Suchergebnisse

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.

It is the authors' ambition to answer the following question: to ‎what extend does the political parties of national minorities influence‎ on the cultural autonomy in Serbia. With an intention of answering ‎the research question the author analize the role of minority parties ‎in establishing of National Minorities Councils (NMCs). NMCs are ‎the main institution of cultural autonomy in Serbia. There are twenty three ‎minority groups who have established National Minority Council,‎ there for author of this paper selected two minority groups as case‎ studies: Hungarian and Croats. Political parties of national minorities‎ play a major role in the integration process, their role in the field ‎of political integration is clear, however, the influence of these parties,‎ as the main generators of national minority interests, on cultural ‎autonomy and social integration has not been sufficiently explored.‎ The aim of this paper is to examine the following hypothesis: Cultural ‎autonomy in Serbia is primarily domain, even monopolized by minorities' ‎parties. In order to determine the character of the impact of‎ political parties on the work of NMCs first step will be to distinguish‎ main features of the model of cultural autonomy applied in Serbia. In ‎following will be given a brief overview of minority parties development ‎with special emphasis on their position in political and party‎ system of Serbia. Finally the impact of minority parties on the functioning‎ of NMCs will be presented, through two parameters: participation ‎in elections for NMCS and decision-making process. The first ‎parameter is dedicated to analysis of the results and the subjects of the ‎campaigns. The second parameter relates to the degree of inclusiveness ‎of the decision-making process.‎

Integrirane marketinške komunikacije pojavile su se u osamdesetim godinama prošlog stoljeća u Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama, a danas ih u svijetu, osim tvrtki, koriste i političke stranke jer prepoznaju važnost sinergijskog djelovanja oglašavanja i odnosa s javnošću, ali i integriranja publike u aktivnosti stranke. Ovaj rad uz pomoć metode upitnika te analize sadržaja hiperteksta istražuje jesu li najutjecajnije političke stranke u Hrvatskoj i Srbiji upoznate i koriste li u svom političkom djelovanju integrirano komuniciranje te kako i koliko dugo primjenjuju ovaj koncept. ; Integrated Marketing Communication appeared in the 1980s in the United States, and is nowadays, besides companies, also used by political parties, because they recognized the importance of the synergic effects of advertising and public relations, but also of integrating the audience in the activities of the party. This paper makes use of questionnaires and content analysis of hypertext in order to examine whether the most influential political parties in Croatia and Serbia are informed about integrated marketing communication. Furthermore, the article examines whether these parties use integrated communications in their political activities and inquires how and for how long they have been applying this concept.

Nove stranke, koje su se pojavile nakon pokreta 15-M te kao odgovor na mjere štednje u Španjolskoj, žele se razvijati kao stranke otvorene za sudjelovanje i deliberaciju svih građana. U kojoj se mjeri ostvaruju ti ideali? Cilj je ovog članka opisati i vrednovati procese online deliberacije dviju najvažnijih stranaka u Španjolskoj, Podemos i Barcelona En Comú, na temelju uobičajenih kriterija u literaturi kojima se mjeri online deliberacija. Konkretno, analizirali smo dva prijedloga o kojima se najviše glasovalo na online platformi Plaza Podemos te online razvoj izbornog programa stranke Barcelona En Comú. Provedena je analiza sadržaja 713 objava s online platforme Plaza Podemos i 563 objave koje se tiču izbornog programa stranke Barcelona En Comú. Obje platforme posjeduju strukturne i tehničke kriterije za poticanje deliberacije, ali je vanjski utjecaj vidljiv samo u slučaju stranke Barcelona En Comú. Kvaliteta deliberativne komunikacije je dobra, ali kriteriji refleksivnosti, inkluzije i pluralnosti nisu zadovoljeni. ; The new parties that emerged following the 15-M movement and against the austerity measures in Spain want to build parties open to the participation and deliberation for all the citizenry. To what extent are these ideals being fulfilled? The aim of this article is to describe and assess some of the main online deliberative processes of the two most important parties, Podemos and Barcelona En Comú, following commonly accepted criteria in the literature for measuring online deliberation. Specifically, we have examined the two most-voted proposals from the online platform Plaza Podemos and the online development of the electoral programme of Barcelona En Comú. Thus, we have conducted a content analysis of 713 (Plaza Podemos) and 563 (Barcelona En Comú) posts. Both platforms meet the structural and technical criteria for fostering deliberation, but the external impact is high only in the case of Barcelona En Comú. The deliberative quality of the communication is good but not the criteria of reflexivity, inclusion and plurality.

