Suchergebnisse

The institutional collapse of a once unique state SFR Yugoslavia at the beginning of the 1990s, devastated economy, hyperinflation, corruption and general tendencies contrary to the processes in developed countries, in a nutshell - the entire macroeconomic environment being unstable, - brought about the need for political, economic, social and institutional reforms in the Republic of Serbia. The reform, among other things, and for the study of the factual issues it is exceptionally significant, covered the system of resource distribution and jurisdiction between the central and subcentral levels of government. Numerous changes which then occurred in the last twenty years or so, and which are still going on, have influenced political and territorial polity of our country to become decentralized, as well as the financial and fiscal relations between the levels of the Establishment. In the spirit of reform commitments, Republic of Serbia brought in a new Constitution and adopted copious amounts of laws, whose ultimate intention was promoting the fiscal system that would be in accordance with the latest theoretical findings and examples of good practice. In the structure of territorial organization of Republic of Serbia, autonomous provinces as entities of territorial autonomy, and municipalities, towns and the city of Belgrade have been established, as entities of local self-governance. Otherwise, subcentral authority levels in our country are facing many and various challenges when it comes to creating government revenue which, in its original or transferred form, remains available, used to finance their government expenditure, a constant need for their abundance and suitability, and all in order to constitute financial autonomy, followed by methods of governing the economic development, as well as the volume and content of jurisdiction. Considering the fact that the distribution of resources amongst sub-central levels of government is preceded by the distribution of responsibilities, associated is the dilemma of which functions are realized more efficiently on a central and which on a subcentral level of government, and further, to what extent these lower levels are to be subservient to the central state, that is, in what sense independent. In that matter, it is essential to establish the extent of the realized fiscal decentralization, since depending on that degree, fiscal power is delegated to subcentral levels, the performance of public services is more efficient and is in accordance with priorities and preferences of citizens, which is also a precondition of successful functioning of all the segments of the public sector and widespread democratization of a society.

The Bosnian Hercegovinian society, which immediately after the World War II was predominantly peasant, has undergone since 1953 some social transformations. In this article, the author attempts to explain ideological premises and basic features of economic policies, following transformations in agriculture and industry. At the end of the WW II, 80 per cent of the population of Bosnia and Hercegovina lived in villages, and only 2 per cent worked in factories. Communist regime, inspired by the Soviet economic policies, forced industrialization of the country, a process which placed the agriculture in the background. A low technical education of workers, however, did not allow significant changes of the agrarian society of BiH, even though some progress in industrial production was noted since 1953. This is the main reason why under the aegis of industrial development we witness a development of agrarian society. (SOI : CSP: S. 376)

For the last few years, the German foreign policy has been under constant temptations and substantial reconsideration. The key role in resolving the difficult economic and financial crises in the EU, the development of close economic ties with the Russian and other rising world economic powers, the decision to sustain in the UN Security Council in deciding to authorise the use of force in Libya, as well as the dominant attitude towards the crises in Greece and Kosovo clearly shows the wish of Germany to pursue a more independent foreign policy. In spite of all these efforts and its huge economic power, Germany has failed to become a global political power. Moreover, in order to protect and develop its trade interests Germany must remain within the frameworks of the EU and the NATO. For a long time, Germany has been one of Serbia's most important economic and political partners. Since it is realistic to expect that Germany will be more oriented towards developing its economic ties with the new world economic powers, the Western Balkans and Serbia will not be in the focus of its foreign and economic policies. Therefore, for Serbia, it will be useful to concentrate on the cooperation with the mighty German provinces that have their interests in developing this cooperation. In the future, the Kosovo issues will remain the main obstacle to it.

Within contemporary geopolitical processes, respect for the rights of national minorities is no longer the discretion of a state, but rather is an indirect or direct international regulation of the minority issue. In the beginning of the 1990s, the political economical crisis and disintegration of the former SFRY opened the national question, that was considered to be permanently and successfully solved, in the most dramatic way, and ethnic conflicts and clashes followed the desintegration of the country. With the formation of a new states on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, the existence of numerous and different national minorities ("old" and "new") required a different approach to their protection and integration in complex political circumstances. Thus, the position of the so called new minorities drastically changed since they formed constituent nations in the former SFRY, while after secession they remained separated from their home nations and became national minorities almost overnight. Out of Serbia, in former Yugoslav republics live nearly half a million persons belonging to Serbian nationality as new national minority. The paper discusses the position and rights of the Serbian minority in the post Yugoslav states (Slovenia, Croatia, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro) as well as in some neighboring member states of the European Union (Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria). In addition to the analysis of basic demographic indicators (number and spatial distribution) that determine the realization of the rights and freedoms of each minority, the paper examines the issue of protecting the national, cultural and linguistic identity of Serbs, as well as the ways of its preservation and improvement. Although the social and legal status of the Serbian minority is determined by European standards, the analysis points to their undefined status, since they still do not recognize the status of a national minority in some countries, and that they are in practice faced with more or less assimilation. In order to fully realize minority rights and improve the position of the Serb minority, ratified international documents, bilateral agreements, national laws, as well as well-designed policies and assistance from the home state are of great importance.Respecting basic human rights and freedom, as well as national minority protection, represent the basic factors of stability, security and democratic and socio-economic development of every country.

