Suchergebnisse

The author claims that certain insights relevant for the future of the state may be drawn from the evolution of the modern state & the society. He goes on to prove it by describing the emergence of the modern state & by analyzing the allegations about the demise of the state. The traditional elements of the state such as the territory, the centralized state power, & the nation used to be the dogma of the science of the state, paradigmatically evolved by Georg Jellinek. Today, however, there is the question of what remains of such a traditional state? The author thinks that the state territory has been losing ground both legally & practically. The examples are the EU countries & the blurring of their borders. The nation has been threatened by migrations, both forced & voluntary, while state power as an element of the state has been challenged by the growing power of economic associations & multinational companies. In his reference to Haberle, the author advocates the introduction of culture as the fourth element of the state. According to this concept, the citizens design a constitution that is centered on individuals & their dignity. This interpretation of human beings is characteristic for European culture, the foundation of the future development of Europe. The author claims that the state is going to remain an important factor in the prosperity of society & the medium of legitimation; most probably, it is going to make the transition into the cooperative constitutional state. Its cooperativeness is based on the interconnection of international, supranational, & regional relations, on accepting common responsibilities, & on readiness for solidarity & humanity. 9 References. Adapted from the source document.

Was Wesley Clark, NATO's commander-in-chief, right when he said that, instead of launching operation 'Allied Force' against it, the allies should have electronically isolated SR Yugoslavia? Yugoslav hackers & crackers used to good advantage the freedom of cyberspace. During NATO's intervention, they declared a real 'virtual war' to all the countries supportive of this campaign, particularly to the US. By swooping down by all available means on numerous official web pages of various American institutions & totally abusing the communicational freedoms on the Net, Yugoslav hackers in fact demonstrated a small part of the possibilities of the new e-force. However, the deleterious consequences of Yugoslav online users' activities were so harmful that they prodded the international community into issuing a blunt warning to the Serbian Telecom -- we shall switch you off from the Internet! The objective of this research is primarily to evidence a totally novel phenomenon on the Internet, the first organized virtual war taking place in cyberspace, at the time when a real military campaign was waged against SRY. One of the outcomes of these activities was 'striking out' the documents from the Net that had been preserved only in Mucalo & Svilicic's archive. There are no additional scientific resources, since the key sources for this article were the Internet & newspaper articles. Although envisaged as a medium available to all, the Internet must soon be safeguarded & protected by legal means. Otherwise, it might simply cave in under the onslaught of all abuses & innumerable viruses circulating the global cyberspace. Due to the increase in the number of users & services, it may be expected that soon a completely new branch of criminal law is to emerge -- computer crime. 2 Figures, 21 References. Adapted from the source document.

Two analyses have been carried out for the purpose of this study. The first refers to the analysis of the gender differences in the development of civil sense (understanding citizenship) & the practice of citizenship (practicing citizenship). The second refers primarily to the analysis of the variables of the "school experience" (the school climate or the perceived opportunity for an open classroom discussion, & the variables of the perceived tasks of classroom learning or education) & how they influence the expected voting behaviour of adults. The findings were compared to similar international comparative studies (the 2001 TEA study, C. Hahn's study of 1998). Our study has shown that the gender differences regarding the civil political sense & the culture among young people have been diminishing but have not fully disappeared, & that there are significant differences among individual countries in that respect. Our research has shown that there are significant gender differences in their understanding of citizenship; these differences are somewhat smaller for the variable of the practice of citizenship among high-school students. However, those differences are not particularly pronounced. It seems that it is no longer justified to talk about civil political culture as "male culture," though gender still creates marked differences but no longer solely in favour of men. We have not come to the end of the road leading to a balanced civil political culture yet, at least regarding gender. & secondly, our study has shown that the political education of students & the perceived tasks of political education in schools influence the expected adult voting behaviour. This confirms the thesis that the classroom political education is relevant, at least to a limited degree, for the key variables of civil sense & practice. 4 Tables, 6 References. Adapted from the source document.

As Croatia prepares for membership in the EU (most likely in 2013), its foreign policy is in a need of re-conceptualisation. In the first 20 years of its independence (declared in 1991), Croatian foreign policy has been through three different phases. Each of them was focused on one single objective. The three objectives that have marked three distinguished phases of Croatian foreign policy were: 1) international recognition of its statehood; 2) territorial re-integration and 3) membership in NATO and the EU. When (and if) it joins the EU, the country will have to change its single-objective based foreign policy for a multiple-objectives foreign policy approach. It will have to take into consideration a whole set of new issues, some of which will be global in character. In addition, it will need to harmonise its own priorities with those of other EU member-states. The article focuses on options that are available to foreign-policy decision-makers when they wish to re-orientate the foreign policy of a country. In particular, the author looks at the options available to small states and small powers. The outcome of the process will be influenced by the size and ambitions of the country, as well as by internal political and ideological dynamics in Croatian politics, which would need to become better harmonised with political trends in the EU. The author approaches foreign policy decision-making as a dynamic process in which ideas and values matter. For that reason, he focuses not only on interaction between states but also interaction between three main party families within the European context: 1) Liberals, 2) Conservatives and 3) Socialists. In particular, he looks at the differences they have on two main issues for the future of the EU: 1) further enlargement of the EU and 2) global ambitions of the EU. The article is drawing on contemporary literature on foreign policy of small states and small powers. It argues that Croatia needs more strategic thinking in order to make best use of new opportunities. Adapted from the source document.