U radu se iznose rezultati provedene analize sadržaja izbornih programa političkih stranaka u Hrvatskoj, uz kratko uvodno objašnjenje kako je došlo do slobodnih demokratskih izbora i tko je sve sudjelovao u njima. Provedena analiza ukazuje na sadržaj ponuđenih političkih ideja, te opis morfologije tržišta političkih ideja uspostavljenih kroz predizbornu kampanju. Analiza obuhvaća programe 34 stranke i u njima prali 17. tematskih cjelina. Analizom je utvrđeno da su sličnosti u programima stranaka daleko prisutnije od razlika. Međutim, bitne razlike se pojavljuju na ključnim temama. Tako se razlike mogu pratiti na temi federacija - konfederacija, Monocentrični - policentrični razvoj Hrvatske, Jačanje nacionalnog identiteta kulture - Pluralizam nacionalnih kultura i odnos prema materinstvu i abortusu. Analizom je, takođe, utvrđeno da su najčešće teme predizbornih programa bile: Pravna država (91,2 %) i poduzetništvo i privreda (70,6 %). Uzrok lome, po mišljenju autora, treba svakako tražiti u napuštanju jedno si ranačnih monopola, kao i posvemašnjoj ekonomskoj krizi privređivanja u Hrvatskoj. ; In this paper the results of a content analysis of political parties' election programmes in Croatia are presented, preceded by a short introduction referring to the occurrence of free democratic elections and all their participants. Outlined in the analysis is the substance of the political ideas offered and also the description of the morphology of the political ideas' market established in the election campaign. The analysis consists of 34 party programmes from which 17 topics have been selected for study. The results indicate many more similarities than differences among the party programmes. However, the major differences appear where the key topics are concerned, which enables their observation through the following oppositions: federation - confederation, monocentric - polycentric development of Croatia, promotion of national cultural identity - pluralism of national cultures and finally, differing attitudes towards motherhood and abortion. The most frequent topics appearing in election programmes, according to the results of the analysis are: the civil state (91,2%) and enterprising and economy (70,6%). It is the opinion of the authors that this arises from the abandonment of the one-party monopoly as well as from the overall economic crisis in Croatia.

Autor u članku komparira dvije stranke, jednu iz Istočne, odnosno Srednje, a drugu iz Zapadne Europe – mađarski Jobbik i nizozemsku Slobodarsku stranku Geerta Wildersa – kako bi se prikazale sličnosti, ali i neke od razlika, između radikalno desnih stranaka zapadnih te istočnoeuropskih zemalja. Članak je podijeljen u tri dijela. U prvom dijelu autor prikazuje suvremenu radikalnu desnicu. Suvremena radikalna desnica, za razliku od međuratne (1918.-1939.), nije nužno protusustavska, već se pretežno radi o ultranacionalističkim, ksenofobnim te homofobnim strankama i pokretima. Iako označava jednu stranačku obitelj, termin radikalna desnica prilično je širok te unutar te grupacije postoje značajne razlike između stranaka. Zbog toga postoji i mnoštvo definicija koje žele obuhvatiti taj politički fenomen. U drugom dijelu članka autor analizira mađarski Jobbik. Zaključuje kako Jobbik zadovoljava sve karakteristike radikalne desnice te se bez sumnje može reći da je jedna uistinu radikalno desna stranka. Treći dio članka posvećen je nizozemskoj Slobodarskoj stranci. Autor smatra kako Slobodarska stranka također zadovoljava sve kriterije, te se može svrstati u radikalnu desnicu. ; The author compares two political parties, one from Eastern/Central Europe, and the other from Western Europe – Hungarian Jobbik and Dutch Party for Freedom of Geert Wilders – to portray some of the similarities, as well as the differences, between radical right parties in Western and Eastern European countries. The article is divided into three parts. In the first part, the author presents the contemporary radical right. Contemporary radical right, in comparison to the interwar radical right, is not necessary anti-systemic, but mainly ultra-nationalistic, xenophobic and homophobic. Although the term radical right describes one party family, this party family has significant internal differences. Therefore, there are many definitions, which are trying to grasp this political phenomenon. The second part of the article analyses the Hungarian Jobbik. The author concludes that Jobbik satisfies all the characteristics of the radical right, and therefore represents a truly radical right party. The third part of the article is devoted to the Dutch Party for Freedom. The author concludes that this party can also be regarded as a radical right party.

