Suchergebnisse

U prvoj polovini 19- stoljeća dolazi do povijesnih i političkih previranja u Europi: pojava panslavizma, revolucija 1948., koja je trebala rušenjem Austrougarske Monarhije uspostaviti temelje demokraciji (u kojoj se hrvatski ban Jelačić stavio na stranu Beča), te intenzivan interes kulturne Europe za zaostali srpski narod pod turskom vlašću. I pored kontroverzne uloge J. Kopitara i Vuka Karadžića, Hrvati prihvaćaju Književni dogovor 1850. g. sa Srbima, koji već u ono vrijeme, očevidno uz pomoć politike i lingvistike, osporavaju Hrvatima identitet. ; In the first half of the 19th century Europe saw some historical and political changes like Pan-Slavism and the Revolution of 1848, which was to build up democratic fundaments through the abolition of the Austro Hungarian Empire (with the Croartian Banus Jelačić on the Viennese side). Europe's cultural interest in Serbia increased. The Serbs were under Turkish dominance and thus restricted in their development. In 1850, despite controversial roles of J. Kopitar and Vuk Karadžić, the Croats agreed to a literary arrangement with the Serbs, who had already at that time obviously disputed the Croatian identity by means of politics and linguistics.

Autor u radu obrađuje desne političke stranke. Riječ je o najbrže rastućoj stranačkoj obitelji u Europi. U tom smislu analizira i prikazuje ideologiju, pojmove i vrste desnih političkih stranaka. Posebna pozornost posvećena je ideologiji stranaka radikalne desnice kroz teorijski okvir nizozemskoga politologa Casa Muddea. ; The author deals with right-wing political parties. It is the fastest growing party family in Europe. In this sense, he analyses and displays the ideology, concepts, and types of right-wing political parties. Special attention is paid to the ideology of the parties of the radical right through the theoretical framework of the Dutch political scientist Cas Mudde.