As Croatia prepares for membership in the EU (most likely in 2013), its foreign policy is in a need of re-conceptualisation. In the first 20 years of its independence (declared in 1991), Croatian foreign policy has been through three different phases. Each of them was focused on one single objective. The three objectives that have marked three distinguished phases of Croatian foreign policy were: 1) international recognition of its statehood; 2) territorial re-integration and 3) membership in NATO and the EU. When (and if) it joins the EU, the country will have to change its single-objective based foreign policy for a multiple-objectives foreign policy approach. It will have to take into consideration a whole set of new issues, some of which will be global in character. In addition, it will need to harmonise its own priorities with those of other EU member-states. The article focuses on options that are available to foreign-policy decision-makers when they wish to re-orientate the foreign policy of a country. In particular, the author looks at the options available to small states and small powers. The outcome of the process will be influenced by the size and ambitions of the country, as well as by internal political and ideological dynamics in Croatian politics, which would need to become better harmonised with political trends in the EU. The author approaches foreign policy decision-making as a dynamic process in which ideas and values matter. For that reason, he focuses not only on interaction between states but also interaction between three main party families within the European context: 1) Liberals, 2) Conservatives and 3) Socialists. In particular, he looks at the differences they have on two main issues for the future of the EU: 1) further enlargement of the EU and 2) global ambitions of the EU. The article is drawing on contemporary literature on foreign policy of small states and small powers. It argues that Croatia needs more strategic thinking in order to make best use of new opportunities. Adapted from the source document.

Describes the study of the evolution of the awareness (understanding) & the practice (activities, participation) of citizenship among Croatian high school students (the first new generation of full-age citizens). The research was conducted in line with similar models in relevant international studies, which enabled a comparative analysis. The analysis of the concept (basic theory) of citizenship was followed by a comparative analysis of the development & the distribution of the citizenship awareness & the yardsticks of the practice of citizenship among Croatian high school students. A number of indicators of the awareness of citizenship (civic identity, the model & the type of citizenship, the concept of the "good citizen," & the concept of the rights & duties of citizens in democracy), & several measures of the practice of citizenship (political interest, discussing politics, following news in the media, the expected conventional & protest political activism, political tolerance) have been used. The comparative analysis has shown that the Croatian students are in some aspects of citizenship at the level of students in many of the comparison nations, but that in others there are significant differences; eg, their level of political interest is significantly lower. The analysis has shown that there is a high awareness of the rights, but relatively a low awareness of the duties, which may be the main problem in the development of political culture of Croatian students & citizens. The expected conventional & protest participation among the Croatian students is significantly lower than among students from other countries. The research also shows that among Croatian students (that phenomenon has also been noticed in other countries) there is a significant discrepancy between, for example, the awareness of the rights & duties of citizens in democracy & the level of political tolerance: the high level of awareness of one's rights (freedom of speech, association, etc) coexists with a relatively low level of tolerance. Thus, it can be said that various inconsistencies tag & "burden" the evolution of citizenship among Croatian high school students. 13 Tables, 40 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author looks into the structure & explanation of the socioeconomic expectations of young people regarding Croatia's future drawing on the theoretical framework & operational model of historical consciousness & on findings of a 1995 international study of 27 European countries & a replication of the study in Croatia in 2000. The findings show that the structure of such expectations may be explained by a universal factor of sociopolitical pessimistic/optimistic expectations of Croatia's future. This structure is in line with the expectations of young people from other European states concerning the future of their respective countries. Unlike in other European states, the Croatian youth in 1995 were optimistic in their socioeconomic assessments. The same conclusion was reached in 2000, the only exception being the pupils of Serbian extraction from the Danube region; this group represents the most pessimistic group at both levels of comparison. The perceptions of the present can account for 8%-20% of the variance of the variable of the expectations of young people. There is a significant decrease in the predictive power of the ethnic-religious value orientation, while the influence of attributing material differences to injustice in the society is constant. Concerning interethnic differences in the Danube region, it seems that the opposite expectations are partly due to the identical ideological ethnocentric pattern, indicative of the perpetuation of the attitudes generated during the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. The notions of the past can explain 12%-13% of the variant of the criterion variable. In most samples, the best single predictor is the critical attitude toward democracy as a historical product, with the exception of the pupils of Serbian extraction in the Danube region; together with other predictors, this indicates that the expectations about Croatia's future of these youth are not based on the perception of democratic processes. Also, they reflect a lower level of confidence in the democratic institutions of the Republic of Croatia. 4 Tables, 2 Figures, 16 References. Adapted from the source document.