Direct Democracy in Croatia

In: Politicka misao, Band 37, Heft 5, S. 21-29

Abstract

Discusses forms of direct democracy envisaged by the Croatian Constitution of 1990, which defined Croatia as semipresidential republic, before constitutional amendment of 1997. The article describes normative regulation of referenda & speculates about reasons for their absence. One of the main reasons seems to be the specific institutional framework & political consensus existing among the Parliament, the Government, & the President of the Republic, which is of a dynamic nature. Referendum, having a gridlock-breaking capacity, offers a solution in the form of recourse to the people on initiative of the President of the Republic or of the Parliament in the absence of political consensus. However, due to the existence of such consensus, referenda never took place in Croatia. The author also discusses citizens' right to petition the government in light of an important decision of the Croatian Constitutional Court. Adapted from the source document.