Glavni cilj disertacije je analizirati ideologiju glavnih predstavnika radikalne desnice u Poljskoj. Ova doktorska disertacija dizajnirana je kao studija slučaja unutar okvira kulturalnog pristupa u političkim znanostima. Kao metoda istraživanja odabrana je kombinacija kvalitativne analize sadržaja i konceptualne analize ideologije Michaela Freedena. Iako je najveći fokus istraživanja na dvjema političkim strankama (Zakon i pravda i Liga poljskih obitelji) kao glavnim predstavnicima radikalno desne političke scene u Poljskoj, istraživanje se bavi i drugim akterima, prije svega organizacijama civilnog društva, društvenim pokretima i medijima, koji sudjeluju u konstruiranju i promoviranju ideologije radikalne desnice. Pritom istraživanje nije ograničeno na sadržaj ideologije i aktere koji tu ideologiju promoviraju, već ono uključuje i analizu procesa putem kojih se ideologija radikalne desnice eksplicira i formulira, kao i analizu dinamičnih odnosa među akterima procesa proizvodnje ideologije doprinoseći istraživanju ideologije radikalne desnice kao i istraživanju procesa konstruiranja političkih ideologija općenito. Kao polazište za navedenu analizu u disertaciji se koristi ponešto modificirana definicija radikalne desnice poznatog politologa Casa Muddea prema kojoj su konstitutivna obilježja radikalne desnice integralni nacionalizam, autoritarnost i populizam. Analizom je utvrđeno kako su sve tri ideološke karakteristike tipične za radikalnu desnicu prisutne kod glavnih aktera istraživanih u ovoj disertaciji. Na tragu konceptualne analize, ova disertacija je pokazala kako središnji konstitutivni koncept radikalno desne ideologije u Poljskoj predstavlja nacija, i kako svi ostali okolni koncepti detektirani analizom, poput solidarnosti, jednakosti šansi, pravde, demokracije, slobode, zadobivaju svoje značenje na temelju svog odnosa prema središnjem konstitutivnom obilježju ideologije. ; In the last thirty years or so, the influence of the radical right has been constantly growing throughout Europe. This political success has been accompanied by an increasingly intensive scientific research on the phenomenon of the radical right, which has resulted in several studies that address various aspects of the radical right phenomenon in Europe. Paradoxically, despite such an abundance of research papers, their review suggests that there are relatively few papers that have a systematic and in-depth approach to the political ideology of the radical right. This doctoral dissertation fills this research gap and focuses on the political ideology of the radical right, taking into account the thesis of the well-known researcher of political ideologies Michael Freeden, that political ideologies are the center of political analysis because the study of ideologies can provide relevant insights necessary for understanding politics and political processes. In the context of the debate on the wave of radicalism in Europe, Poland is a particularly interesting case. Firstly, it is the largest and most populous post-communist country that became a member of the EU and a country in which the radical right won three parliamentary and three presidential elections between 2005 and 2020. Secondly, in academic papers and media Poland is often portrayed as an example of a country that has successfully gone through the process of transformation to liberal democracy and as an example of the most successful transition economy in Europe. The Polish case is also interesting because it is a a country with more than 90% of declared Catholics and where, primarily due to historical development, Catholicism plays a significant role in political, social, and cultural life; it has become a key component of the Polish national identity. In contrast to Western European countries, in Poland Political Catholicism, did not spark the development of strong Christian- Democratic parties, it rather gave rise to radical right-wing parties instead. In addition to cultural factors, historical heritage is often considered a fertile ground for the emergence of this type of parties, especially its influence on political processes and on the processes of building a national identity. Namely, the Polish historical heritage, specifically the one related to the 20th century, was marked by a short period of democratic rule (1918-1925), and two long periods of authoritarian rule, that of Jozef Pilsudski (1925 to 1939), and that of the communist authoritarians (1945 to 1989). Thus, the main goal of the dissertation is to analyze the ideology of the main representatives of the radical right in Poland by exploring its discursive manifestations, as well as the way in which the radical right ideology is produced. This doctoral dissertation is designed as a case study within the framework of a cultural approach in political sciences. The cultural approach is characterized by the insistence on the importance of context, which, on the other hand, makes it difficult to define clear independent, dependent, and intervening variables. Therefore, in the cultural approach, a case is most often taken as the analytical unit taking into consideration all the complexity of its historical and socio-political distinctiveness. Qualitative content analysis was chosen as the research method, and conceptual analysis of Michael Freeden's ideology was added to it, since this approach allows us to better understand the morphology of ideologies and their operationalization in politics. The first chapter is about the theoretical and methodological framework. Since the concept of the radical right is one of the deeply contested concepts which there is no consensus about in political science, and since the aim of this doctoral dissertation is to explain this concept, the first part of the chapter consists of a review and analysis of recent literature. The notion of the radical right was analyzed through comparison with related terms such as the extreme right, right-wing populism, and the far right. As a starting point for analysis in the dissertation, a somewhat modified definition of the radical right by the well-known political scientist Cas Mudde is used. According to him, the constitutive features of the radical right are integral nationalism, authoritarianism, and populism. Like the concept of the radical right, the concept of ideology is also ambivalent and can be understood in different ways which result in multiple uses of the term ideology which are often contradictory. This doctoral dissertation is largely based on the morphological approach to the study of ideology developed by Michael Freeden. The second chapter deals with the history of Poland before 1989. The first part of the chapter explains the early context of the emergence of Polish nationalism, which has its roots in the 'noble democracy' of the 17th century, as well as in the national struggles for independence of the 19th century. However, the chapter focuses on two periods that significantly influenced the emergence and growth of Polish political nationalism in the early 2000s. The first is the interwar period (1918-1939) in which two traditions of Polish political thought, Sanacja and Endeca, crystallized, and from which two visions of the Polish nation, national identity, and the nation-state, emerged. The second period is after the Second World War, i.e., the period of the People's Republic of Poland in which the legitimization and institutionalization of the nationalist discourse take place. Equally, in this period there emerged and formed social groups with different visions of the Polish state after the fall of communism. The third chapter deals with the transformation of the People's Republic of Poland into the The third Republic and with an account of political and social events in the first decade after the fall of communism. This chapter sheds light on the political and social context within which the dominant social divisions in Polish society emerged, which in large part resulted in the evolution of radical right-wing parties in the early 2000s. In particular, the very nature of the transformation process emerged as the main subject of dispute. Namely, the Polish right believes that due to the contractual transformation of the system, the 'revolution' is not over and that the left-liberal groups have made an agreement with the former communist establishment. They believe that the Third Republic is a product of this agreement and that it serves the left-liberal and former communist elites to maintain positions of power and rule the The third Republic to the detriment of the oppressed people. This conspiratorial narrative represents the foundation around which the politics and ideology of the radical right have been built in Poland since 2000. The fourth chapter deals with the emergence and profiling of two radical right-wing parties, Law and Justice (Polish: Prawo I Sprawiedliwość – PiS) and the League of Polish Families (Polish: Liga Polskich Rodzin – LPR) . The chapter is structured in such a way as to first present the history of the formation of these parties, with an emphasis on the main actors who participated as the originators and implementers of these projects. In both cases, these are largely the 'family projects' of the Kaczynski brothers (Law and Justice) and father and son Giertych (League of Polish Families). From the Kaczynskis' biographies, it is obvious that they come from an environment dominated by the legacy of Sanacja, while father and son Giertych openly presents themselves as the heirs of the interwar Endecja. After presenting their political activities and the first successes in the elections, the ideology of these two parties is reconstructed, primarily from their programs and other party publications. The research showed that until 2005 both parties contained all the constitutive elements of the radical right according to Mudde's conceptualization. While these constitutive elements have been present in the League of Polish Families since its founding, the party Law and Justice gradually became radicalized. This period, at least from the perspectives of PiS and LPR, is dominated by the conflict between the post-communist elites (former communists and left-liberal intellectuals) gathered around the left Democratic Left Alliance (Polish: Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej, SLD) and the so-called "patriotic' camp that emerged from Solidarity. This chapter also covers the period between 2005 and 2007 when these two parties, together with the Self-Defense party, formed a government that lasted less than two years. This first, shorter coming to power of the radical right in Poland is not important because of the public policies they pursued during that period, but because of the experience and lessons gained by PiS during its rule in the liberal democratic system. Namely, after 2007, the LPR disappeared from the Polish political scene, leaving the PiS as the only relevant political actor of the radical right. The fifth chapter covers the period between 2007 and 2015. It is the period of rule by the Civic Platform (Polish: Platforma Obywatelska, PO), a center-right party with strong pro-EU views and liberal economic and social policies. Due to the disappearance of the left from the Polish political scene, the main social and political conflict underwent a radical change. PiS formulated a new conflict – the struggle between solidarity and liberal or corporate Poland – and built its ideology around this conflict. This period in Polish political and social life was marked by the immigration crisis that hit Europe and the debate on the acceptance of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women, the so-called Istanbul Convention. Both topics as well as the pro-European orientation of the PO government led to the mobilization of radical right-wing social groups and media that skillfully occupied public space by successfully imposing their topics on the public agenda. As this dissertation will show, PiS has adapted its discourse to that of radical right-wing organizations and has successfully presented itself as their political representative. On the one hand, this 'alliance' helped the PiS succeed in the 2015 presidential and parliamentary elections, while on the other it marked the further radicalization of the PiS, especially when it comes to issues of morals and values. The sixth chapter deals with the period between 2015 and 2020. During that period, the PiS won both the presidential and the parliamentary elections twice. This chapter emphasizes how PiS translates its ideology into public policies. Namely, during this period PiS focused its efforts on two projects: 'repairing the state' and rebuilding the community (nation). The first project was marked by the judicial reform and the crisis related to the Constitutional Court; it aimed to strengthen the executive branch to the detriment of other branches of government. The PiS community reconstruction project was conceived as a change in the material and spiritual dimension of the community. The first is mostly related to social policies, the emphasis being on family policies. Changes in the spiritual dimension imply changes in cultural policy, within which there has been a reform of public media and the announcement of the "recolonization" of private media. In changing the spiritual dimension, PiS placed special emphasis on the defense of the traditional way of life on the one hand, and on the politics of history on the other, in which the Institute of National Remembrance played an exceptional role. The seventh chapter takes the form of a final discussion in which the basic theses of the radical right ideology in Poland are reconstructed. The aim of this discussion is to position the topic of this dissertation within the framework of a broader theoretical discussion between liberals and their critics. Finally, the conclusion summarizes the main research results in this doctoral dissertation and points to the possible direction of future research, especially research of countries with a strong radical right and with a similar historical and cultural heritage. Equally, the conclusion points to the fact that this dissertation has not fully answered the research question related to finding out how ideology is constructed, and the actors involved in the process. Namely, the problem was the research design and selection of the analysis method. The conclusion is that a more complete answer to this research question would require some field research, preferably using the method of interview or survey. Finally, we believe that some future research on ideology should move in that direction.