Rad se bavi istraživanjem učinaka personalizacije izbornog sustava prije svega na političke stranke i kandidate za zastupnike. Pod personalizacijom izbornog sustava smatra se uvođenje mehanizama u izborni sustav koji osiguravaju veću ulogu birača u izboru njihovih parlamentarnih zastupnika. U radu su predstavljene četiri gusto opisane studije slučaja koje su služile kao temelj za testiranje temeljne i pomoćnih hipoteza. Rad sadrži fokusiranu poredbenu analizu dometa personalizacije izbornog sustava u odnosu na tri ključna slučaja (Austrija, Nizozemska i Finska), kao i u odnosu na kontrolni slučaj Kosovo. U radu je dokazano da snažni personalizirani izborni sustavi, koji imaju najveće vrijednosti personalizacije, odnosno izmjerene vrijednosti utjecaja dva institucionalna potičuća mehanizma koji su predstavljali nezavisne varijable ovog istraživanja (a. preferencijsko glasovanje unutar razmjernog sustava stranačkih lista i b. procedura selekcije kandidata), dovode do personalizacije političkih stranaka na razini zastupnika. Kroz dokazivanje pomoćnih hipoteza ispraćeni su učinci personalizacije izbornog sustava na političke stranke, kandidate/zastupnike, birače odnosno stranački/politički sustav. U radu predstavljeni nalazi fokusirane poredbene analize potvrđuju da snažna personalizacija izbornog sustava vodi personalizaciji izborne kampanje te smanjenoj ulozi političkih stranaka u političkom životu. Smanjena uloga stranaka u kampanjama otvara prostor jačanju uloge konkretnih donatora. Poslanici postaju nezavisniji u odnosu na stranku, ali s druge strane otvoreni za utjecaje donatora svojih kampanja. Nemogućnost opoziva, odnosno tekovina da je zastupnik, a ne stranka vlasnik mandata, dodatno ojačava poziciju zastupnika, a slabi poziciju stranke. Pozicija zastupnika jača, kao i birača koji imaju u snažno personaliziranim izbornim sustavima mogućnost presudnog utjecanja na to tko će ih zastupati u parlamentu, odnosno na koga će privremeno prenijeti suverenitet kao njegovi nositelji. Finski primjer najbolje pokazuje utjecaj snažne personalizacije izbornog sustava na političke stranke, kandidate i birače u konsolidiranoj demokraciji. Slučaj Kosova kao kontrolni slučaj govori da ukoliko izostane prevlast osobnog u odnosu na stranačko u unutarstranačkim procesima, učinci snažnog preferencijskog sustava bit će umanjeni. Izostanak vladavine prava utječe na ravnopravnost kandidata u predizbornim kampanjama, ali snažno preferencijsko glasovanje umanjuje negativne efekte izostanka demokratskih procedura unutar stranke te potiče daljnju demokratsku konsolidaciju u nekonsolidiranim demokracijama. ; The doctoral dissertation deals with research into the effects of personalization of the electoral system primarily on political parties and candidates for deputies. The personalization of the electoral system means the introduction of mechanisms in the electoral system that ensure a greater role for voters in the election of their parliamentary representatives. I define the electoral system as a "set of laws and party rules governing electoral competition between and within the parties" (Cox 1997: 38). This wider definition of the electoral system gives us space to build a more complete picture of the electoral system's impact on political parties, candidates and voters as main actors in the electoral process. The focus of the research is the relationship between personal and party representation. In order to conduct a more comprehensive analysis of the effects of personalization on political parties, the research framework is narrowed down to list proportional electoral systems with preferential voting. Contemporary liberal democracy is characterized by a highly personalized politics. Governments are more recognizable by their leaders than by the parties that are the basis of their constitution. This personalization trend is not characteristic exclusively of presidential systems, but has become a feature of parliamentary political systems. In addition to personalization of the party at the leader level, there is also the personalization of politics at the level of members of parliament (MPs). In this paper, we only use the term 'personalization of a party' in reference to personalization at the level of the MP. We will not deal with the question of the presidentialization of political parties. Under the personalization of a political party at the level of MPs, we mean strengthening the position of deputies in the intra-party decision-making process. Thanks to the introduction of preferential voting in list proportional list systems, the group of electoral systems in which voters play an important role in the selection of their representatives has significantly expanded. Historically speaking, the representative position has been strengthened by the accepted attitude that the MP, not the party, is the 'owner of the mandate'; preferential voting supports this. This paper deals with the personalization of politics at the level of the representative—the political party. That is to say, it explores the question of to what degree personalization of the electoral system affects the political party, its intra- and its inter-party dimension. Moreover, the paper deals with personal and party representation, an area that is a new field of interest for political scientists. Through this relationship, I explore the effect of electoral systems on political parties, candidates and voters. in developing this work, I was guided by the results achieved by Katz (1980, 1986) and Marsh 9 (1985) who first dealt with this issue. In his book A Theory of Parties and Electoral Systems (1980), Katz took his first steps in the research of preferential systems. Five years later, Marsh (1985) was dealing with differences between the preferential systems in Europe. In their works, Katz and Marsh set forth the first hypotheses about the effects of preferential voting. Although there has been a growing interest in research in this area over the last decade, no significant progress has yet been made. Karvonen (2004) made a significant step in systematizing the hypotheses of Katz and Marsh, and he added some more points. In his last paper on this subject (2011), Karvonen was working within the same group of hypotheses, which were open to further research. They are the basis of this research, with additional contributions. A major impetus for this work was one of the most influential articles in this field, 'Incentives to Cultivate a Personal Vote: A Rank Ordering of Electoral Formulas' by Carey and Shugart (1995), which examines the question of the influence of electoral systems on the candidate's electoral strategies—that is, how electoral systems influence the pre-election roles of parties and their candidates. The authors developed three variables: (1) lack of party leadership control over access to and rank in ballots; (2) degree to which candidates are elected on individual votes independent of copartisans; and (3) whether voters cast a single intra-party vote instead of multiple votes or a party-level vote. By combining these three variables, there are up to thirteen combinations. This approach set me up to explore the impact that personalization creates when it comes to the relationship between the MP candidate and the party, or the MP and the party. Most authors agree that the introduction of personalization of the electoral system significantly affects interparty relations, which are sometimes reflected in a high degree of autonomy in campaigning and even in the collection and spending of funds for funding of their personal campaign. The bidding of candidates from the same party exercises a strong influence on intra-party relations, and it often happens that rival relations within the parties remain in the shadow of rival relations between the parties.

