The paper looks into the justifiability of cirticisms levelled at the role of the World Bank. The meaning & guidelines of two major legal & economic reforms in Croatia are outlined: the changes in labour laws & the implementation of pension reform. The first part of the text deals with the role of deregulation policy, which has probably improved labour market flexibility, but also significantly increased job insecurity. The second part is devoted to the pension reform as an example of privatizing public service sector. The paper investigates the goals of the World Bank as well as the local reform participants. The final part of the paper offers brief conclusions. The main argument is that the described structural accommodations have been designed primarily with the criterion of economic efficiency in mind while the social aspects have been systematically overlooked. 2 Tables, 4 Figures, 47 References. Adapted from the source document.
This article analyzes the formation of the "Association for the Yugoslav Democratic Initiative" (UJDI), promoted by a group of intellectuals from the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Zagreb in early 1989. The aim of this association was the democratic transformation of Yugoslavia during a period of political and economic crises. The paper focuses on the debate about constitutional reform and the constitutional "model" proposed by UJDI. Through UJDI's experience, the author analyzes some of the aspects and implications of the political cultures at the end of the 1980s. Furthermore, the author contributes new perspectives on the Yugoslav political crisis and the attempts of UJDI to call for democratization as the country teetered on the brink of war. Adapted from the source document.
The author demonstrates the non-existence of a consistent theory of market and of the modern capitalist system. Only a conceptual analysis is possible which is more revealing of the methodologies of various theoretical trajectories and a comparative analysis of different viewpoints and theoretical contradictions in relation to historical reality. The fundamental theoretical accomplishment of Strpic's analysis is that it offers a fertile core of clarification of market society and capitalism. The search for modern political economy opens up three aspects of the crisis of capitalism and of its economic theory. The political strategy of laissez faire in the beginning of the 20th century brought about the Great Depression (1929-1933), and the theoretical and political turn to Keynesianism (1936). In the 1970s the great stagflation (1971-1980) cleared the path for the neo-liberal theoretical counterrevolution (1972). In the period of the Great Recession (2007-2012) the necessity is imposed on us of a new theoretical turn in the direction of anti-neo-liberalism. Market economy and its invisible hand cannot be simply suppressed into closed out theoretical systems; the economists overlooked precisely this simplification and abstraction from real relations. Strpic's theoretical project of the Modern Normal and matrix-capitalism makes it possible to read in a new way the incommensurability of theoretical paradigms, not as a unified theory but as a developmental project which is prerequisite for explaining the character of the present crisis and the dynamic development of the modern transformation of capitalism. Adapted from the source document.
In the first part of the paper the author deals with some general aspects of the very complex process of trade negotiations. He explains that trade negotiations, bilateral or multilateral, are the basis for establishment of the international trade regime. In order to understand multilateral trade negotiations one should be familiar with its basis, which is composed of rules & procedures. Also, it is necessary to take into consideration the fact that these rules & procedures have not emerged at once but have been introduced in the process of adjustment to the needs of negotiators. In the second part of the paper the author considers the procedures in multilateral trade negotiations within the GATT/WTO international trade system. References. Adapted from the source document.
The author analyzes the controversial concept of globalization from its technological, political, cultural, economic, & social aspects. He refers to S. Huntington, & also to J. Gray, & uses P. Chatterjee's arguments on nationalist strategy & politics. Jameson concludes that combination, social collective, & global regulation are at the core of all strategically successful responses to the globalization trends. Adapted from the source document.