Neposredno nakon Drugoga svjetskoga rata tiskani su priručnici za škole koji se od prijašnjih razlikuju implementacijom političkih ideologema kojima je cilj kroz nastavni proces ideološki indoktrinirati učenike. Usporedba prvoga poslijeratnoga izdanja Boranićeva pravopisa iz FNRJ (1947.) s izdanjem iz 1940. i analiza novonapisanih gramatičkih priručnika iz 1947. i 1948. (Brabec–Hraste–Živkovićeva Gramatika hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika za III. razred gimnazije. Tvorba riječi, sintaksa i narječja iz 1947. i Frol–Brabecov Naš jezik. Gramatika i pravopis za V. razred sedmogodišnje škole i I. razred gimnazije iz 1948.) pokazuje da to vrijedi i za pravopise i gramatičke priručnike napisane za škole. ; Teacher's handbooks printed immediately after World War II, differed from the previous ones by introducing political ideologemes aimed at political in- doctrination of the students. The first post-war issue of Boranić's Gramatika (Grammar), published in Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in 1947, is compared to the 1940 issue and newly written 1947 and 1948 grammar handbooks are analyzed Croatian or Serbian Language Grammar Textbo- ok for Grammar School, Grades III (Gramatika hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika za III. razred gimnazije, Brabec, Hraste & Živković; Word forming, Syntax and Dialects Tvorba riječi, sintaksa i narječja, 1947; Our Langu- age: Grammar and Ortography Textbook for Elementary School, Grades VII and Grammar School, Grades I Naš jezik. Gramatika i pravopis za V. razred sedmogodišnje škole i I. razred gimnazije, Frol & Brabec, 1948) and it is evident that the statement is also valid for grammar and orthography textbooks written for schools.

