Taking as his starting point the methodological instructions of the American liberal politologist, Adam Przeworski, about the importance of the action-theory analysis of the transformational dynamics of postauthoritarian societies, the author looks into the prospects of liberal reforms in Eastern Europe. The central thesis of the article is that the reforms' success depends on the balance of power between the liberal & the national-populist elites, who vie for public support. The outcome of that struggle will depend on the way in which the competing elites will act in response to the five essential contextual factors: the need for economic & social security, the expectations of social justice, the dynamics of the integration with the West, the articulation of the national identity within a national state, &, perhaps, the existence of ethnic minorities (ie, the threat of interethnic conflicts). Adapted from the source document.
The author presents the central postulates from the latest works by John Rawls & Michael Walzer as the most prominent representatives of liberalism & communitarianism in contemporary American political philosophy & points to their predecessors & parallels in practical philosophy, from Kant & Hegel to Mill & Dewey. Since liberals & communitarians of today do not any longer advocate a "society" or a "community" in the traditional sense, but the "post-traditional" liberal-democratic community in which the liberal principles of justice & human rights can be realized, their thinking is interesting also to those peoples who have set out to build liberal-democratic societies outside the states of the developed West. Naturally, the realization of freedom & human rights depends on the cultural tradition of each people & on the historical "lebenswelt" in general, but also on the virtues of liberal citizens who, in a communal political life, realize "postulates of communality comprised in liberalism" (Walzer) & thus foster a free & good human life. Adapted from the source document.
The author presents the central postulates from the latest works by John Rawls & Michael Walzer as the most prominent representatives of liberalism & communitarianism in contemporary American political philosophy & points to their predecessors & parallels in practical philosophy, from Kant & Hegel to Mill & Dewey. Since liberals & communitarians of today do not any longer advocate a "society" or a "community" in the traditional sense, but the "post-traditional" liberal-democratic community in which the liberal principles of justice & human rights can be realized, their thinking is interesting also to those peoples who have set out to build liberal-democratic societies outside the states of the developed West. Naturally, the realization of freedom & human rights depends on the cultural tradition of each people & on the historical "lebenswelt" in general, but also on the virtues of liberal citizens who, in a communal political life, realize "postulates of communality comprised in liberalism" (Walzer) & thus foster a free & good human life. Adapted from the source document.
The author analyzes the reinterpretation of the 17th-century English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) offered by contemporary American philosopher Gregory S. Kavka. The state of nature, the social contract (pact), the forming of the very first state, & the problem of compliance to its newly formed government are discussed. The question arises of how it is possible to make a social contract because it is still a "state of nature contract," & in these conditions, contracts do not oblige adherence while there is yet no one to punish rebellion or disobedience. (Rather, the state should be a result of that contract.) Another question concerns the possibility of establishing morality in the state of nature, because no authority is formed there, & therefore a moral code & positive law system are nonexistent. The author claims (together with Kavka) that, in spite of the fact that there exists no entire moral code, the possibility of elemental traces of morality exists, because morality & nature (from humanistic outlook) are timeless, as is the state of nature as well. 4 References. Adapted from the source document.
The author describes the communitarian critique of John Rawls, mostly that by Michael Walzer in Spheres of Justice (1983). The main communitarian objection to Rawls's theory of justice is that it is objectivistic & thus a modern variant of Platonism. Contrary to this attitude, Walzer insists on the theory of justice which takes as its starting point particular values of a society or culture & tries to formulate a critique of the American society as a community subject to "market imperialism." The response by Rawls & other liberals to the communitarian critique has proved that his theory is neither Platonic, transcendentally Kantian, nor abstractly objectivistic. Rawls & liberals are aware that their principles of justice have come into being within a specific European tradition of democratic constitutionalism, but that those principles aspire toward achieving universality, at least in those communities that are willing to accept a democratic constitutional system. Adapted from the source document.
