Suchergebnisse

For many pre-twentieth-century legal and political authors the crucial issue was to find the answers to the questions: Why one cannot support every claim to the right of absolute rule? and, How to curtail power and authority anyway? In this text, the author reviews the contribution of three classics of the modern debate on constitutionalism - C. H. McIlwain, C. J. Friedrich, and F. A. Hayek - whose political/legal theories represent the most glorious pages of the contemporary theory of state and rights and the comparative political systems. (SOI : PM: S. 152)

The author provides a short review of the most important events in Croatian history during the 20th century. He begins by emphasizing the importance of the burning of the Hungarian flag in Zagreb during the visit of emporer Franz Joseph in 1895. Other turning points of Croatian history in the 20th century were: declaration of the Rijeka resolution, which was the basis of the Croato-Serbian Coalition; the end of long term relations with the Habsburg monarchy, and the entry into a unified state with Serbia; the experience of Serbian domination in that state; the events of the Second World War; and the renewal of Yugoslavia under a communist dictatorship. The author has decided to publish this review as a model for a further historical study of this period. (SOI : CSP: S. 453)

Recent historical developments in the relationship between Croats and Serbs are discussed, refering to an article by V. Vujacic (Theory and Society, No. 6, 1996). The idea of an Illyrian and later a Yugoslav commonwealth of all South Slavs, originating in Croatia in the 19th century, had its legitimating psychological foundation in a "illusion of centrality", developed at the time by a part of the Croatian political and intellectual elite, a view of the preeminent position of Croatia and the Croats among all the Slav ethnic groups in the region and, therefore, of a natural central role of Croatia in the future commonwealth. In a similar way, the armed struggle of the Serbs for independence from the Ottoman empire in the 19th century and for the expansion of the Serbian State in the 19th and 20th century has generated a Serbian belief in the dominant role of Serbia and the Serbs in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes established in 1918, later Kingdom of Yugoslavia. These incompatible illusions are believed to be the roots of a number of political positions and decisions taken by both Croats and Serbs in the 20th century. The views of Max Weber on nationality and nationalism are discussed in relation to the problem of cooperation and conflict between Croats and Serbs in the 20th century. (SOI : PM: S. 17)

The author demonstrates the importance of public finances as a source of the theory of public choice. He identifies the contributions of the continental theorists of public choice from late 19th and early. 20th century, particularly that of the Swedish economist Knut Wicksell. The author considers his concept of the method of fair taxation the central source of the theory of public choice by James Buchanan and other representatives of the Virginian school. In the author's opinion, Wicksell's approach is basically normative but the author's detailed analysis of Wicksell's key work on the theory of fair taxation points to a series of salient points which are redolen of the positive theory of public choice as it was mapped out in the middle of the 20th century. (SOI : PM: S. 188)

The author critically analyses Plessner's views on the lack of a clear idea of the state in German tradition as well as the consequences of that for its development in the 20th century. The author claims that it is not so much a question of the non-existence of the idea of the state as of the non-existence of a democratic social stratum that would have prevented the authoritarian and later totalitarian developments. He also rejects the interpretation of history as meaningful, goal-oriented processes, since they presuppose a philosophical knowledge about the goals and purposes of an inimitable historical development, the assumption which today cannot be methodologically vindicated by any historian. (SOI : PM: S. 53)

The author primarily studies the works of Croatian and non-Croatian theologians and historians puplished since the 1980s which deal with the cultural and political activities of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina. In the article's introduction, the author stresses that in recent times there has been a growth of interest in this topic because of the increased political activity of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the former Yugoslavia and its attitude toward Serbian aggression in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina. He also cites publications written by Croatians and non-Croatians that were published from 1918 to 1982. The main issues of his analysis are the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Pec outside of the Ottoman Empire's borders; the problem of the union of churches during the 17th and 18th centuries; the role of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the process of Serbian national integration in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina during the 19th and early 20th century; and finally, the problem of theological debates and political developments during the 20th century. Special emphasis is also placed on the behaviour of the Church during the course of the Second World War, when it collaborated with German occupational forces. After the war, the Serbian Orthodox Church not only kept silent about this, but it also made unsubstantiated claims about the wartime collaboration of the Croatian Catholic Hierarchy and the Croatian people. The author concludes by saying that further research is needed into these and other related topics so that new light may be thrown on the more than three hundred year long history of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia. (SOI : CSP: S. 176)

The author deals with one of the most pressing problems of the 20th century - the problem of migrations. The essay is divided into four parts. In the first, the author presents empirical findings; in the second, he deals with the causes of the intra- and inter-national migrations; the third part is an outline of feasible perspectives, while the fourth offers possible options as countermeasures. The 20th century is characterized by the shift of the regional focal points of migrations. In the first half of the century, the inter-national migrations of refugees largely took place in Europe. However, in the second half of the century, the hub of the migrations shifted from the northern to the southern hemisphere. One of the major causes of migrations are wars and the accompanying violence. Other important causes are economic hardships, population boom, ecological disasters and the erosion of traditional values. Judging by the characteristics of the major causes of migrations, it is very unlikely that the situation at the turn of the millennium is going to change significantly. The only thing international organizations and states can do is to alleviate this problem by creating long-term strategies that might strike at the roots of the migration issue. (SOI : PM: S. 59)

