Suchergebnisse

The author gives an overview of political sociology as a (sub)discipline of modern political science, with special reference to Croatia. The paper consists of three parts. In the first part the method and the development of modern political sociology is given by putting special emphasis on the eclectic nature of the (sub)discipline. The second part is dedicated to the bibliometric analysis with respect to the subject matter of political sociology of three journals relevant to political science in Croatia, namely Politicka misao, Anali Hrvatskog politoloskog drustva and Suvremene teme. The analysis results show an extremely small number of papers in the field of political sociology in all three journals, as well as the uneven distribution of topics within the subject of political sociology. The third and final part of the paper compares Croatian experiences in the field of political sociology with international trends and other political science (sub)disciplines. The author concludes that the Croatian political sociology is underdeveloped and inconsistent with the topics of political sociologies in other countries. Adapted from the source document.

The perceptions of science by the Croatian public & the political elite are a combination of scientific-technological optimism, the exemption of science from social responsibility, the skepticism regarding the speed of changes that science brings into people's lives, & a mixture of cognitive realism & optimism, & the reservations towards the cognitive possibilities of science. Also, the perceptions of science by the public & by the elite differ significantly. The public perceptions link modernism & traditionalism, confidence & a lack of it in the socially responsible role of science (& technology). Politicians nurture three different views of science. The first view implies both the beneficial & the neutral social role of science. The second view implies the reservations of the elite regarding the humanistic social role of science & its cognitive power, while the third way links the cognitive limitations of science & the skepticism regarding the way in which it changes the traditional way of life. The perception of science by the public depends on the social composition, while the politicians' views are significantly influenced by their political worldview & orientations & party allegiance. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

The author analyzes the classical postulate of Hobbes' political theory, starting from the negation of man's social character, with which Hobbes broke from the Aristotelian tradition. The author also shows through Hobbes' theory that the category of fear is a crucial notion in modern political science. During the later development of political thought, however, the category of fear remained outside the main scope of interest of political theory, it was pushed on the margins of theoretical study & was thrown out of the field of politics. The author stresses that power, & the desire for it is Hobbes' political constant, seeing the thesis on power as one Hobbes' most significant politico-sociological or even anthropological theses. It could also be said that in Hobbes' model, fear produces power, namely, that power, to use the contemporary language of psychoanalysis, is a compensation for fear & insecurity. The author also shows that Hobbes built his entire political theory on conclusions which he drew from the analysis of an extreme situation, the situation of civil war, i.e. war of all against all. His doctrine of the natural state is based one the experience of civil war. People want the same things, of which there is not enough to go around, & so they become enemies. The author draws the conclusion that the superior sovereignty of Leviathan came about in the following categorical way: instinct for self-preservation -- fear of violent death -- distrust -- a conflict of all against all -- social contract -- sovereign power of the state of Leviathan. References. Adapted from the source document.

The paper starts from hypothesis that current religious change may be best approached within the categorical framework not of a sociology of religion, conceived of & practiced as a sociology of religion of individuals & values, but a political sociology of religion (Guizzardi), focused on political exchange aimed at generating legitimacy &, therefore, creating consensus. Two current complementary trends of religious change, described as politicization of religion & religionization of politics (Robertson), are interpreted in such a way. First, some aspects of the current politicization of religion have been identified & described. Second, the crucial aspects of the religionization of politics, projected primarily on the background of transitional processes in former Yugoslavia, have been identified & analyzed. Finally, an interpretation of such trends has been elaborated, basically by taking into consideration two crucial discrepancies & their precariousness. The first one is the discrepancy & precariousness of legitimacy of dominant political strategies to be obtained by a politics coherently situated in the relative, dissociated from any kind of absolute & sacred. The second is the discrepancy & precariousness of a possible religious revival to be achieved strictly on religious bases. 35 References. Adapted from the source document.