Kako je tema ideologije europskih stranki populističke i radikalne desnice u literaturi vrlo opširna, u radu se pokušava kroz analizu diskursa i programa istražiti moguća povezanost fašizma i radikalne i ekstremne desnice; na koji način i ako uopće, desne organizacije i stranke rehabilitiraju fašističke ideje. Kratkom uvodu u kojemu se objašnjava cilj istraživanja, slijedi teorijsko-konceptualni okvir u kojem se najprije definiraju pojedini važni pojmovi – ideologija fašizma i današnje desnice pa onda i razlikovanje ekstremne i radikalne desnice. Drugi se dio okvira odnosi na prikazivanje veza različitih europskih ekstremnih i radikalnih stranaka i grupacija s fašizmom. Na primjeru nekoliko europskih stranaka utvrđeno je kako postoji razlika između ekstremnih i radikalnih organizacija iako nije uvijek moguće točno odrediti granicu budući da nerijetko takve stranke prilagođavaju ideologiju u skladu s vremenom kako bi osvojile vlast. Nakon glavnoga dijela prikazuje se kratki zaključak s istaknutim nedostatcima i prijedlozima za poboljšanjem. ; As the topic of the ideology of the European populist and radical right parties is extensive in academic research, the possible connection between fascism and the radical and extreme right through the analysis of discourses and programs will be explored; how and if at all, right-wing organizations and parties rehabilitate fascist ideas. A short introduction explaining the aim of the research is followed by a theoretical-conceptual framework in which certain important concepts are defined - the ideology of fascism and present-day right along with the distinction between the extreme and radical right. The second part of the framework shows the links between various European extreme and radical parties and groups with fascism. The example of several European parties has shown that there is a difference between extreme and radical organizations, although it is not always possible to determine the exact distinction, as often such parties adjust their ideology in accordance with ...

Three sets of problems are set forth in detail. These sets outline the most significant totalitarian features of today's Croatian political & social life. The first set is the ideological project of national sovereignty, defined by the platform of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). The second set relates to the systemic position of the HDZ's president as head of state. The third deals with the HDZ's policy toward the neighboring state of Bosnia & Herzegovina. This analysis shows that the central problem of Croatian political circumstances lies in the inability of the HDZ to structure the public & political space as a state, & social field as a civil society. Thus, the HDZ generates totalitarian tendencies in today's Croatian state. However, these are not the dominant features of Croatian political & social regime, since the HDZ is not ideologically & politically powerful enough to shape the Croatian state & society on its own. The second Croatian republic has not become a totalitarian community, but an authoritarian state with marked totalitarian features, but also with an increasingly more pronounced democratic & liberal potential. Adapted from the source document.