Manjak povjerenja u demokratske procese, frustriranost vladajućom elitom i opadanje interesa za politiku trendovi su vidljivi diljem svijeta. Takav politički okoliš pogoduje javljanju populističkih stranaka, točnije onih koje uviđaju da elite više ne zagovaraju želje svojih sugrađana i koje vjeruju da je jedino rješenje problema vraćanje moći u ruke naroda. Danas gotovo svaka država ima svoju populističku opciju, a čini se da i Hrvatska ne odstupa od pravila. Na parlamentarnim izborima 2020. godine javile su se dvije nove stranke koje su uspjele prodrmati Sabor i osvojiti 7 mjesta za stranku Možemo! te 16 mjesta za Domovinski pokret. Mediji su obje stranke brzo okarakterizirali populističkim. Budući da se toliki dio života odvija u virtualnoj sferi, cilj ovog rada je istražiti koriste li političke stranke Možemo! i Domovinski pokret populizam u svojim Facebook objavama. Facebook je najraširenija društvena platforma u Hrvatskoj koja se iznova pokazuje pogodnom za političku komunikaciju. Metodom analize sadržaja analizirano je ukupno 60 Facebook objava, 30 od svake stranke, kroz dva razdoblja – prije i poslije izbora. Objava se smatrala populističkom ako je sadržavala dva konstitutivna elementa: pozitivno spominjanje naroda i negativno spominjanje elita. Rezultati ukazuju kako obje stranke slabo koriste populizam u svojoj političkoj komunikaciji, a glavni razlog tomu je što rijetko spominju narod, a ako ga spominju, spominju ga u neutralnom kontekstu. Jedno moguće objašnjenje ovakvih rezultata je način korištenja Facebooka kojeg stranke ne koriste kao sredstvo za učvršćivanje komunikacije sa svojim biračima, nego kao kolekciju svojih nastupa u medijima ili govora iz Sabora. Još jedno moguće objašnjenje je da stranke koriste populistički stil u određenim trenucima kako bi pridobile simpatije šireg segmenta naroda, a da su ih mediji okarakterizirali populističkim bez stvarnog uporišta. ; A lack of trust in democratic processes, growing frustration with the ruling elite and a declining interest in politics are trends visible around the world. Such a political environment favors the emergence of populist parties -those who see that elites no longer advocate the wishes of their fellow citizens and who believe that the only solution to the problem is to return power to the people. Today, almost every country has its own populist option, and it seems that Croatia does not deviate from the rules. In the parliamentary elections in 2020, two new parties appeared that managed to shake up the Parliament and win 7 seats for the We Can Party! (Možemo!) and 16 seats for the Homeland Movement (Domovinski pokret). The media quickly characterized both parties as populist. Since such a big part of life takes place in the virtual sphere, the aim of this paper is to investigate whether political parties We can! and the Homeland Movement use populism in their Facebook posts. Facebook is the most widespread social platform in Croatia, which is continuously proving to be suitable for political communication. Using content analysis, a total of 60 Facebook posts were analyzed, 30 from each party, over two periods - before and after the election. The post was considered populist if it contained two constitutive elements - a positive mention of the people and a negative mention of the elites. The results indicate that both parties make little use of populism in their political communication and the main reason for this is that they rarely mention the people, and if they do, they mention them in a neutral context. One possible explanation for these results is the way Facebook is used, as parties do not use it as a means of strengthening communication with their constituents, but as a collection of their media appearances or speeches from Parliament. Another possible explanation is that the parties use a populist style at certain times in order to gain the sympathy of a wider segment of the people, and that the media characterized them as populist without a real foothold.