The author deals with the history of Croatian Home Guardsmen in the World War Two. The organization and the development of the Home Guard, or Croatian, armed forces is presented, with reference to the political, military and economic conditions. The author emphasizes the need for further studying the history of Croatian Home Guard in the Independent State of Croatia. Along these lines the author presents his views of the problem. (SOI : CSP: S. 583)

Most Croatian Serb organisations were established between 1883 and 1903. In that period Serbs created the Serbian Bank, 56 various financial institutions, the Association of Serb Agricultural Societies, and the economic organisation Privrednik (Economist). The Serbian Bank was the strongest financial institution in the Monarchy, which backed the economic and cultural development of Serbs inside and outside of it. On the other hand, Serbs had not created significant cultural institutions, but did establish numerous literary and singing societies and reading halls, which were instrumental in promoting national identity. Culture was a framework for political activity. It should be noted that all those organisations were identified as Serb, had their statues written in Cyrillic alphabet and in Serbian language, which testifies that they organised quite freely and without obstruction. (SOI : CSP: S. 509)

The development of the regional cooperation in South-Eastern Europe was at its lowest in comparison with other European regions. The changes occurring in the attitudes of the international community (through increased sensitivity and familiarity with the situation in the field and the new democratic advances of Croatia) are now creating favourable conditions for the development of the regional cooperation. It can be further fortified through international efforts, as well as through the international community's presence, since with its economic, political and even police/military resources it has enough instruments to support these developments. Within the emerging sintagm, "through cooperation to security", South-Eastern Europe is expected to commence its transformation of the relationships by developing different forms of useful cooperation which should lead to increased security and more peaceful coexistence. In such context, by means of regional cooperation, it is possible to attempt torging links with Europe and incorporating this region into the Euro- Atlantic integrations. (SOI : PM: S. 78)

The ownership structure is one of the determining factors in the development of all agricultures; Croatia's is not an exception to this rule. I the long run, the ownership structure is undoubtedly going to determine the direction of the development of the market-oriented Croatian agriculture. The process of building the ownership structure appropriate to the market economy is neither simple not fast, let alone cheap. An overnight change in the ownership structure is neither possible nor prudent. The existing ownership structure of Croatian agriculture is the result of a century and a half long historical development. Socio-economic and political factors exerted a strong influence onthe process of the ownership structure's formation. Today Croatia has an "atomized" estate of only 2.9 hectares. A century ago the average size of estates was 8 hectares. This fragmentation is a direct result of the agrarian reform and colonization in the second Yugoslavia when the land maximum was reduced to 10 hectares. The existing - very unfavorable structure - should be in the transitional period gradually adapted to the family economy as the basis of future development, which will be market-oriented, cost-effective, and profitable. (SOI : PM: S. 238)

This paper will assess the results of transition in the Yugoslav successor states using objective and subjective criteria. Four objective criteria related to economic growth will be used to compare economic performance in Yugoslavia and its successor states; 1. Speed of recovery after war/change in system, 2. Absolute growth rates, 3. Relative growth rates, 4. Place in world development. This will be supplemented by a survey of public opinion conducted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.All the four objective criteria show that the Yugoslav economy performed much better than the economies of its successor states. The survey shows that only 20 percent of population are happy with the results of transition in South Eastern European countries, while 64 percent are unhappy and 16 percent are undecided. In the former Yugoslavia much less than 20 percent of population are happy with the changes brought by the transition.

The author gives a short account of his broadly-based studies on the theory of public choice and the financing of the public sector in the industrialised countries of the world. In this context, first the definition of the theory of choice an relation to the financing of the public sector is given. Then there is a short review of the evolution of the theory of public choice in the history of human development, with special focus on the latest trends. Then the author explores fundamental principles of public choice in the functioning of the contemporary state and its consequences for the economic and social development of the developed countries. In the end, the author lists the essential requirements regarding the possibility of the implementation of the theory of public choice in the Croatian theory and practice when making the collective decisions regarding the financing of public needs. (SOI : PM: S. 178)

The author argues that in the debates about "democratic transition" of post- socialist societies the importance of development of state of law for the formation of democracy has not been sufficiently accounted for. The absence of state of law results in the formation of authoritarian structures of politi power which in the long run obstruct the process of democratization. Those structures include the concentration of political power in the hands of charismatic leaders, the transformation of political into economic power, the formation of clientelist structures, the development of a system of privileges and corruption, and the break-down of the state monopoly of the means of violence, resulting in the "refeudalization" of political power. In conclusion the author describes two developmental options for the post-socialist societies: the formation of a "Latin American" type of authoritarian-populist regimes or the gradual transformation towards a Western type of state of law and liberal democracy, initiated by the pressures from the international environment and internal forces. (SOI : PM: S. 85)