One of the central notions of the post-Yugoslav literature is the status of democracy in national states formed after the breakup of Yugoslavia. From the perspective of the exile, not only as banishment, but also as a liberating outside view into the once common social, cultural and political space, the post-Yugoslav writers question the social democracy praxis in their former home states comparing it to the social practices in the states of their current residence. In her books of essays, Dubravka Ugrešić ironizes different forms of social ideology in Croatia from the beginning of nineteen-nineties. Her writing recognizes the standards of European democracy accompanied with the ideological view into the questions of social rights, religion and language as the stumbling block of modern society. Ugrešić describes democracy as a notion hiding different things: the praxis of ruthless capitalist exploitation, loss of media freedom, media manipulation, the censorship of corporate capitalism, production of lies, modern slavery. (Don't take it personal, 2014), validating in her essays the importance of literature in disclosure of autocracy masked as democracy. ; One of the central notions of the post-Yugoslav literature is the status of democracy in national states formed after the breakup of Yugoslavia. From the perspective of the exile, not only as banishment, but also as a liberating outside view into the once common social, cultural and political space, the post-Yugoslav writers question the social democracy praxis in their former home states comparing it to the social practices in the states of their current residence. In her books of essays, Dubravka Ugrešić ironizes different forms of social ideology in Croatia from the beginning of nineteen-nineties. Her writing recognizes the standards of European democracy accompanied with the ideological view into the questions of social rights, religion and language as the stumbling block of modern society. Ugrešić describes democracy as a notion hiding different things: the praxis of ruthless capitalist exploitation, loss of media freedom, media manipulation, the censorship of corporate capitalism, production of lies, modern slavery. (Don't take it personal, 2014), validating in her essays the importance of literature in disclosure of autocracy masked as democracy.

The article begins with a review of difficulties concerning the scientific usage of the term ideology. It also provides an analysis of the results of the existing interpretations of this concept & lists the elements that might represent the foundations for the concept of political ideology appropriate for political science research & analyses. The first section of the article reconstructs the history of this notion, from its original meaning by Destutt de Tracy up to the contemporary Marxist & functionalist concepts. The second section is devoted to the relationship between ideology & power; ideology is a special form of power, whose nature & functions are derived from the fundamental structure & the needs of people & societies. The third part looks into the concept from the point of view of the social/interest roots of ideology & its conceptual structuredness. 28 References. Adapted from the source document.

Based on Paul Feyerabend's distinction between guided & free exchange, the author argues that the accession of the post-communist states to the European Union took the form of the former kind, i.e. the form of communication where all participants in the process voluntarily embrace the meaning of law developed through inter-institutional discourse within the European Union. However, due to the nature of European law which does not apply to the purely internal situations in the Member States, a completely guided exchange between the EU & candidate countries is not possible. The author holds that the unity of, & loyalty towards, the European constitutional framework in an enlarged European Union is best served by the discoursive construction of the meaning of constitutional choices, principles & rules. References. Adapted from the source document.

Svjetski su ratovi ostavili neizbrisiv trag ne samo za svog trajanja nego i kasnije. Jedan od načina prilagodbe čestim smjenama političkih režima karakterističnih za češku kulturu i književnost upravo je humor u književnosti. U središtu su ovoga rada tri romana, proizašla iz pera poznatih čeških prozaika: Doživljaji dobrog vojnika Švejka u svjetskom ratu Jaroslava Hašeka, Dvorio sam engleskoga kralja Bohumila Hrabala i Šala Milana Kundere. Koristeći humor kao dominantan književni diskurs, pisci formiraju lik marginaliziranih (anti)junaka koji, usprkos egzistenciji u različitim povijesnim vremenima, ratuju protiv rata. Nijansiranim će postupcima ironije, crnog humora, sarkazma i groteske razoružati rat i okove (poslije)ratnih ideologija – austrijskog imperijalizma, nacizma i socijalizma, svodeći ih pod apsurd. Svevremenost pacifizma koji zagovaraju ova će djela učiniti jednako privlačnima i današnjem krugu čitatelja. ; World wars have left an indelible trace while they lasted as well as in times after them. In Czech culture and literature one of the common ways of adapting to political regime changes is using humour in literary works. The paper focuses on three novels by famous Czech novelists: The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek, I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal and The Joke by Milan Kundera. By using humour as dominant literary discourse, the authors created marginalised characters, (anti)heroes who, despite living at different times, disarm the war. Nuanced irony, black humour, sarcasm and grotesque reveal the true face of wars and restraints of (post)war ideologies – Austrian imperialism, Nazism and socialism by treating them as absurd. Timelessness of pacifism which these works promote makes these books appealing to readers even nowadays.

