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)
Recent theoretical and empirical research in economic science and other social sciences has indicated a growing interest in the interdependence of social capital and public governance. The aim of the paper is to identify the basic channels and mechanisms for the contribution of social capital to the quality of public governance, based on the analysis of the interdependence of social capital and public governance. The subject of this doctoral dissertation is social capital as a determinant of the quality of public governance. Statistical methods - regression and correlation analysis - were applied to determine cause and effect relationships between the investigated phenomena. The analysis covers selected transition economies (10 Central and Eastern European countries: Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania, as well as the Republic of Serbia) for the two comparative time series relating to 2010 and 2016. year. The results of correlation and regression analysis confirmed the starting hypothesis that there is a relationship of interdependence between social capital and public governance. In addition, selected theoretical and empirical research has shown the validity of hypotheses that a higher level of trust creates the conditions for the development of effective formal institutions, and that social participation influences the development of a more responsible and responsive public administration. Particular attention in this doctoral dissertation is also devoted to the analysis of the state of social capital and the performance of public governance in the Republic of Serbia. Also, the observed tendencies in the structure of public governance in the Republic of Serbia indicate the importance of combating corruption and strengthening the rule of law. The research findings in this doctoral dissertation represent a significant input to macroeconomic policy makers in transition economies and provide a basis for considering the importance of social capital and its individual components, as determinants of improving the quality of public governance.
The theory of public choice is a major link between political science and economic science. It includes economic research into the issue of non- market decision-making i.e. the application of economic analysis to political decision-making. The champions of the theory of public choice have most confidence in the market and the market institutions. They try to explain political decision-making by means of the standards operating on the market. The public choice theory approach is based on the concept of methodological individualism and homo oeconomicus, since individuals try to promote their own interests both on the market and in politics. Theoreticians of public choice investigate voters' behaviour, the roles of politicians, political parties, and interest groups in complex democratic societies. Central for their research is the political process in which voters behave as buyers, politicians as entrepreneurs, while bureaucrats are prone to self-aggrandisement and their ambition is to boost the significance of their office. The theory of public choice emphasises the category of exchange (political exchange) and the catalectic approach to economy. (SOI : PM: S. 100)
Häberle claims constitutional law is a comparative experiential science closely linked with political science with which it shares the research subject. The constitutional state has been going through a permanent process of changes; the central question is who is the prime mover of constitutional changes: constitutional/legal institutions, constitutional/lega science and political science or public opinion and political culture of citizens? By analysing the recent history of the changes of the German constitutions he suggests that all these factors contribute to constitutional changes. Nevertheless, as an expert for law and political science, who considers himself as belonging to the wider European scientific community, Häberle thinks that the decisive influences in constitutional changes stem from legal and political sciences and concludes: Sine qua (scientia) mortalium vita non regitur liberaliter. (Without science, mortals do not command their life freely). (SOI : PM: S. 186)
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.
The essay describes the evolution of the concept of political culture, from th concepts such as Comte's 'consensus', Durkheim's 'collective awareness', Weber's 'significance of individual actions', to Parson's 'action frame of reference', and Mead's 'national character'. The development began with Comte's search for differentia specifica of social sciences in relation to oth positive sciences and finished in 1963 with the introduction of the concept of political culture into political science by G. Mmond and S. Verba. Our analysis has shown that many definitions of political culture point out that i essence lies in people's beliefs since political culture is a set of beliefs regarding politics. As much as it may seem a paradox, it cannot be reduced to mere individual beliefs, but represents a system of inter-subjective opinions on various political objects. This explains the possible discrepancies between the political events and the political beliefs of the people, between their behaviour and political culture, and so on. Contrary to the belief of some authors, it has been shown how political culture may and should be taken as a common denominator for a variety of opinions on politics. Political attitudes, values, norms, public opinion and political ideologies are nothing but different manifestations of political culture. Thus, the concept of political culture includes diverse facets of the subjective attitude of people towards politics. This is the asset and not the downside of this concept, as some authors would have it. It is pointed out that the manifold manifestations of political culture do not carry the same 'weight' in explaining the political activism of people and the functioning of political systems. The relationship between these manifestations is extremely complex and a challenge for research. It is this very relationship that could explain the stable and less stable (i.e. stable and vacillating) reactions of people in their political activity. (SOI : PM: S. 128)
The author discusses the basic structure of Mancur Olson's political economy. He highlights three concepts on which it is based - public goods, interest groups, and selective incentives. The last concept represents Olson's innovation in contemporary political science. The author's central methodical assumption is based on the insight that Olson's key theory is linked with the so-called public goods paradox. Unlike private goods, public goods are non-competitive and non-exclusive, which means that it is not possible to bar those who do not share the costs of their production from using them. On the basis of this, Olson has developed the original theory of interest groups. By looking into the costs of organizing along interest lines as a collective activity whose result is a public good, he distinguishes between large, heterogeneous, and small, homogeneous groups. Besides, he has shown that, regarding public goods, individuals tend to behave as free riders, defaulters who try to avoid the costs of securing these goods. The author shows that Olson has, notwithstanding certain flimsiness of his reductionist methodology, significantly revamped political science. (SOI : PM: S. 202)