The paper starts from hypothesis that current religious change may be best approached within the categorical framework not of a sociology of religion, conceived of & practiced as a sociology of religion of individuals & values, but a political sociology of religion (Guizzardi), focused on political exchange aimed at generating legitimacy &, therefore, creating consensus. Two current complementary trends of religious change, described as politicization of religion & religionization of politics (Robertson), are interpreted in such a way. First, some aspects of the current politicization of religion have been identified & described. Second, the crucial aspects of the religionization of politics, projected primarily on the background of transitional processes in former Yugoslavia, have been identified & analyzed. Finally, an interpretation of such trends has been elaborated, basically by taking into consideration two crucial discrepancies & their precariousness. The first one is the discrepancy & precariousness of legitimacy of dominant political strategies to be obtained by a politics coherently situated in the relative, dissociated from any kind of absolute & sacred. The second is the discrepancy & precariousness of a possible religious revival to be achieved strictly on religious bases. 35 References. Adapted from the source document.

The concept of social capital (SC) has gained wide acceptance & usage in social sciences, particularly in sociology, political science & institutional economics. This paper reconsiders the dynamics of social capital in Croatia presented in a previous article (Stulhofer, 2001). Using data from the two cross-national social science research projects (World Values Survey -- Croatia 1995 & South East European Social Survey, 2003), the author analyses changes in generalized trust, trust in institutions, & membership in civic associations during the 1995 2003 period. The findings point to a decrease in SC, which can not be solely attributed to the situational effects of war present in 1995. The strongest predictor of the negative dynamics of SC in Croatia remains the perception of corruption within state institutions. 6 Tables, 33 References. Adapted from the source document.

Did the social changes of 1989/90, both on the territory of the former Yugoslavia & the entire Eastern Europe, surprise political analysts? Or did the research in social sciences, particularly political science, sociology, & 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 & published between 1980 & 1990 &, by hindsight, shows their relevance for understanding the recent radical & 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 & later political, gave rise to social unrest, which soon turned into general agitation. The powerful presence of the authoritarian structure of personality in these territories, the enduring xenophobia that, in combination with the appropriate ideological manipulation, easily leads to open inter-ethnic conflicts, the lack of both an adequate political culture & the democratic mechanisms of overcoming conflicts, within the context of decrepitude of an ideological project in a multiethnic community rife with historical conflicts, inevitably led into open conflicts. 5 Tables, 2 Figures, 15 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author looks into one of the most important concepts in the last decade of comparative research: social capital. The concept of social capital was originally developed in sociology, where it denotes potential benefits that individuals enjoy, derived from their involvement in various social networks. This concept was fully utilized in the field of comparative politics into which it was "introduced" by Robert Putnam in Making Democracy Work, in which he presents the results of his research in which he establishes a positive link between social capital -- embodied in the norms of generalized reciprocity, horizontal networks, & trust -- & higher levels of democratic efficiency. In the last decade, the concept has been used in a number of studies in comparative politics, the starting point of which was the thesis that spatial & temporal differences in the levels of political efficiency may, at least partly, be explained by the level of social capital of a community. By comparing the concepts of political culture & social capital, the author concludes that social capital is a major conceptual innovation in comparative politics & represents a revival of social/cultural variables in comparative analysis. 63 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author looks into one of the most important concepts in the last decade of comparative research: social capital. The concept of social capital was originally developed in sociology, where it denotes potential benefits that individuals enjoy, derived from their involvement in various social networks. This concept was fully utilized in the field of comparative politics into which it was "introduced" by Robert Putnam in Making Democracy Work, in which he presents the results of his research in which he establishes a positive link between social capital -- embodied in the norms of generalized reciprocity, horizontal networks, & trust -- & higher levels of democratic efficiency. In the last decade, the concept has been used in a number of studies in comparative politics, the starting point of which was the thesis that spatial & temporal differences in the levels of political efficiency may, at least partly, be explained by the level of social capital of a community. By comparing the concepts of political culture & social capital, the author concludes that social capital is a major conceptual innovation in comparative politics & represents a revival of social/cultural variables in comparative analysis. 63 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author looks into the political, historical, & intellectual beginnings of the debate about liberalism & communitarianism in the US from the standpoint of sociology. Then he goes on to describe its reception in Europe & finally to depict in greater detail its course in Germany. The purpose of the whole analysis may be reduced to the investigation of the possibilities for a transfer of theoretical & political debates from one into another national & social & political hermeneutical situation. On the one hand, the author is skeptical towards such transfers since they are at the same time very courageous transformations, while on the other this points to the common economic & political characteristics of contemporary industrial societies of the West that enable such transfers & make them understandable. Adapted from the source document.