The author applies a variant of the common pool resources theory to the problem of public spending under the coalition governments elected by proportional representation. The claim is that proportional representation produces cabinets with a large number of parties, and that a large number of parties brings about higher public spending (measured by budget deficit and public debt). The author constructs and deploys the concept of budgetary dilemma to the effect that, absent institutional constraints, public spending results in expansionary fiscal policy. In the second part, the author empirically tests the budgetary dilemma in two postcommunist democracies - Serbia and Croatia, which in 2000-2013 had cabinets with a large number of actors and increasing public spending. The analysis shows a statistically unreliable predictive capacity of the main independent variable - the number of parties in the cabinet. Statistical analysis is followed by several illustrations of the budgetary dilemma. Adapted from the source document.
The author applies a variant of the common pool resources theory to the problem of public spending under the coalition governments elected by proportional representation. The claim is that proportional representation produces cabinets with a large number of parties, and that a large number of parties brings about higher public spending (measured by budget deficit and public debt). The author constructs and deploys the concept of budgetary dilemma to the effect that, absent institutional constraints, public spending results in expansionary fiscal policy. In the second part, the author empirically tests the budgetary dilemma in two postcommunist democracies - Serbia and Croatia, which in 2000-2013 had cabinets with a large number of actors and increasing public spending. The analysis shows a statistically unreliable predictive capacity of the main independent variable - the number of parties in the cabinet. Statistical analysis is followed by several illustrations of the budgetary dilemma. Adapted from the source document.
For Croatia as an independent state, the regulation & the realization of the freedoms & rights of national minorities have become a major test & measure of the degree of the democratization of the society as well as one of the essential conditions for economic & political integration into Europe. Taking the Croatian legal framework as our starting point, the realization of the rights of national minorities in the Republic of Croatia can be viewed at four levels: cultural autonomy, education in minority languages & alphabets, proportional representation in government both at the national & the local level, & the cross-border cooperation of national minorities. A review of the condition of the rights of national minorities in Croatia shows that the cultural autonomy rights are optimally utilized, due to their good organization, by those national minorities that enjoyed those rights before the creation of the independent Croatia. The "new" national minorities are still organizing themselves in order to realize more fully their minority rights. A variety of European organizations & institutions that promote European stability & security are especially active in encouraging the protection of national minorities in Croatia. 2 Tables, 14 References. Adapted from the source document.
For Croatia as an independent state, the regulation & the realization of the freedoms & rights of national minorities have become a major test & measure of the degree of the democratization of the society as well as one of the essential conditions for economic & political integration into Europe. Taking the Croatian legal framework as our starting point, the realization of the rights of national minorities in the Republic of Croatia can be viewed at four levels: cultural autonomy, education in minority languages & alphabets, proportional representation in government both at the national & the local level, & the cross-border cooperation of national minorities. A review of the condition of the rights of national minorities in Croatia shows that the cultural autonomy rights are optimally utilized, due to their good organization, by those national minorities that enjoyed those rights before the creation of the independent Croatia. The "new" national minorities are still organizing themselves in order to realize more fully their minority rights. A variety of European organizations & institutions that promote European stability & security are especially active in encouraging the protection of national minorities in Croatia. 2 Tables, 14 References. Adapted from the source document.
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.
The paper looks into the effectiveness of the application of preferential quotas for electoral posts & compares the different quota systems in the EU countries. Starting from the assumption that political parties in contemporary democracies are major actors in the representation of women in national parliaments, the author analyses the (un)favourable conditions for women in candidacy procedures & some examples of (un)successful quota implementations. The conclusion is that a successful application of the quotas for women depends on a set of additional variables such as the quota application in proportional electoral systems, the entrenchment of the quotas in women's movements & their consistent & long-term implementation. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.
The author explores the genesis & development of electoral systems in the states created in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The paper does a comparative analysis of the most significant components & characteristics of the electoral systems in the South Slavic states -- the highest averages methods, forms of candidature, modes of voting, levels of electoral constituency, methods of translating votes into seats & levels of a qualified suffrage. It also deals with the effects of implementation of the majority, mixed & proportional electoral systems in the mentioned group of countries during the last decade, particularly considering the representation of minority ethnic communities in their supreme legislative bodies. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.