Local government is a complex system of management (Holding Company) that directly provides various services to the local community or operates a service delivery system, of a "higher" managerial (political, economic, social) level. The services provided in local government are very numerous and different in character. In this multitude of services, utilities can be considered as the local government services in the narrow sense. Utilities are services provided by local governments that meet the needs and interests of citizens and organizations. All utilities are, in fact, activities providing utilities, that is, services provided by local governments, through their bodies, organizations and services. The actions that implement these utilities are expertly technical actions and procedures, but what precedes the undertaking of these utilities is determined by the General Administrative Procedures Act (GAPA). Therefore, the provision of public utilities has its own expert and technical aspect, as well as administrative, which accompanies it before, during and after, in terms of utility services management. The optimization of administrative procedures has become an important goal of administrative reform in many countries and involves a number of measures. What is primary is determining administrative costs and burdens, which are a significant barrier to business as well as meeting citizens' daily needs. After enlisting of the administrative procedures, it is necessary to analyze and then optimize the administrative procedures related to communal services, in order to determine which procedures need to be simplified and which should be abolished. After the analysis has been carried out, the proposal will be prepared for the amendment, or simplification of administrative procedures, as well as the eventual abolition of those that are unnecessary. ; Published
The Republic of Serbia represents an employer for civil servants and employees, for employees who perform tasks within the scope of state administration bodies, courts, public prosecutors' offices, for police officers as a separate category of civil servants, etc. The regulation of the labor legal status of these persons is also carried out through the conclusion of special collective agreements in addition to the normative. A significant part of the state administration is made up of public services that, by their significance and manner of carrying out tasks of general interest, as well as by the method of financing, represent the central level of the state that encompasses the entities which are responsible for the provision of predominantly non-market services which the state is obliged to provide in order to meet the general needs of its people. The concept of administration has been established as a profession of general interest. Administration carried out by the state authorities itself is viewed in a narrower sense, and when we look at the administration through public services or public administration, we have to bear in mind that non-state actors are also entrusted with administrative activities. Based on the nature of their work, state authorities have a significant administrative function in regulating tasks and prerequisites which are important for collective negotiations in the public sector. The state administration also carries out registration of social partners, tasks related to determining the representativeness of social partners, registration of collective agreements and decision-making on the extended effect of the collective agreement. Relevant authorities, councils, state administration boards and special organizations perform their activities through tripartite and bipartite social dialogue, and decisions are made by consensus. The state administration performs and ensures the performance of state functions important for collective negotiations in the public sector, conducts a procedure for obtaining the authority of representatives of state bodies and public services to start, negotiate and conclude a collective agreement. Also, the state administration has an active role in the process of registration of the collective agreements, as well as in the obligatory mediation and conciliation and arrangement of the minimum work process in activities of general interest. The state administration maintains the legal order and secures public interest through the procedure of concluding and applying collective agreements in the public sector. Through the realization of these activities, the participation of state entities in the conclusion of collective agreements opens the question of the legal nature of collective agreements, that is, leaves the possibility for the analysis and comparison of the collective agreement and the administrative contract. Collective agreement is a general act, but in its adoption, administrative-legal relationship is recognized as a significant relationship which is regulated by numerous norms of international and national law. Both contracts are concluded with the agreement of the contracting parties, and with the reduced authoritative function of the state administration. A particularly collective association of state bodies and public services can be considered as social acts that regulate rights, obligations and responsibilities from the employment of public sector employees, which contain mandatory and normative parts, but each is an autonomous source of labor law in the public sector.
Did the social changes of 1989/90, both on the territory of the forrner Yugoslavia and the entire Eastern Europe, surprise political analysts? Or did the research in social sciences, particularly political science, sociology and psychology, perhaps supply enough material pointing to the possible changes as well as to the course they were going to take? In this work, the author gives a critical review of his studies conducted and published between 1980 and 1990 and, by hindsight, shows their relevance for understanding the recent radical and dramatic changes. Inevitably, the conclusion is that the author's research had pointed to the existence of all psychological conditions necessary for the events that followed. The long crisis, first economic and later political, gave rise to social unrest which soon turned into general agitation. (SOI : PM: S. 114)
The media policy of a country is a part of its overall policy and depends on the totality of socio-historical circumstances, the level of cultural and economic development, as well as the possible social consensus on the necessity for acceptance and implementation of experiences and standards from the democratic world in this field. Unlike other areas for which local/state politics is defined, the media field has only recently become interesting from this point of view and, as it is often the case in transition countries, it is still not recognized as a clearly defined position of the ruling circles. This paper analyzes the process of major changes in the media system of Serbia after the democratic changes and government actions, which in the long run cannot be considered a precisely constituted media policy, but whose consequences have an impact on the state of the public sphere and of the media, and thus receive political significance. The most important indicator of the will of political circles is undoubtedly the regulatory level, which is why this paper deals particularly with the preparation, adoption, and practical implementation of media legislation enacted from 2000 onward. Considering the official Serbian aspirations to join the European Union, the issue of state media policy is also seen through the prism of European media policy.
