima na temu umijeća govorništva istraživala su se verbalna i neverbalna komunikacija, stil, gestovni znakovi, držanje tijela, položaj trupa, pokreti nogu, govori u kontekstu vremena i prostora i sl., no slučaj nepoznavanja ili lošega poznavanja jezika zemlje kojoj je političar na čelu nije istraživan ni razrađen. A upravo je to slučaj s bivšim predsjednikom Vlade Republike Hrvatske Tihomirom Oreškovićem. Ovim se radom željelo ustanoviti kakav dojam ostavlja bivši premijer na javnost u kontekstu nepoznavanja hrvatskoga jezika. Također se pokušalo utvrditi koje odlike u javnome nastupu ima i kakav dojam one ostavljaju na javnost. Kako bi to utvrdili, za potrebe rada autori su proveli dubinski intervju sa stručnjacima iz područja društveno humanističkih znanosti koji su se osvrnuli na javni nastup i dojam koji bivši premijer ostavlja na javnost. Kako bismo kvantitativno argumentirali odgovore dobivene iz dubinskoga intervjua, dodatno je provedeno anketno istraživanje o dojmu koji ostavlja na ispitanike. Radi dodatne argumentacije analiziran je i sadržaj u obliku transkripata javnih nastupa premijera Oreškovića. ; All the previous works on the art of public speaking have investigated the verbal and nonverbal communication, style, gesture signs, posture, position of torso, leg movements, speaking in the context of time and space, etc. But the case of ignorance or poor knowledge of language of the country, whose head the politician is, has neither been investigated nor elaborated. And that is precisely the case with former Croatian Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković. The main intention of this paper is to determine what kind of impression the former Croatian Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković makes on the public in the context of lack of knowledge of the Croatian language. It also tried to find out his characteristics in public appearance and what impression they make on the public. In order to determine that, for the purpose of this paper we conducted in-depth interviews with experts in the field of social and human sciences that made a review of public appearance and impression that former Prime Minister Orešković made on general public. In order to quantitatively argue the answers obtained from in-depth interviews, we additionally conducted a survey where we examined the impression he made on respondents. For the purpose of additional argumentation the authors also analyzed the content in the form of transcripts of public appearances of former Prime Minister Orešković.

The speech given by Stjepan Mcsic, President of the Republic of Croatia, at the conference "15 Years of Croatian Democracy" held at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Zagreb on 11 November 2005 gives an account of the evolution of democracy in Croatia. The importance of the role of the Croatian parliament (Sabor) is analyzed. The Croatian Sabor has not only been the institutional state/legal expression of the sovereignty of the Croatian people within various state & national entities (apart from the period between 1918 & 1941) but also an expression of communality as a manifestation of the freedom of speech, assembly & agreement -- in short, the ultimate expression of the popular democratic spirit. In this speech, various aspects of the democratic development in Croatia since 1990 are analyzed. It is pointed out that in the last fifteen years Croatia has witnessed social & political protests & conflicts on a variety of occasions & for a variety of reasons, proving that it is capable of coping with ideological, social & political antagonisms & discords. Adapted from the source document.

The American & international publics look up to American presidents as the chief creators of American foreign policy. A review of the contemporary history of US foreign policy is mostly a review of foreign policy platforms & initiatives of American presidents. Although fundamental prerequisites exist -- constitutional powers, executive office of the President as support in the creation, & implementation of certain decisions, the expectations of the Congress & the public that President should lead the nation in the foreign policy arena -- not all American presidents have taken an equal interest in foreign policy decision making & the creation of American foreign policy; this has depended on their personal interests & experiences. Despite significant constitutional restrictions of president's autonomous action in foreign policy & occasionally successful attempts of the legislature to assume control over foreign policy, as well as frequent challenges to presidential powers & numerous actions by the public, we can conclude that American presidents are nevertheless dominant figures in the field of American foreign policy. Adapted from the source document.

Having in mind the long evolution of constitutions & constitutional politics & the universal appeal of the process of the interplay between virtue & demagogy that occurs during presidential elections, the author touches on several topics. The first are the standard "dogmatic" comparative provisions regarding the election of the head of state which the author looks into through the constitutional-legal prism of the so called selection effect. As the institution of the president of the republic exists in many constitutions & is thus among the most significant institutionalized aspects of political & social life of every country, the author focuses on the extent in which that institution in the electoral context contributes to the affirmation of republicanism, democracy & public sphere. The author concludes that the election of presidents & the effects of electoral selection, among other things, affect the process of political integration that ought -- to not only in Croatia but everywhere & due to a plethora of reasons -- promote the universally accepted ontological principles of contemporary constitutional-democratic state. Appendixes, References. Adapted from the source document.

The Slovenian model of political system envisages that the president of the Republic has only representative, initiative & protocolary functions. According to Elgie's definition, Slovenia might be categorized as a sort of a semipresidential regime; hence, the historical, constitutional & political circumstances in which the role of the president of the Republic in the Slovenian political system should be looked into. After a careful analysis of the political tradition & culture, & the development of the constitutional culture in particular, the author analyzes the constitutional-political practice & the results of the presidential elections, their political orientation & the difference between the constitutional powers & the presidential performances. The author concludes that Slovenia does not have a powerful but a symbolic president of the state, despite the fact that the presidents are elected directly; consequently, the political system of Slovenia should be classified as a "parliamentary system with a president." Since the history of the individual presidency in Slovenia is still very short, for the time being it is very hard to assess all its major aspects; only the future developments will reliably demonstrate the real competences & the constraints of the president of the Republic as a legal & political actor. References. Adapted from the source document.

The place & the role of the president of the Republic in the Italian political system are looked into. The starting points are the specific features of the historical evolution of the position of the head of state from the monarchist to the republican context. The institution of the Italian president of the Republic is also specific in the context of the West-European political systems, due to the acceptance of the monarchist prerogatives in the constitutional role of the president of the Republic to the anomalous position of the head of state: they belong to the model of parliamentary political systems but at the same time possess some competences typical for semipresidential systems. The author outlines the historico-political & constitutional grounds of the peculiar position of the president of the republic in the context of the recurrent crises of the political system with unstable governments & volatile coalitions, which gives the president of the state a special, central role as the political arbiter super partes, the guardian of the Constitution & the political guarantor of the country's stability in the permanent legitimation crisis of the Italian political parties during the transition from the First to the Second Republic. Some new variables are introduced into the analysis of the political role of the president of the Republic that significantly differs from the constitutional role, due to the evolution of political communication & the new forms of political conflict which require from the president of the Republic to adjust to the new rules of the democratic game. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

The article deals with the phenomenon of the so-called New American Unilateralism. The author searches for the causes, genesis & sources of such a behavior of the current American administration, especially emphasizing the importance of the neoconservative group, which has been creating, justifying & implementing this kind of unilateral strategy. Criticism of this politics is presented, coming from different directions. The author concludes that it is more the new discourse than the new politics, since the politics of George W. Bush does not substantially differ from the politics of previous American presidents. Having that in mind, it seems possible to predict that the strategy of the next president will probably go along the same lines & unilateralism will keep on being practiced as long as the world functions according to the unipolar model, with US as a global hegemon. References. Adapted from the source document.