U ovom radu nastojim ispitati osnovnu tezu o nastanku prezidencijaliziranih stranaka koje se pojavljuju kao poseban historijsko-empirijski model stranačke organizacije. Model prezidencijaliziranih stranaka ne predstavlja sljedeću fazu u postojećoj razvojnoj teoriji političkih stranaka koja bi označila kretanje prema još jednomu novom tipu stranke, niti mu se mogu pridodati značenja i vrijednosti novoga razvojnog tipa. Valjan je samo kao analitički model kojim se na historijskoj i empirijskoj razini može pratiti prilagodba suvremenih političkih stranaka zahtjevima socijalnih i političkih čimbenika za sve većom individualizacijom političkog života. Ono što prezidencijalizirane stranke čini specifičnim modelom upravo su ključne karakteristike snažne koncentracije moći u rukama stranačkog vođe i centralizacije procesa političkog odlučivanja, iz čega proizlaze njegova autonomija u formuliranju stranačkih politika, programa i izbornih strategija, neupitna dominacija nad svim razinama stranačke organizacije te rigidna hijerarhijska stranačka struktura. Komparativna analiza britanske Laburističke stranke, Španjolske socijalističke radničke stranke i Hrvatske demokratske zajednice nedvosmisleno je potvrdila glavnu hipotezu kojom je uspostavljena uzročna veza između složene kombinacije strukturnih i kontekstualnih čimbenika, koji su identificirani kao glavni pokretači prezidencijalizacijskih procesa, i nastanka prezidencijaliziranih stranaka koje se organizacijski prilagođavaju izazovima suvremenih demokracija. ; In this dissertation I test the hypothesis on the origin of presidentialized parties that appear as the specific historical and empirical model of party organization. The model of presidentialized parties does not represent the next phase in the existing developmental theory of political parties, which would indicate movement towards another new type of party organization, nor can it be attributed with the meaning and value of a new developmental type. It is valid only as an analytical model which follows the adaptation of modern political parties to the challenges of social and political factors for the increasing individualization of political life on the historical and empirical level. What makes presidentialized parties a specific model are the key characteristics of the strong concentration of power in the hands of party leader and the centralization of decision-making process, from which derive his autonomy in the formulation of party policies, programs and electoral strategies, unquestioned supremacy over all levels of the party organization and the rigid hierarchical party structure. A comparative analysis of the British Labour party, the Spanish socialist worker's party and the Croatian democratic union unambiguously confirmed the main hypothesis which established a causal relationship between the complex combination of structural and contextual factors that are identified as the main drivers of the process of presidentialization, on one hand, and the emergence of the presidentialized parties which organizationally adapt to the challenges of modern democracies, on the other. In this dissertation I test the hypothesis on the origin of presidentialized parties that appear as the specific historical and empirical model of party organization. The model of presidentialized parties does not represent the next phase in the existing developmental theory of political parties, which would indicate movement towards another new type of party organization, nor can it be attributed with the meaning and value of a new developmental type. It is valid only as an analytical model which follows the adaptation of modern political parties to the challenges of social and political factors for the increasing individualization of political life on the historical and empirical level. What makes presidentialized parties a specific model are the key characteristics of the strong concentration of power in the hands of party leader and the centralization of decision-making process, from which derive his autonomy in the formulation of party policies, programs and electoral strategies, unquestioned supremacy over all levels of the party organization and the rigid hierarchical party structure. A comparative analysis of the British Labour party, the Spanish socialist worker's party and the Croatian democratic union unambiguously confirmed the main hypothesis which established a causal relationship between the complex combination of structural and contextual factors that are identified as the main drivers of the process of presidentialization, on one hand, and the emergence of the presidentialized parties which organizationally adapt to the challenges of modern democracies, on the other.