This is the first chapter of Mirjana Gross's book, Izvorno pravastvo -- ideologija, agitacija, pokret (Genuine Party-of-Rights Spirit -- Ideology, Canvassing, Movement), which is to be published this year. Starcevic & Kvaternik's ideology, revolving around the central rallying cry for an independent Croatian state, is a sort of a combination of liberalism (in Starcevic's liberal democracy) & nationalism, ie, linking the influence of certain European thinkers & ideologues, from the antiquity to the mid-19th century, with the Croatian tradition & sociopolitical circumstances. This chapter briefly outlines those European political doctrines that inspired the Party-of-Right ideologues & that, partly adopted & interpreted in line with the Croatian national-integrational ideology, became part of their teaching. Adapted from the source document.

U članku je analiziran sovjetski pogled na zbivanja u drugoj najvećoj jugoslavenskoj republici tijekom druge polovine 50-ih i prve polovine 60-ih godina. Uzeta je u obzir situacija u Jugoslaviji i međusobni odnosi Beograda i Moskve. Dosad su se povjesničari zanimali prije svega za političku dimenziju međusobnih odnosa i sovjetske ocjene političkoga stanja u Jugoslaviji. Iako su politika i ideologija bile u centru pozornosti sovjetskih diplomata, u članku nisu zanemarena ni kulturna zbivanja u Federativnoj Narodnoj Republici Jugoslaviji (od 1963. Socijalističkoj Federativnoj Republici Jugoslaviji) ni gospodarski položaj zemlje. Ove su dimenzije čvrsto povezivali s političkom sferom te podređivali sovjetskim interesima prema Jugoslaviji. Članak je utemeljen na izvornoj arhivskoj građi prikupljenoj u Moskvi u Ruskom državnom arhivu novije povijesti (Российский государственный архив новейшей истории), u fondu Odjela za veze s komunističkim i radničkim partijama socijalističkih zemalja, koji je odgovarao za odnose sa zemljama komunističkoga uređenja. U radu je korištena i relevantna stručna literatura. ; The Soviet view of Croatia, as well as the situation in Yugoslavia, resulted from Soviet interests, its efforts to draw Yugoslavia into its orbit of influence. Particular reluctance was evident on the realm of ideology and purported Western influence, the effectiveness of which was exaggerated in the Soviet documents. In the political dimension, the Kremlin was interested to which extent directives from the center were implemented at the republican level. The attitudes of local politicians toward the actions of the central authorities were also the matter of interest for Soviets. The fact that Croatia was the second richest republic and its aspiration for greater decision-making were regarded as negative phenomenon. Discussions about the competencies of the republics were depicted as closely tied to the national question, referring to the difficult experiences of the first half of the 20th century. In the economic and cultural sphere, there was particular interest in the possibilities of cooperation and building up one's own influence in the Croatian SR. Despite the negative perception of many phenomena in Yugoslav culture, where a critical stance toward the USSR was expressed in film, literature, and the press, Moscow believed that through the presence of Soviet culture - often such as music and theater - it would be possible to gradually gain approval of the public sphere. The Kremlin's propaganda, however, was not as effective in Yugoslavia-as it was throughout the world-as it was in the West. The Soviets paid more attention to events in the center of the country, although they did not ignore regional events either.

The author outlines the development of democracy in Latin America & considers the political trends & the period of development of Venezuela in the second half of the 20th century. Unlike other states in the region, in which undemocratic regimes still prevails, Venezuela has been a democratic state since 1958. In regards to the fact that its democratic development has latter been following the trend in the region, the author considers the case of Venezuela as a sign-post of the political trends in Latin America. As Hugo Chavez has recently been trying to change the representative democracy to a plebiscite democracy, the author comes to the conclusion that the case of Venezuela is a mark of the future political development of Latin America. These changes can be seen as a potential come back of a softer version of authoritarianism. 27 References. Adapted from the source document.