Suchergebnisse

Tax analysis and forecasting of revenues are of paramount importance to ensure fiscal policy's viability and sustainability. However, the measures taken to contain the spread of the recent pandemic pose an unprecedented challenge to established models and approaches. This paper proposes a model to forecast tax revenues in Bulgaria for the fiscal years 2020–2022 built in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's recommendations on a dataset covering the period between 1995 and 2019. The study further discusses the actual trustworthiness of official Bulgarian forecasts, contrasting those figures with the model previously estimated. This study's quantitative results both confirm the pandemic's assumed negative impact on tax revenues and prove that econometrics can be tweaked to produce consistent revenue forecasts even in the relatively-unexplored case of Bulgaria offering new insights to policymakers and advocates. ; Porezna analiza i predviđanje prihoda je od izuzetne (najveće) važnosti kako bi se osigurala održivost fiskalne politike. Međutim, mjere poduzete za suzbijanje širenja nedavne pandemije predstavljaju neviđeni izazov za ustaljene modele i pristupe. Ovaj rad predlaže model za predviđanje poreznih prihoda u Bugarskoj za fiskalne godine 2020-2022. izrađen u skladu s preporukama Međunarodnog monetarnog fonda o skupu podataka koji pokriva razdoblje između 1995. i 2019. Studija dalje razmazra stvarnu pouzdanost službenih bugarskih prognoza, suprotstavljajući te brojke odgovarajućim procijenjenim modelima. Kvantitativni rezultati ove studije potvrđuju pretpostavljeni negativni uticaj pandemije na porezne prihode i dokazuju da se statistika može prilagoditi kako bi se proizvele dosljedne prognoze prihoda čak i u relativno neistraženom slučaju Bugarske koja nudi nove uvide kreatorima politike i zagovornicima.

The paper analyses the problems that have been undermining the US recruitment policy for the last two decades - which is aimed at providing soldiers for imperial disciplining wars waged on the planetary periphery - as a case study to test the validity of theoretical assumptions about the transition to the age of post-heroic warfare. The departing hypothesis is based on stance that the United States, being the only remained superpower, experience a gradual and less visible process of losing popular support for military conscription, which the author employs here as an ideal of national vitality and a pillar of modern citizenship, as well as a feature of masculinity and the realm for self-realisation. The analysis takes place primarily in the field of anthropology and sociology and employs theoretical positions of social constructivism to complement narrow theoretical and methodological approaches of political science which are typically applied in the study of international relations. The analysis focuses on the "cracks" and deformations in the construction of ideals of warfare and heroism, which emerge as a result of the interaction of man - both as an individual and a member of the political community - the public, and the US foreign policy decisions designed to meet the needs and requirements of successful disciplinary imperial warfare. The author concludes that theoretical assumptions about entering the age of post-heroic warfare are valid due to the recruitment crisis in the US military, the unpopularity of the military profession, the commodification of warfare and death, the transformation of war into an industrial process, and misleading media portrayals of dead and wounded soldiers.

Official development assistance (ODA) implies the movement of capital with a minimum of one quarter of grant. It was established in the second half of the previous century, with the aim of getting developed countries to set aside a part of their gross domestic product (GDP) as an aid intended for developing countries. In the European Union, development assistance implies a policy which was established at the very beginning of the integration process, but it was not until the Treaty on the European Union was signed that it obtained its legal basis. Today, the European Union is a key partner of developing countries, and together with member states it ensures more than a half of the ODA assets. The countries of the Western Balkans are categorized among the developing countries and receive aid via loans and grants from developed countries and international institutions. The European Union's support is divided into the aid intended for the countries that are in the process of accession and the aid which is meant for other, less-developed countries. The distinction between these two forms of assistance is very difficult, because the character of the support changes in the course of accession process. The scientific problem that this paper deals with pertains to identification of the intensity of the European Union Official Development Assistance and the level of development of the Western Bal-kans. The assets of the European Union's assistance to the region of the WesternBalkans are necessary, yet not sufficient for achieving a higher level of developmentand the European standards in all directions.

This work analyses the relation between democracy and political participation, the typology and model of political participation, the findings of the research of political participation in the world (S. Verba, N. H. Nie, 1972; S. H. Barnes, M. Kaase, 1 979; and others), and the research of the same phenomenon on a sample of Croatian students. This analysis has shown that today all the elements necessary for a more comprehensive theory of political participation are in place. This theory would enable a more systematic and standardized investigation of this phenomenon in the national and the international context. The article also shows how the non- conventional participation is gaining ground while the conventional is gradually levelling out. Significant are the results of the analysis of the etiology of political participation, particularly the relation between the standard SES model and the model of value orientations (left-right materialism, materialism-postrnaterialism, etc.). The analysis of the model of participation of Croatian students has shown that the model of protest behaviour/potential' has a more complex etiology than other models, such as conventional participation and voting in parliamentary elections. Thus, for the "protest potential" it is necessary to possess a developed civic competence, a critical attitude towards the government's performance, a liberal arts education, etc., while for the conventional participation it is central to have a higher level of political interest. Significant differences between the Croatian students and those from other European countries can be observed regarding the role of value orientations in explaining political participation. (SOI : PM: S. 140)

The author looks into the documents about the protection of minorities, designed by the Council of Europe as the oldest organization promoting the idea of European unity. He also analyzes the steps that the Republic of Croatia has made in its desire to join the Euro-Atlantic integrations. Croatian politics, in line with the will of the Croatian citizens expressed in the elections of January 2000, has tried to reach that goal by satisfying the required criteria. (SOI : PM: S. 128)