In the article we analyze the election campaign processes for the European Parliament election in Slovenia in 2004. We emphasize different theoretical explanations of election campaigns, among which we synthesize three important sets of contents, defined as process-organizational, media & system elements of the campaign. In the article we analyze the existence of all mentioned contents, where we predict that we can talk about some sort of connection between the efficiency of the election campaign or the decision about the selection of the campaign elements & final election effects of final party success at the elections. On the basis of the exposed efficiency indicators & implemented analysis in the case of Slovenian election campaign for the European ejection we can not confirm the connectedness between different campaign activities & final election result between the competitive political parties. Tables, Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

Using the method of assigning attributes, the image of political parties represented in the Croatian parliament was researched. This research was conducted on a sample of Zagreb U students. The image was determined, as was its associations, & positiveness. Using factor analysis four dimensions were found, in which the first & most important is related to the image of democratic activity of the party, while the other three are indicative of political platforms -- social, traditional, & nation-building. The political parties were found to differ significantly according to their position on each dimension. 5 Tables, 3 Figures, 7 References. Adapted from the source document.

Although the European Union is not a representative democracy, at least in some elements its political system is increasingly imitating the national liberal model of governance. So far, in the development of the European political system & in the draft EU Constitution the dual nature of the ED (federal & intergovernmental) seems to have remained in place. This is also shown in the persisting national elements in party-related institutions & processes within the EU political system that puts "its" liberal democratic characteristics in question. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

This author deals with the creation & development of political parties & the multiparty system in Croatia. The analysis is based on the two most influential approaches to studying parties in postcommunist countries: (1) the classic Rokkan (& Lipset) cleavage approach; & (2) the institutional analysis. The author concludes that party development in Croatia can be understood only in the context of structural & institutional factors, which is accomplished in the aforementioned approaches. 3 Figures, 31 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author claims that, due to the specific Croatian political situation, it is difficult to define the relationships between Croatian political parties & their West European models. This is equally true for social democratic, liberal, & Christian democratic parties. Throughout Croatian history, Christian democracy was weak because there was no independent Croatian state. The struggle for Croatian sovereignty gave rise to the domination of a broad-based Croatian national movement, embodied in the first half of the 20th century in the Croatian Peasants' Party, & since 1989 in the Croatian Democratic Union (CDU). Though today Croatia is independent, the neither-war-nor-peace predicament stands in the way of Croatian parties (including the CDU) coming out with clean-cut platforms. However, since the Second General CDU Convention, this party has been trying to mold itself as a broad popular party whose platform includes the fundamentals of Catholic social canon: the protection of individual dignity, solidarity, subsidiarity, cooperation, & aspiring toward the common good. Adapted from the source document.