The dissolution of the great Soviet empire and the demise of the socialist system in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe has undoubtedly been one of the most significant political developments at the turn of the 20th century. Whether this has been brought about by international factors or has been the consequence of the internal cave-in of the system, has been the subject of numerous and extensive analyses. It is obvious that the geostrategic shifts and the completely altered position of the new state (the Russian Federation) have made it necessary to look into the political aspect of the problem. That Russia is not faced with an imminent threat from abroad is certainly an extraordinary change, unprecedented in the long Russian history. This particularly applies to the western Russian borders, which used to be almost continually threatened. Political relations that have been developing between Russia and the West, despite all the obstacles, have been improving and both sides demonstrate a willingness to continue with this trend. (SOI : PM: S. 167)

The author shows the numerical and territorial distribution of the Serb population in Croatia during the 19th century and the structure of their vocations and occupations. Throughout 19th century, the participation of the Orthodox in the Croatian population demonstrated a decline. While in 1840 they represented 31,41% of the population, in 1900 that participation was only 25,52%. The Serbs were mixed with other nationals even in places where they were majority. Only in few districts, their participation in general population exceeded 80%. The majority of Serb population is made of agrarian inhabitants. However, although their participation in cities was not great, their economic strength and political positions were responsible for their relatively great influence. (SOI : CSP: S. 152)

Upon researching archival sources dating from the periods of Austro-Hungarian, Italian and Croatian rule, the author attempts to examine the condition of health and hygene in Istria between 1900-1950. He believes that these conditions were crucial in shaping urban and rural mentalities during a period which witnessed rapid industralization and urbanization. This study shows the difficult and constant struggle of a small number of enthusiasts, often outside of official institutions. It was a struggle against backwardness, prejudice and death. It is a tale of poverty, hunger, sickness and death, but it also speaks of the indestructability of the spirit in this region. The study will shed light on and important part of the social history of urban and rural Istria. (SOI : CSP: S. 545)

The author analyses the concept of human dignity in historical and logical perspectives of its meaning. The key terms are: (a) dignity as an attribute of humanity; (b) the meaninglessness of this notion in some historical periods; (c) human dignity as human achievement; (d) human dignity as human potential; (e) human dignity as belonging to humanity. Then he goes on to stress the superiority of dignity as such over the acquired dignity. And finally, the author concludes that human dignity is inviolable, both in the virtues of its autonomous subjectivity and in its deviations: in the fallacy, deception, guilt, and awareness of one's own finality. (SOI : PM: S. 44)

The author analyzes the current trends of the globalization of trade, capital, mass media, communication, transport, tourism and economic migrations. However, there is the backlash to the globalizing processes: cultural particularism which has mobilized traditions and triggered violent outbreaks of hostilities. Political scientist Francis Fukuyama has pointed out that today the key challenges to liberal democracy are a miscellany of particularistic fundamentalism, national extremism, totalitarism and authoritarian paternalism. Samuel Huntington also warns about the dangers of particularism. Within such a framework, the phenomenon of "ethnic cleansing" is only an extreme form of the trend which has marked the 20th century - ethnical homogenization as a reaction to the problems of multiethnic communities. The author is of the opinion that this development need not represent an obstacle for the dialogue and communication among cultures. (SOI : PM: S. 168)

The paper deals with the possible impact of globalization and decentralization on the future role of public spending in Croatia. In the first part, the author describes the elements of government intervention in the economic process during the 20th century and the theoretical origin of public goods as a resource that the market is incapable of efficiently providing. After that the characteristics of the process of globalization and decentralization (localization) are listed. These are the two simultaneous processes whose intensification leads to the reduction of the regulative role of the nation-state and public spending. The second part of the article first discusses the structure of public spending in Croatia, and then a possible impact of the two processes on its structure and volume. (SOI : PM: S. 193)

The themes wich captured the attention of researchers immediately after Communist archives have become available. especially the documents of the Communist International and the police personal files, were political biographies of the victims of Stalinism and the espionage. The author thinks that these works are not always critical towards documents. Former communist countries have regulated the access to the archives in different ways. Germany has adopted the most liberal policy. T. C. Ash's book is illustrative of new research. We found his dossier in the Stasi files and. with the help of those who produced it, used it for an analysis of the system of repression as well as its consequences for society and the individual. (SOI : CSP: S. 127)

Globalization has brought about the collapse of the bipolar system of international relations, which was the foundation of the structure of global security based on the technological means of mass production, which predominated at that time. The change from the mass to the flexible way of production has made it necessary to build a new system of global security on the technological resources of flexible production and the political implications of globalization. There are many indications that it was just this new system of global security that began to take shape the day the first NATO bomb fell on Serbia, which means that it came into being: in South- Eastern Europe i.e. in the region that at the beginning of the 20th century ignited the fuse of the world wars and which would, if not for this intervention, still pose a threat. The intervention, a novelty in the postwar international relations, and which consequently brought up a plethora of questions, paved the way to the realization of the project Europe for the 21th century. That project, based on adjusting international relations to globalization, whose outlines are becoming visible in the region of South- Eastern Europe, is in Croatia's interest, and is the major guarantor of the preservation of its independence and sovereignty. (SOI : PM: S. 33)