Suchergebnisse

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)

For many pre-twentieth-century legal and political authors the crucial issue was to find the answers to the questions: Why one cannot support every claim to the right of absolute rule? and, How to curtail power and authority anyway? In this text, the author reviews the contribution of three classics of the modern debate on constitutionalism - C. H. McIlwain, C. J. Friedrich, and F. A. Hayek - whose political/legal theories represent the most glorious pages of the contemporary theory of state and rights and the comparative political systems. (SOI : PM: S. 152)

Violations of human rights have become an almost daily occurrence via various TV and newspaper reports. Massacres, murders, torture, violence, imprisonment of political opponents, are facts of life in a number of contemporary states. While these states blatantly curtail human rights of their citizens, the governments and peoples of other countries have the right but also a kind of duty to demand they be respected. This feeling of global responsibility is increasing every day thanks to the process of globalization itself. (SOI : PM: S. 82)

This article's point of departure is that the national self-determination doctrine remains one of the most paradoxical, contested, but successful doctrines which has largely contributed to the shape of our existing international system of nation-states. It argues that the doctrine which is intended to safeguard peace and human dignity is and always has been at the heart of many conflicts. Starting with the tension between the universality of the national self-determination doctrine and the particularity of the national group whose interests it promotes, the article explores other paradoxes contained within this doctrine. They range from political and legitimacy challenges to the very nation-state it creates, through the violations of human rights contrary to its very meaning, to the fact that national self-determination doctrine, far from being a national issue, is actually an international affair. While not rejecting the doctrine, the paper concludes with the final (ninth) paradox that perhaps the success of this doctrine should not be measured by how many states it can produce, but how it can make the existing states a safe home for more self-differentiating national groups. Adapted from the source document.

A democratic state's constitution ought to guarantee basic personal, political, economic, social, cultural and ecological rights and freedoms of individuals and citizens and shape an efficient system of legal and juridical protection of all the guaranteed human rights. The Republic of Croatia, since its Constitution of 22 December 1990, has undoubtedly been a democratic constitutional state. The Croatian Constitution is an example of the adoption of the constitutional option in the establishment of the constitutional regime. After seven years of its application, it is clear that there is something controversial in its content regarding the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals and citizens as well as in their legal protection at the constitutional/legal level. Also contentious are the constitutional provisions regarding the structure of the government and local self-rule and administration. There have been many misunderstandings and dangerous constitutional/legal and constitutionallpolitical illusions regarding this matter, particularly concerning the Croatian semi-presidential system and parliamentarism. This analysis shows that semipresidential system, as a specific variant of parliamentary government, is extremely adaptable to all possible changes in both the party and the broader political setting. (SOI : PM: S. 120)

The author gives an outline of constitutional and legal provisions regulating the rights of ethnic minorities in the Republic of Croatia as well as the site-based policy of the protection of minority rights. The major areas in which the Government of the Republic of Croatia has been supporting the activities of the minority groups' organisations are: publishing, cultural societies, libraries, minority curricula, preservation of the minority cultura heritage and research projects. Between 1992 and 1997, the Government of the Republic of Croatia earmarked 22 million DEM for the minorities' activities. The author concludes that the ethnic minorities in Croatia, despite the political and economic hardships, have enjoyed a high degree of minority rights and freedoms. (SOI : PM: S. 64)

In the process of an accelerated government centralization and national unitarization in the period 1918-1928, Croatia lost its autonomy, territorial integrity, and the right to national identity. This resulted in grave consequences, particularly in inequality of Croatia and Croats with Serbia and Serbs in political, economic, and cultural domains. (SOI : CSP: S. 76)

The author's assumption is that a regular rotation of the left and the right in power has been a long-standing feature of stable European democracies. In most East European countries the collapse of communism was followed by the electoral defeat of leftist parties. However, in the last two years these regions have witnessed a return to power of more or less transformed leftist parties and leaders. This does not mark the return of communism, which has definitely become a thing of the past, though some of these leftist parties nurture certain revisionist traits. In less developed countries, former communist elites are being transformed into national political elites, while in more developed countries of Eastern Europe the transformation of leftist parties into social-democratic parties has been completed. The author underlines the prominence of the national element in the political programmes of leftist parties. He goes on to conclude that the main reason for the resurgence of the left in East European countries lies in the social repercussions of the transition and the fact that the right has been turning a blind eye to these problems. (SOI : PM: S 41)

The author defines the state of law as a typical product of German political culture which corresponds to, but also differs from, both the experience of the English rule of law and that of the French l'Etat-Nation. The author pays particular attention to the issue of the legitimacy of the state of law. He focuses on two different approaches to this issue in the works of Volker Gerhardt and Ernst Wolfgang Böckenförd. Following a critical analysis of their fundamental assumptions the author goes on to divulge the thesis on the necessity of a balance between rights and power in the functioning of modern political systems. (SOI : PM: S. 13)

The paper analyses the influence of familial "political biographies" during World War II on party preferences. The survey has shown that about 50% of its subjects have a single-track political biography (they belonged to either the partisan movement (NOB) or the army of the Independent Croatian State (NDH)). The individuals whose political biography is NOB-inclined have a markedly more negative attitude towards the Croatian state of the II World War and Ante Pavelic, positively assess Josip Broz Tito, are less religious and prefer leftist parties. The individuals who have the NDH biography have a positive opinion of the Croatian state during II World War and Ante Pavelic, negatively assess Josip Broz, are much more religious and vote for the parties of the right. The individuals whose families did not get involved into the conflict or have a "mixed" political biography, are moderately religious and largely vote for centrist parties. Besides the political biography factor, the degree of religiosity has proved an extremely important factor in the choice of political parties. (SOI : PM: S. 128)

Taking into consideration all the benefits and pitfalls of its political, economic, military, and cultural legacies, the People's Republic of China has adopted a policy of reliance on rapid economic growth and improvement of the standard of living, conducive to political and social stability of Chinese society and state. This goal has been accomplished only temporarily and partially, while the final result primarily depends on the ability of the Chinese leadership to find the golden mean between the two opposites: the closed political system and the need to maintain an open economy. In its search for a place in today's world, the People's Republic of China is faced with the central choice of the equitable participation in global community: full acceptance of its mechanisms and principles (beginning with the United Nations) and international trade norms, the protection of human rights, armament control, environmental protection and so on. However, the Chinese see in this a threat of the erosion of Chinese independence and the possibility of choice and political independence of the Chinese state. (SOI : PM: S. 44)