The paper looks into the effectiveness of the application of preferential quotas for electoral posts & compares the different quota systems in the EU countries. Starting from the assumption that political parties in contemporary democracies are major actors in the representation of women in national parliaments, the author analyses the (un)favourable conditions for women in candidacy procedures & some examples of (un)successful quota implementations. The conclusion is that a successful application of the quotas for women depends on a set of additional variables such as the quota application in proportional electoral systems, the entrenchment of the quotas in women's movements & their consistent & long-term implementation. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.
Komentiraju se slijed dosadašnjih pokušaja te aktualni napo-ri u vezi s decentralizacijom. Elaborira se četrnaest prijedloga za korjenitu decentralizaciju, koja jedina ima smisla ako se lokalna i regionalna samouprava želi konstituirati kao jedan od ključnih aktera ekonomskog, društvenog i socijalnog razvoja te ekonomske stabilnosti zemlje. Riječ je o: oblikovanju strategije decentralizacije; u čvršćenju strukture za regionalni razvoj; zadržavanja dvostupanjske strukture terito- rijalne samouprave, ali različite od postojeće; formiranju pet regija umjesto sadašnjih dvadeset županija; spajanju preko 550 lokalnih jedinica u 150 velikih općina; zadržavanju i ja-č anju mjesne samouprave; preoblikovanje županija u uprav- ne okruge s primjenom načela one-stop-shop, smanjenjem broja tih okruga na desetak i širenjem njihova djelokruga na poslove sadašnjih područnih jedinica središnjih tijela državne uprave; jačanju financijskog kapaciteta lokalne samouprave tako da se dosegne udio lokalnih rashoda u rashodima opće drž ave od 25% u narednih pet godina; uvođenju mješovitog izbornog sustava tako da se pored proporcionalnog uvede većinsko predstavništvo; formiranju Agencije za lokalne službenike kao nezavisnog tijela na razini države; usposta- vi jedinstvenog informacijskog sustava lokalne samouprave; prenošenju dijela poslova državne uprave na obavljanje većim jedinicama lokalne samouprave; formiranju ekspertne radne skupine za pripremu decentralizacije; planiranju decentralizacije tako da se čitav program provede do lokalnih izbora 2017. Navode se i mogućnosti usavršavanja postojećeg centraliziranog modela organizacije države, ponajprije kroz diferencijaciju položaja objektivno različitih jedinica te poticanje i nametanje intermunicipalne suradnje. ; The paper begins with a comment on the sequence of previous attempts at decentralisation and a description of current efforts made concerning the decentralisation process. Fourteen suggestions for substantive decentralisation are elaborated. A substantive decentralisation is the only reasonable decentralisation form if local and regional self-government is to be constituted as one of the key actors of economic and social development, and of economic stability of the country. These fourteen sugges- tions include: (1) designing a decentralisation strategy; (2) strengthening the structure for regional development; (3) maintaining the two-tier system of territorial self-government, which should nevertheless differ from the existing model; (4) forming five regions instead of the existing twenty counties; (5) merging more than 550 local units into 150 large municipalities; (6) maintaining and strengthening forms of intra-municipal self-government; (7) reshaping counties into state administrative units with the implementation of one-stop-shop principle, by reducing them to ten units and by widening their competences to the tasks of the existing branch of- fices of various ministries; (8) strengthening the financial capacity of local self-government so as to rise the share of local expenditures in the general state expenditures to 25 per cent in the next five years; (9) considering the introduction of mixed electoral system, so as to introduce plurality representation along with proportional; (10) establishing an Agency for Local Civil Servants as a central level independent body; (11) establishing an integrated information system on local governments; (12) transferring certain state administrative tasks to larger local self-government units; (13) forming an group of experts that would professionaly prepare decentralisation; (14) planning decentralisation so that the whole programme will have been finished by 2017 local elections. The author has also made suggestions for the another scenario – improvement of the existing cen- tralised model of state organisation, primarily via deeper differentiation between the objectively different local units, and stimulation and imposition of intermunicipal cooperation.