Husserl's concept and definition of the living world represents a sort of the pinnacle of his later philosophical works. In the form of a new universal science - transcedental phenomenology - and by defining the living world as - for us - immediate and contiguous world, the known and acknowledged inter-subjectivity, Husserl provides a critique of the modern age i.e. the domination of the paradigm of the objectivist sciences. Husserl's phenomenology also delves into the equally central political and social problems of the contemporary age; Husserl calls for the establishment of a new rationality in judging social and political issues. Particular attention i given to Husserl's vehement critique of anti-liberalism as well as his novel relation "I - We", i. e. the individual and the community or the state. (SOI : PM: S. 153)
Inter-municipal cooperation (IMC), as a form of decentralized implementation of public services and as a part of the local government system, is seen as a means to ensure balanced regional development, better quality of public services, as well as a way to adjust the needs of government organization to the needs of a society, with respect to its structural characteristics and needs. In this paper, the basic forms of inter-municipal cooperation, subjects of cooperation, ways in which the cooperation operates, areas in which the cooperation is achieved, nature of the jurisdiction, financing and management methods, affecting factors, and the specific advantages and disadvantages of this form of decentralized implementation of public services are specified, through the analysis of relevant international documents from this field, experiences and practices from different European countries, as well as normative frameworks and practices of inter-municipal cooperation in Serbia. Bearing in mind that the practice of inter-municipal cooperation has not sufficiently come to life in Serbia, and that there is a number of questions related to it and to the other aspects of decentralization, this research is intended to boost the intensive progress of inter-municipal cooperation in Serbia, as a means to improve the decentralization of public services, and also to overcome the problems local governments are facing. The author finds that, unlike alternative solutions, inter-municipal cooperation preserves local autonomy, strengthening the capacity at the local level and ensuring the implementation of territorial reforms that are conducted "from below", according to the needs of the citizens. Inter-municipal cooperation, regardless of its form, is a type of decentralized implementation of public services. Although it is suspected that the certain form of concentration is achieved through integrated forms of cooperation, these tasks are still performed within a level that is not central; the state does not take any additional role, which would reduce the degree of independence of the entities that are not central, i.e. reduce the decentralized character of these services, or which would strengthen the centralizing tendencies of the state or strengthen state control. In Europe, you can see many examples of very effective cooperation, which has proved to be a solution not just for many structural problems of local government, but also for the vertical government organization in general. IMC provided the solutions that alternatively required radical changes in the territorial organization. Also, IMC proved to be a mechanism that provided regional policy, development goals, public-private partnerships and territorial harmonization. The existing legislative framework of inter-municipal cooperation in Serbia mainly emphasizes voluntary cooperation of individual local governments, without a hint of a widespread or better controlled integration. Apart from the fact that the obligatory cooperation is only an exception, even some of the fundamental questions of its establishment and implementation are not regulated. The need for cooperation consists mainly in providing the regional services and equitable development, in overcoming the limitations, as well as in the more adequate use of local capacities. However, the regulatory framework does not provide a reliable basis for the establishment of high quality, durable and effective partnerships. Given the existence of asymmetric decentralization, one-level local governments, uneven capacities, as well as the development of decentralized units in Serbia, some of the solutions of inter-municipal cooperation can be considered a means of ensuring regional requirements in countries that are characterized by similar solutions, i.e. problems, without any change in the constitutional concept of decentralization. The main areas where the promotion of decentralized systems can be established are regional and spatial development planning, public utility services, tourism, civil and environment protection services, local governments and so on.
The notions of "right" and "left" are a fundamental semantic pattern within which voters construct their political perceptions and attitudes. Their universal meaning lies in a simple spatial approach to politics as conflict; functionally, "right" and "left" are "shortcuts" for political communication. In the empirically oriented political science, the left- right scale has become a standard variable in public opinion polls. After the initial pessimistic interpretations, in the last twenty years or so, this scale has increasingly demonstrated its validity and reliability. The sources of the right-left identification may be manifold, and not solely ideological. Also, the right-left scheme has demonstrated a remarkable potential to - in time - encompass new political contents and thus create a need for new cross-national and longitudinal studies. Voters - and not scientists - are those who define what is left and what is right. (SOI : PM: S. 168)