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Politics is here defined as an activity & an area of human life that concerns power & its exercise. Though power by itself is morally neutral, it often serves as a means of enslaving other people & as such is a moral challenge for Christianity. Christianity does not give precedence to a certain political philosophy nor does it proscribe a certain form of government. However, the Christian understanding of love is a source from which many principles that serve as Christians' guidelines in politics spring: restraint, patience, readiness to compromise, recognition of one's mistakes, not yielding to hate. Christianity equally opposes anational cosmopolitanism & xenophobic nationalism & is in favor of patriotism & altruism as complementary virtues. In conclusion, the author deals with the harrowing political heritage & stresses the importance of a catharsis that should facilitate the transition to a democratic society & politics. Adapted from the source document.

Slovenia & Croatia differ greatly concerning the political position of their trade unions & their clout in political decision-making. The Slovenian way & pattern is inclusive & the Croatian conflictual. The difference -- despite the common historical legacy of Yugoslav self-management -- can be explained by the political interventions of the governments & the elites that played the dominant role in the early, formative, years of the transition. The pattern entrenched in that period persists, even when some radical reform is attempted & a new path chosen. Such a reversal was attempted after 2000 both in Slovenia & Croatia, but both attempts failed. 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 author holds that the constitutional theory today is put to the test in three areas. The first is the problem of the relationship between transnational regimes & government institutions. Constitutional/legal theory is faced with the question how the norms concerning transnational regimes can acquire the dignity of legal norms via "constitutionalization." The second challenge is posed by transnational regimes sui generis such as the EU's legal system. The third concerns the process of EU's expansion. For the author, a constitution is both an instrument & a symbol; ie, it is doubly coded. On the one hand, it leans on practice & instrumental implementation, & on the other on the world of representation. There are different types of constitutions. Type one are manifests, largely solely symbolically coded. Type two are the constitutions in the form of contracts, structured more in the form of a legal relationship between discrete actors than a monolithic symbolic corpus. Type three are programmatic or planned constitutions, & they are associated with the rise & fall of socialist societies. They identify the already politically defined developmental goals. And finally, there are the so-called constitutions-cum-laws. These are a result of a regular legislative process that enables people in the capacity of presumed agents of sovereignty to debate constitutions & accept them. The author's opinion is that the transition of Central- & East-European countries is a transition from the simple-coded with the primacy of the symbolic to the double-coded constitutions. This transition is not smooth. The first difficulty lies in "transplanting" constitutional solutions to different social/historical contexts. The second relates to the anticonstitutional mentality that prevails in these societies. Despite everything, the constitutional balance in Central & Eastern Europe is satisfactory on the whole. The constitutions of these countries are interesting because of three symbolic aspects. The first refers to the constitution formation processes in which these societies ceased to be objects of authoritarian rulers. The second aspect regards the search for new forms of identity & unity. The third aspect refers to the attempts to banish tyranny from politics & social life by means of legal chains. 35 References. Z. Dubiel

The author's assumption is that a regular rotation of the Left & the Right in power has been a long-standing feature of stable European democracies. In most East European countries, the collapse of communism was followed by the electoral defeat of leftist parties. However, in the last two years, these regions have witnessed a return to power of more or less transformed leftist parties & leaders. This does not mark the return of communism, which has definitely become a thing of the past, though some of the leftist parties nurture certain revisionist traits. In less developed countries, former communist elites are being transformed into national political elites, while in more developed countries of Eastern Europe, the transformation of leftist parties into social-democratic parties has been completed. The author underlines the prominence of the national element in the political programs of leftist parties. He goes on to conclude that the main reason for the resurgence of the Left in East European countries lies in the social repercussions of the transition & the fact that the Right has been turning a blind eye to these problems. 1 Table. Adapted from the source document.

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.

Slovenia & Croatia differ greatly concerning the political position of their trade unions & their clout in political decision-making. The Slovenian way & pattern is inclusive & the Croatian conflictual. The difference -- despite the common historical legacy of Yugoslav self-management -- can be explained by the political interventions of the governments & the elites that played the dominant role in the early, formative, years of the transition. The pattern entrenched in that period persists, even when some radical reform is attempted & a new path chosen. Such a reversal was attempted after 2000 both in Slovenia & Croatia, but both attempts failed. References. Adapted from the source document.

