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The essay deals with the evolution of the theory of transformation in German political science of the 1990s. This research was given fresh blood by the collapse of the communist systems in Eastern Europe. Realizing that the existing theories of transformation cannot be applied to Eastern European countries due to a plethora of important distinguishing features, German political scientists used two general starting points in their research. The first starting point is the theory of universal waves of democratization, which focused its research on the application of comparative methods & comparative politics. The second starting point is the assumption that Eastern Europe is undergoing the social system change & not the political regime change, which enormously broadened the research scope. These general starting points gave rise to a series of studies, which are among the best works from the field of the theory of transformation in contemporary political science. This also resulted in the first political science handbook on the theory of transformation. 31 References. Adapted from the source document.

An analysis of the normative/institutional level of the Croatian politics shows that the constitutional arrangements at the levels of the social system & the political subsystem could be labeled as democratic, while the constitutional solutions that regulated the relations among major political institutions could turn out to be insufficient. Hence the semipresidential system of government in the Croatian wartime/transitional context provided an appropriate institutional framework for authoritarian regressions in the processes of political decision making & in the content of political decisions. The domination of the president of the state in Croatia's political life did not stem solely from the existing constitutional arrangements; it also rested on a set of additional premises of activity: (1) a decade of harmony between the president & the parliamentary majority; (2) the charismatic/clientelist nature of the ruling party; (3) a rather weak & suppressed opposition to the ruling party by the unconsolidated opposition parties; & (4) the expressive model of orientation of the actors in political activity. Based on the above account of the institutional/political order & the activities of the major actors, it can be surmised that the democratic consolidation in Croatia at the beginning of 2000 was in its incipient stage. Also, the frequent & profound changes in the structure of the cleavages & the electoral systems as well as the frequent party factioning stood in the way & slowed down the consolidation of the representational level of political system. Nevertheless, a certain level of consolidation is testified to by the four cycles of nonviolent parliamentary elections, the peaceful alternation of the parties in power, the contextually relatively low fluctuation of voters, the moderate fragmentation of the parliament, & the acceptance of the parliamentary rules of the game by the majority of the population. 3 Tables, 93 References. Adapted from the source document.

Pusic's Democracy and Dictatorship. Political Transition in Croatia and Southeastern Europe (1998) comprises five essays published by the author separately during the 1990s, covering the areas of the history of political ideas, descriptive theory of democracy, & the theory of democratic transition. They are written in an eclectic style mixing political essay with scientific dissertation, which impedes the reading & analysis of the whole work. Pusic also fails to clearly state her methodological approach; her methodology cannot be characterized as institutional analysis, analysis of the action of political actors, or policy analysis. The lack of a clearly defined methodological-analytic approach is the main cause of her failure to account for the diversity in transitions from communist to democratic regimes in the various countries of the former Soviet bloc. Pusic uses a variety of terms & notions that she does not define, & also has difficulties with differentiating institutional arrangements & political regimes. The description of transition processes in individual countries is inaccurate, & the interpretation of the radicalization & militarization of the Serbian movement in Croatia at the beginning of the 1990s is whimsical. The book cannot be recommended as a respectable contribution to the theory of transition. 10 References. Z. Dubiel

The Constitution of 1990 established a bicameral parliamentary system. The constitutional bicameralism has never been seriously theoretically & politically expounded; thus the issue of the representativeness & functionality of the second House of Sabor has remained open. The constitution of zupanijas (counties) casts some doubts on the representative function of that body, while the consultative & deliberative functions & especially the interventions into the legislative system by means of the suspensory veto have remained unfulfilled due to the same party's majorities in both houses. Regarding the 1997 electoral results for the House of Counties, this situation will not be dramatically changed. 2 Tables, 9 References. Adapted from the source document.

In the first part of the text, the author lists standard theoretical arguments used in the debates about parliamentarism & presidentialism & points up the ways of their contextualizations & instrumentalizations in Eastern Europe as a transitional region of unconsolidated democracies. In the second part she deals with the approaches & difficulties in the classification of empirical constitutional systems in Eastern Europe. In the third part she highlights several sources of real & potential institutional & political conflicts caused by certain constitutional designs in some countries. 1 Table, 35 References. Adapted from the source document.

Croatia is the only postcommunist country in which the process of democratic transition coincided with the process of creating the state by means of a war. These three processes are in a special interaction: the transition enabled the realization of the state-building program, which triggered off the war, which, in turn, jeopardized the completion of both projects. The author illustrates the dynamics of the political changes in Croatia since the 1980s, which started with the liberalization of political life & continued with two stages of democratic transition, before & after gaining independence. The Serbian insurgency &, later, open aggression have somewhat hampered the transition & brought about the "ethnification"of politics. In closing, the author analyzes the pattern of the creation of democratic institutions, which has been, in both stages (before & after the 1990 elections), under the control of the ruling political party. 27 References. Adapted from the source document.