This contribution to the discussion about Dag Strpic's book Karl Marx and the Political Economy of Modernity focuses on the author's assessment that the weakening of US economic hegemony is questionable, especially with regard to the future prospects of capitalism (and its development), and prefers to speak of a "redesign" thereof. Accordingly, this article analyses in detail three aspects of capitalism redesign: the causal, the contingent and the functional aspects. Regarding causality, the partial redistribution of leading roles in world economy is caused by the introduction of new methods, from industrial and media technology to financial speculations and new wars -- which make profit-making possible. Regarding contingency, the shift in the centre provides opportunity for a small number of countries, such as China, India and Brazil, which are endowed with capitalist "talent" (in the sense of combining the policy of resource mobilization with elements of positive evaluation of labour in the local culture), to climb the ladder of successful development. The functional aspects indicate the favourable effects of the shift in the centre not only for newcomers to the club of the most developed, but also to the USA. The financialization of (primarily American) economy, along with giving over leadership to other industrial powers in many branches of industrial production, and in the rate of economic growth -- i.e. with a "new division of labour" in the centre -- gives to the US some sort of "aristocratic" status in the world of capitalism. Such a status is not incompatible with the cyclic process of capitalism development. Instead of a dialectical leap toward socialism, it rather aspires to a partial restoration of feudalism, as a global order of strong states in the centre and weak or apparent states on the margins. This, however, is not the worst possible ending of modern history. If a much more pronounced decline of US economic power in favour of the newcomers were to occur, this would probably strengthen the brutality of capitalism rather than weaken it. Provided that, in the EU, the trend of further decomposition of the welfare state is stopped, and the indispensable balance between the requirements of economic growth and of social solidarity and general well-being is restored, only a genuine and comprehensive "Europeanization" of the capitalist system could make possible the emergence of a global capitalism with a human face, and probably also of a world state which would provide for a balanced development of all parts of the world. Adapted from the source document.
The European Union and the United States of America perceive differently China's political & economic burgeoning. For the EU China's economic growth is a welcome development as it implies boosting the "strategic partnership," while the US thinks of it not only in the term of rivalry but also as a threat because of China's growing political & military power. Unlike the US, which focuses on the security aspect of foreign policy, the European security policy is still nascent & the Union usually does not perceive the states outside its borders as dangerous. The author argues that the complexity of the EU policies towards China means that there is yet no EU polity so the interests of various member-countries clash with the interests of the Union on the whole. The author concludes that the US will remain apprehensive regarding the potentials of China as the second superpower that might jeopardize US hegemony, while for the EU the latent political-security threat is much less important than the economic benefits. References. Adapted from the source document.
The author analyzes the future prospects of diplomatic service in the era of globalization. In his analysis, he draws from the German experience & the book Wem dient der auswartige Dienst? The author claims that foreign policy is determined by economic issues so it is pointless to separate the security/political & the economic/political aspects & competences of a government. The same applies to diplomatic corps: they cannot be exempted from economic tasks. Heads of diplomatic offices today have to be partners regarding economic topics when discussing politics & economy of the host country. Concerning the role of nongovernmental organizations, the author thinks that they cannot replace the state & its civil servants. For communicating with them, foreign service needs "generalists" more than "specialists." The key value of the future foreign service includes an overall review of the bilateral relations with the host country; this envisages that diplomats are to retain their central role in the networking of various actors & areas. Besides the legal/consular, economic, cultural & security/political tasks, diplomatic offices regularly maintain contacts & cooperate with the host country in specialized fields such as defense, science, social issues, & agriculture. 16 References. Adapted from the source document.
The European Union and the United States of America perceive differently China's political & economic burgeoning. For the EU China's economic growth is a welcome development as it implies boosting the "strategic partnership," while the US thinks of it not only in the term of rivalry but also as a threat because of China's growing political & military power. Unlike the US, which focuses on the security aspect of foreign policy, the European security policy is still nascent & the Union usually does not perceive the states outside its borders as dangerous. The author argues that the complexity of the EU policies towards China means that there is yet no EU polity so the interests of various member-countries clash with the interests of the Union on the whole. The author concludes that the US will remain apprehensive regarding the potentials of China as the second superpower that might jeopardize US hegemony, while for the EU the latent political-security threat is much less important than the economic benefits. 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 last two decades, turnout research has disintegrated into a plethora of studies which focus on partial aspects of turnout. The overall idea of why people vote has been lost. Despite extensive research on turnout, we know relatively little about why people vote. The aim of this text is to present and critically discuss basic theories that explain voter turnout at the individual level. Overall, six theories are presented: the theory of socio-economic status and resources, the theory of civic orientations, the theory of mobilization and involvement in society, the theory of rational choice, the theory of valence politics, and the theory of habitual voting. These theories are discussed mainly from three aspects: (1) the causal mechanisms explaining why people vote; (2) the extent to which each theory links the decision to participate in an election with the decision about which party or candidate to vote for, as well as the sequence of these decisions; and (3) the timing of voters' decisions to participate in an election. The author argues that because of the heterogeneity of voters and the nature of the decision whether or not to vote, it is necessary to understand individual theories not as competitive, but rather as complementary. Adapted from the source document.