The majority of Central & Eastern European countries, such as Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, & Serbia, adopted mixed governmental systems, better known as semipresidential, in their transitions to democracy. The author analyzes the attributes of semipresidential systems from the basis of Western European experience, first & foremost those of the German Weimar & the French Fifth Republic. Semipresidential systems are unstable because they allow too many diverging political games, may create a dangerous political climate in situations of cohabitation, tend to increase presidential powers beyond those granted by the constitution, &, in times of political crises, do not allow for compromise of political powers. The author concludes that semipresidential systems are not suitable for consolidating democracy. 1 Table, 51 References. Adapted from the source document.

Using the analytical model & categories of the American radical political economy as the starting point, the author analyzes the dynamics of economic changes in Croatia in the 1990s. Particularly significant for understanding the dynamics is a dimension that the author, in line with classical political economy, calls the "moral economy of transition." The basic institutional & social structure of accumulation in the Croatian economy of the 1990s was marked by state populism, clientelism, & cronyism -- the result of the HDZ's model of "national capitalism," ie, a specific collusion of economic policy & privatization. That model failed to address the major problems of development or to secure a satisfactory rate of economic growth. That is why the political-economic balance of Croatia's first transitional decade is negative. The author concludes that the second decade will require a new political-economic model, one that will overcome the challenges facing the Croatian society: economic development, increased productivity, smaller government, reconciling the imperative of accumulation & democratic legitimacy, & restoration of moral economy & trust. 4 Tables, 83 References. Adapted from the source document.

The informal economy is today the reality of all countries in the world, including both those in transition & the developed ones, but to a varying degree. The author makes special reference to the situation in the Russian Federation, discusses some policy options for reducing the informal economy. The author argues that the implementation of the basic aim -- the policy of reintegration of the grey economy into legal system -- is through rounding-off a market-oriented economic order, full protection of property, implementation of the policy of macroeconomic stability, stable exchange rate, foreign trade liberalization & the development of financial markets. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.

A Croatian translation of an English paper delivered at the conference, "The New Dialog between Central Europe and Japan. Part Five. The Countries of Southeastern Europe in Transition: Between Globalization, Integration, and Fragmentation," held in Zagreb, 12-14 Sept 2002. Although the condition of democratization has never been precisely spelled out by the European Union (EU) for candidate states & the organization has no clear concept of democratic consolidation for the continent, the postcommunist countries desiring EU membership have made serious efforts to develop democratic institutions & legislative frameworks to accommodate EU democratic standards. Thus, there is a palpable link between the process of EU enlargement with new members & the spread of democracy in Central & Southeastern Europe. A comparison of Slovakia & Romania demonstrates, however, that individual candidate countries achieved these objectives through different paths, on their own timetable, & with different end results. The Slovak experience during the third term of Vladimir Meciar's government, 1994-1998, shows that pressures for the implementation of democratic political conditions are ineffective if a national government does not consider EU membership a priority. However, the new Dzurinda government reacted positively to the EU political conditioning & implemented a series of democratic reforms, overcoming occasional difficulties in achieving consensus on contentious issues. In Romania, the impact of democratic conditionality was rather negligible before the change of government in 1996, while slow at best during the Centrist-Right government that followed. Although the return to power of social democrats in 2000 accelerated democratization in this country, progress overall was impeded by economic hardships & the ineffectiveness of state administration. 32 References. Adapted from the source document.