Polazeći od uverenja da u savremenom svetu postoji izuzetno visok nivo uzajamnezavisnosti država i regiona, odnosno nedeljivost bezbednosti na globalnom nivou,Republika Srbija se u svom delovanju na spoljnopolitičkom planu zalaže za afirmacijukoncepta kooperativne bezbednosti. Smatrajući da se razvijanjem procesa saradnje nabilateralnom i multilateralnom planu može znatno doprineti nacionalnojbezbednosti, zalaže se za jačanje uloge Ujedinjenih nacija kao svetske organizacije,dobijanje statusa članice Evropske unije i aktivno učešće u programu NATO"Partnerstvo za mir", uz stav o neutralnosti zemlje u odnosu na postojeće vojne saveze.Tokom prethodne decenije (naročito poslednjih nekoliko godina) evidentna jeekspanzija u pogledu upotrebe Vojske Srbije u multinacionalnim operacijama. Uzizuzetno povećanje broja angažovanih pripadnika Ministarstva odbrane i Vojske Srbije,proširen je i okvir delovanja – pored misija Ujedinjenih nacija naša zemlja učestvuje iu multinacionalnim operacijama Evropske unije.Kao jedan od osnivača Pokreta nesvrstanih zemalja, u uslovima blokovske podelesveta, Jugoslavija je među članicama Ujedinjenih nacija bila veoma zapažena zbog svogučešća u mirovnim misijama, čime je davala konkretan doprinos očuvanju mira u svetu.U izmenjenim međunarodnim okolnostima nakon "hladnog rata", priroda sukoba u svetuse bitno promenila (sa međudržavnog, težište sukoba je pomereno na nivo unutardržava), a samim tim i način njihovog rešavanja. Nastavljajući tradiciju učešća umirovnim operacijama Ujedinjenih nacija, naša zemlja daje znatan doprinos savremenimmultidimenzionalnim operacijama. ; Starting from the belief that there is a very high level of interdependence betweencountries and regions in the modern world, that is indivisibility of security at a global level, theRepublic of Serbia, acting on its foreign policy plan, advocates affirmation of cooperativesecurity concept. Considering the fact that development of cooperation at a bilateral andmultilateral level can significantly contribute to national security, it advocates strengthening ofthe role of the UN as the world organization, getting the status of the EU member and activeparticipation in the NATO programme "Partnership for Peace", taking into account the opinionon neutrality of the country in relation to the existing military alliances.During the previous decade (particularly the last couple of years) the expansion in termsof the Serbian Armed Forces engagement in multinational operations has been obvious. Inaddition to a significant increase in the number of the engaged Ministry of Defence and SerbianArmed Forces personnel, the engagement framework has been expanded – besides the UNmissions our country participates in the EU multinational operations, as well.As one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement, in the condition of the worlddivision into blocs, Yugoslavia was rather noticeable among the UN members due to itsparticipation in peacekeeping missions, thus giving a concrete contribution to peacekeeping inthe world. In the changed international circumstances after the Cold War, the nature of conflictsin the world has largely changed (the focus of conflicts has been transferred from intercountry toa level of intracountry conflicts), and the way of their resolution, as well. Following the traditionof participation in the UN peacekeeping operations, our country gives a significant contributionto contemporary multidimensional operations.

The Ministry of Science of the Republic of Croatia decided on a new "Rule book of definition of scientific areas". By the "Book", politology is a scientific field in the area of social sciences. The field is divided in three branches: 1. politology, 2. theory and history of politics, 3. political philosophy. The author of this article shows by documents how the "political science" is quite differently structured by IPSA and APSA, and describes 120 years of dominantly American development of "political science" and of professions of political scientists which brought out a recent new world standard with around 100 subdisciplines and areas of expertise which are structured in 8 fundamental disciplines: 1. political institutions, 2. political behaviour, 3. comparative politics, 4. internationa relations, 5. political theory, 6. public policy and public administration/management, 7. political economy, 8. political methodology. The author points out that a voluntaristic intervention in the definition of scientific areas could mean an attack on development of science, research organisation, renewal of teaching staff on University, and on academic education of political scientists, as well as on internationally comparable competence of Croatian experts, and Croatian democratic political thought and political culture in general. (SOI : PM: S. 240)

Rad pokušava objasniti objektivnu razliku između državnog saveza i saveza država kao oblika federativnog odnosno konfederativnog uređenja odnosa među članicama, odnosno distingvirati između sintagmi statusa države i državnog statusa te uputiti na nužnost razlikovanja ustavnog kontinuiteta koji postoji u uslovima kad država ne mijenja status države i ustavnog diskontinuiteta kad dolazi do preobražaja državnog statusa određenog državnog subjekta. Na primjerima istorijskih i savremenih oblika unija, kroz istorijsku se dinamiku postojanja unija pokazuje da nijedna unija nije mogla niti može pretendovati da apsorbuje osnovne atribute članice/a, država, koje ječine. Ključna pitanja koja se obrađuju sa gledišta savremenog konstitucionalizma u odnosu na teorijski pojam unije su pitanja ustavnog diskontinuiteta do koga dolazi izlaskom članica unije iz njenog sastava, kao i posljedično tome međunarodnog priznanja i osamostaljenja članica unije. ; The paper attempts to explain the objective difference between a state union and a union of states as the respective forms of federative and confederative systems of government. It tries to distinguish between the expressions status of a country and state status and to point out the necessity of distinguishing between constitutional continuity that exists when a country does not change its status and constitutional discontinuity when the state status of a country is changed. The historical and contemporary examples of unions show that no union could have aspired or can aspire to absorb the basic features of its member state(s). The key issues, dealt with from the aspect of contemporary constitutionalism and theoretical idea of a union, are the issues of constitutional discontinuity that occurs when member state(s) decide to leave the unio n, form independent state(s) and demand international recognition