Wars & suffering in the 20th century, mostly the consequences of ethnic & religious antagonisms, have been typical for Europe's Southeast. That is why the ethnic aspects of security are central to an understanding of the totality of this region's security, particularly in the 21st century. The security of southeastern Europe can be analyzed using realistic, idealistic, & neo-realistic approaches to contemporary security as its starting point. The security of this region is affected by the internal circumstances of the region's states, particularly their economic situations & interethnic relations. Similarly, significant influence is exerted by the relations among the various states & nations, as well as by the ethnic-based conflicts that result from these relations. This part of Europe is likely to remain a volatile region, fraught with economic difficulties & crises, nationalisms, & xenophobia. In such circumstances, with the open sores of simmering ethnic feuds & the specter of various nationalisms, is it realistic to expect the rational politics needed to lead the countries of southeastern Europe toward a united Europe? The answer to this question is sought not only by this region's states but also by the leading European states & the US. 18 References. Adapted from the source document.
To what extent is Marx's thought conceptually and analytically relevant for a systematic understanding of modern society -- this was the subject of the theoretical dialogue which engaged many researchers, including some of the most prominent ones. This text focuses on the theoretical critical confrontation of Dag Strpic (in the article "Market or Commodity Formation/Production of Society?", which is the third, partly reworked chapter of his book Karl Marx and the Political Economy of Modernity) with the philosophical project of reconstruction of Marx's science of history in Jacques Bidet's work What is To Be Done with "Capital"?. The discussion focused on two basic issues: the logical starting point and the character of exposition of Marx's theory of capital. Bidet advocates the thesis that commodity as Marx's starting point (Section I of Book I) is inadequate, and he demonstrates the non-dialectical ("genetic") character of the categorial exposition of the capitalist-way-of-production theory as a whole. In contrast therewith, Strpic demonstrates that the logical starting point of Marx's system is adequately apprehended as "commodity in general", if one perceives it from the viewpoint of the logic of the entire system and of the subject of his analysis as "capital in general". Bidet seeks to show that Marx, in defining the capital system logic, gradually abandoned, albeit inconsistently and only in part, the dialectical figures as epistemological obstacles. Strpic, on the other hand, shows what makes the Marxian modality of materialistic dialectics constitutive not only with regard to Marx's "critique", but also to the very reality of capitalist society and the possibility of surpassing it. Notwithstanding his agreement with Bidet and Strpic that a (truly indispensable) general theory of modernity can be constituted only through creative and interpretative relying on the great works of political thought of modernity, and his sincere commendation to both for their outstanding reading of Marx's work in this context, the author concludes in his final remarks that both are open to the following objection: their projects of a contemporary general theory of modernity, regardless of all aspects in which they differ, rely too much on further development of Marx's intention, and thereby lose from sight the fundamental "theological-political" problem, which Marx dissolves in the immanentism of the process of production/reproduction of the modern civil community. Adapted from the source document.
The author claims that all major efforts concerning European security have always been linked with the end of a war. Thus the end of the Cold War has been marked with the expansion of NATO & an attempt to create a new security. By analyzing the political scope of the expansion, the military & strategic framework, the Russian reactions, & the economic significance, the author comes to the conclusion that the expansion is not conducive to the establishment of an integral system of European security. The purpose of this development by Clinton's team was primarily to outline the new European borders (the key aspect of Clinton's foreign policy) &, in the future, to create the conditions for further expansion & admittance of new members. Only in the remote future, through constant expansion & links with other European organizations, could NATO become the central system of European security. Adapted from the source document.
The Social Democratic Party of Croatia & Slavonia was founded in 1894, a spin-off of similar political developments in other parts of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Due to the economic & social backwardness of Croatia, industrial workers were rather few in number, & trade unions were banned. The party was mostly made up of craftsmen; there were no intellectuals who would be proponents of socialist theory & programs. That is why its efforts were directed toward the hands-on protection of workers' interests. Another aspect of its mainstream political activities was their opposition to both Croatian & Serbian nationalism & chauvinism & their advocacy of Croatian independence. Due to their unwavering support for human rights & democratic political freedoms, Croatian social democrats were often subject to state repression. The author draws parallels with today's political situation as well as conclusions about the agenda of the leftist parties in Croatia. Adapted from the source document.