The problems of democratic legitimation & the ineffectiveness of the democratic system characterize the postsocialist societies despite their normative-institutional democratic constitution. The socioeconomic conditions affect democratization, but it seems that the sociocultural factors (especially the patterns of dominant political cultures) are the key determinants for the survival & development of the democratic political system. Transitional societies are marked by developmental discontinuity. Normative-institutional & culturological changes possess different dynamics & do not occur concurrently. This discrepancy brings into question the legitimacy & success of democratic consolidation. Such an interactive relationship between the political culture & the political system (structure) makes up the framework for the study of major political-cultural preconditions for democratization. The paper deals with the sociocultural features of transition, the nature of cultural changes (value changes & institutional learning), political trust, legitimacy, the features of civic political culture, the attitude towards power & authority, political participation, the role of political elites, the sociocultural aspect of economic development, & the interest in politics. It is possible to overcome the distinctive discrepancy between culture & structure primarily by means of the transformation of sociocultural preconditions i.e. as democratic resocialization (through the processes of value change & institutional learning). It turns out that democratic consolidation is essentially defined by this sociocultural transformation. Sociocultural conditions i.e. political-cultural preconditions, are the key predictors of the success of the democratizational process. Apart from the implemented values of democracy & the citizens' acceptance of these values, democracy also requires active citizenry, hence the expansion of citizens' participation is seen as the main goal of that transformation. References. Adapted from the source document.

In the first part of the paper the conceptual framework of the political science approach to the state is outlined using some key insights of the contemporary political theory of the state. The second part of the paper contains a critical discussion about the scope & the purpose of those insights & puts forward a possible partial reconstruction of the main types of the state as methodological grounds for the developmental & comparative research of the process of the so-called transition. As the methodological basis for a contemporary reconstruction of the theory of the state, the set of basic terms (power, government, authority) -- as identified by A. Passerin d'Entreves -- can be used. A productive elaboration of these basic terms can be carried out by critically looking into the possibilities of combining the systematic approach by Passerin d'Entreves, the genealogical approach by Barret-Kriegel & the historico-political one by Q. Skinner. Also, the author points out how a full reconstruction of the concept of the state is not possible without a parallel reconstruction of the concept of society. The state as the fundamental legal/political project of modernism is possible only as a complementary process to the creation of the civic society as the fundamental politico-economic project of modernism. The state (sovereign) & the society (civic) are modern creations whose raison d'etre is the legal, economic & political subjectivization of the individual. The co-constitutive link between the state & the society -- the precondition for the possibility of the genuine process of the individual's emancipation in modernism -- is methodologically the central assumption for understanding the state & the logic of sovereignty. This reconstructed comprehensive understanding of the state enables a valid differentiation of the types of states in comparative research. The working hypothesis of this paper is to distinguish two pure types of the (modern) state: the power state (Machtstaat) & the legal state (Rechtsstaat). The reconstruction of the modern concept of the state & its major forms offers the final opportunity to identify the methodological injunction for looking into the logic of transition as the transition in the direction of the sovereign legal state in the fullness of its contemporary definition. References. Adapted from the source document.

The history of nuclear energy, as one of the possible ways out of energy crisis, & the transition into the post-oil period is analyzed. Since its discovery, nuclear energy has been used for military purposes & consequently shrouded in mystery & volatility. The coalition formed during WWII found the new legitimacy for the continuation of nuclear power use via its program "Atoms for Peace." The atomic bomb has evolved into atoms for peace, a complementary means by which the US has been trying to secure global domination through nuclear technology. The program has not achieved its objectives, although external conditions should have warranted that. Adapted from the source document.

This opening address at a scientific symposium on the future of the state, held in Zagreb, May 10-11, 2002, discusses the activities of the "Konrad Adenauer" Instit in promoting democratic states all over the world. The Instit has offices in over 60 countries & carries out projects in over 120 countries. Its three objectives are: (1) the support of the development & solidification of democratic regimes, (2) the promotion of socially fair market economies, & (3) the provision of regional assistance during transitions to democratic & free market states. The Instit's stand on issues of civil society, free market, & solidarity is clarified, explaining how it attempts to promote liberal, competition-based economy in welfare states. The formation of the European Union does not cancel the need for the state as a political unit, but rather, makes its functioning more effective & secure for its citizens. The similarities & differences between Croatia & Germany as national states are briefly considered from the perspective of the symposium's leading theme. Z. Dubiel