Suchergebnisse

The author analyzes the latest developments in liberal democracy & the capitalist economy based on the examples of the works of Erich Weede & Klaus von Beyme. The tendency of alleviating economic & political competition is corroborated by means of an analysis of the phenomenon of a multiparty state & today's capitalist economy, which has been increasingly relying on rent-generated income rather than market competition. The author highlights the new strategies for the legitimation of liberal democracy by means of justice, as developed by John Rawls. Adapted from the source document.

The first part of the article gives a summary account of the basic concepts of general or meta/structural theory of modern society: metastructure, structure, system. In a critical confrontation with Marx & Habermas, the author starts by explaining his main theoretical innovation -- the concept of metastructure, as the most general supposition & a trait of the modern epoch in which the official watchword of liberty-equality-rationality vaguely & gradually comes to the fore: it is the watchword of public sociability which is, in the final instance, determined by the norms of the common word, in which all participate as equals. This discursive immediacy necessarily becomes manifest through a double mediation: of economic understanding (market/organization) & of legal-political reason (interindividual & central contractuality). In that sense, metastructure is the set supposition for the modern class structure; it is not its basis, but its referential fiction. However, it inevitably turns into its opposite -- into exploitation, domination, alienation -- in the society which calls itself 'capitalist.' The structure of such a society reveals a double bipolarity, a division into a ruling class & a ruled class, but also a division within the ruling class itself into the market pole as the first class factor (proprietors) & the pole of organization as the second class factor (managers & ones who are competent). The subordinated class is no mere multitude of passive "ruled ones." It is the "fundamental class" as a positive political actor. As opposed to class structure, which necessarily exists in a state-nation, it is characteristic of the world-system that it constantly impairs the metastructural supposition, distorting the modernness of the state-nation: the barbarism of centers in relation to peripheries is imminent to the centers themselves. The inevitable result of this historical tendency is the world-state. It abolishes neither the state-nations nor the world-system, & it is already appearing on the horizon as the final geopolitical realization of this social logic of modernity. In the second part of the article, the author briefly shows how the metastructural hypothesis is developed in his more recent & concrete research into the areas of history (the emergence of the modern form of society starting from the 13th-century Cities-states in Italy), sociology & politics (relation between social classes & political parties), & culture (general theory of ideologies). These analyses show that structure is key to the world-system, & not vice versa, in the sense where the whole would explain the part: the system (state-nation) can be adequately understood only from the starting point of (class) structure. Since the capitalist totality cannot be metastructurally organized in one go, it could not emerge as a space which is brought together, like an empire, by one institutionally unified will, but only as a plural whole, a systemic plurality of state-nations. Adapted from the source document.

The studies of the third wave of democratization have shown the necessity for a more precise differentiation of forms of democracy, since the definition of democracy exclusively on the basis of pluralist elections has proved lacking. The author also thinks that the instruments of quantitative evaluation of democracies (e.g. the very popular Freedom House index) are not sufficient, primarily because the quantification is not theoretically sound enough & includes a huge dose of arbitrariness. Contrary to this, the author spells Out his concept of embedded & defective democracy. Starting from the terminological suggestion by Philippe Schmitter & the systemic-theoretical description of Niklas Luhmann's intrasystemic communication, the functionally embedded democracy can be defined as a relationship of interdependence & mutual support of five partial regimes of democracy: electoral regime, political freedoms, civil rights, horizontal accountability & the real governing power. Apart from these five partial regimes, whose stable interrelationship is a prerequisite for the internal embeddedness of democracy, there are some external democracy-fostering conditions: the high level of socio-economic development, the integration into the democratically-oriented international economic & political alliances & the vital civil society. The author puts particular emphasis on the importance of the latter since it is not a part of the democratic political system but a way of organizing a non-state sphere of individual & group activity for the protection of individual rights, safeguarding the rule of law, the political socialization & the institutionalization of the public as the medium of democratic self-reflexion. & finally, the main types of defective democracy are outlined -- the exclusive, the domain, the nonliberal & the delegative -- as well as the key reasons underlying these deficits. 3 Tables, 1 Figure, 60 References. Adapted from the source document.

This article is a part of an extensive research project called the "CIVICUS index of Croatia's civic society." The sample included the contents from six dailies. The civic society is most often mentioned in the context of news & brief reports. The analyzed dailies cover the activities of the civic society mostly if they are linked to the events they organize. The organizations of the civic society are predominantly shown in positive light. Negative coverage is almost marginal. Charity events are covered by these dailies, but the coverage is more extensive if the events are linked with marketing. The role of the dailies in promoting the civic society's organizations as the key actors in the anticorruption campaign & in raising the awareness of family violence is particularly significant. The value foundation of the reported information may be a food for thought & inspire action. The civic society in Croatia has been trying to keep the state accountable & helping the public to gain a more revealing insight into the major issues & questions. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.

Contemporary states are undergoing a process of rapid transformation that encumbers their functioning & sustains their state of crisis. Their external sovereignty is undoubtedly on the wane, in relation to both global economic actors & transnational & supranational political structures. Internally, the hierarchical functioning of government has been called into question. Although the state's share in the social product is constantly increasing, so are the demands for the state's support & regulation in various areas, resulting in a permanent fiscal crisis of the state. The author claims that the contemporary metamorphoses of the state & the prospects for its development can be understood solely by analyzing the changes in contemporary society. The industrial society, even the "service society" (Dahrendorf), is being transformed into an information & communication society, in which the key processes are the production & distribution of knowledge, while the central power resources are mechanisms of the monopolization of knowledge. The information & communication media play the central role in social & political processes. The new increase of social inequality has intensified the tendency of social desolidarization. The new level of social dynamics, mobility, complexity, & contingency requires a new type of state. The author calls it the "cooperative state" -- the state that provides for the production of essential collective goods in the cooperative process of negotiation & bargaining, in which a plethora of social actors take part. 25 References. Adapted from the source document.

The article presents results of a study of the structure of the civil society in Croatia, analyzed by means of the following indicators: the number of the organizations of the civil society; membership in these organizations; the range of these organizations; the composition of the civil society; & the resources of the civil society. In the 1990s in Croatia, the number of the civil society organizations increased greatly. They have relatively small memberships; also, in the 1990s, the active memberships shrank. Civil society organizations can be found primarily in big cities. Insufficient networking & a certain dose of political divisions of these organizations diminish their developmental potential. Foreign organizations & their financial support played a major part in profiling the structure of the civil society. The relatively modest human resources reduce the partnership position of these organizations. The structure of these organizations can be compared to other transitional countries. The war & the humanitarian crisis particularly affected the profiling of the structure of the civil society in Croatia. 2 Tables, 46 References. Adapted from the source document.

This article is a part of an extensive research project called the "CIVICUS index of Croatia's civic society." The sample included the contents from six dailies. The civic society is most often mentioned in the context of news & brief reports. The analyzed dailies cover the activities of the civic society mostly if they are linked to the events they organize. The organizations of the civic society are predominantly shown in positive light. Negative coverage is almost marginal. Charity events are covered by these dailies, but the coverage is more extensive if the events are linked with marketing. The role of the dailies in promoting the civic society's organizations as the key actors in the anticorruption campaign & in raising the awareness of family violence is particularly significant. The value foundation of the reported information may be a food for thought & inspire action. The civic society in Croatia has been trying to keep the state accountable & helping the public to gain a more revealing insight into the major issues & questions. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.