The author points to the fact that Christianity & democracy have been at the center of the European cultural heritage. If democracy, in keeping with the American Declaration of Independence & the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, is defined as a political system aiming to protect human rights in a society, it can be demonstrated that this goes hand in hand with the social & political keynotes of Catholicism. It is Catholicism that dwells on human free will & the responsibility for choosing between good & evil. It also stresses man's concomitant participation in the activities of secular & religious communities -- the state & the Church -- which are strictly separated. It ensues that the Church cannot be a partisan of any political party, including those built around Catholics' secular activities. The Church also opposes the reduction of democracy to mere multiparty power squabbling. 3 References. Adapted from the source document.
The author points to the fact that Christianity & democracy have been at the center of the European cultural heritage. If democracy, in keeping with the American Declaration of Independence & the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, is defined as a political system aiming to protect human rights in a society, it can be demonstrated that this goes hand in hand with the social & political keynotes of Catholicism. It is Catholicism that dwells on human free will & the responsibility for choosing between good & evil. It also stresses man's concomitant participation in the activities of secular & religious communities -- the state & the Church -- which are strictly separated. It ensues that the Church cannot be a partisan of any political party, including those built around Catholics' secular activities. The Church also opposes the reduction of democracy to mere multiparty power squabbling. 3 References. Adapted from the source document.
In this paper an attempt is made by the author to assess whether the Self-management Industrial Relations System defined institutionally as a non-conflict pattern has the potentiality to regulate the industrial conflict undoubtedly existing in Yugoslav enterprises; and whether it is in its potentiality for conflict management matched to the American system of industrial relations based on the collective bargaining. Comparative theoretical analysis of the two systems on a number of major dimensions leads to the conclusion that the self-management system is inferior in regard to the potentialities for conflict management than Collective bargaining. This conclusion is even more valid if the great discrepancies between the real self-management organizations and the self-management pattern are taken into consideration. But, the available evidence on strikes in Yugoslavia during the last decade lends no support to such theoretical expectations. It is evident that some forms of conflict management do exist, although the institutional pattern has no built-in mechanisms of regulations at the level of manifest functions. In an attempt to explain the variance between the real course of the industrial conflicts and the theoretical expectations, the author formulates the main hypothesis: the self-management institutional pattern regulates the conflict on the level of latent functions. This central hypothesis is further elaborated into six particular hypotheses issuing form the specific properties of the self-management institutional pattern. These properties are: lack of legitimacy of managerial power and insecurity of managers' status, »political management«, insufficient revindicative orientation of syndicate, co-option of the potential worker leaders into management and the horizontal principle of organization. Examining the efficiency of conflict management at the level of latent functions the author points out some important qualifications: (1) possibility of the omission of catharsis effects after the strike, (2) such a "type of regulation does not lead to the systematic resolving of problems which are at the root of the conflict, (3) conflict management at the level of latent functions does not involve conflict resolving directly at the Working places. In accordance with these qualifications the author does not perceive such a type of regulation of conflict as a possible alternative to the institutionalization of conflict in modern industrial society. Nevertheless it has a great significance for the stability and survival of the global social system such as the one existing in Yugoslavia.
The political and social renascence that took place in the latter part of the 19th century made possible the revival of economic, cultural, and artistic activities. This became particularly evident in the building activity spreading, as in the rest of Europe of that period, in the wake of the then fashionable neo-styles that made a somewhat belated appearance at Vis. A Neo-Gothic building, designed to house the premises of the Hrvatski Dom, was built in the central part of the water-front (luka) et the very beginning of the current century, while a Neo-Renaissance dwelling-house was erected for the Tramontana family in 1911. The local school, designed by the native architect Marinković, was built in the Neo-Classicist style in 1910. The building housing the Army Club premises (Dom JNA) and the new fishmarket were also erected in the Neo-Classicist style. Some Neo-Classicist tombs may be seen on the cemetery where the Neo-Renaissance Dojmi Chapel stands out among other monuments. A Neo-Renaissance dwelling-house, belonging to the Mardešić Gariboldi family, was built at Komiža in in the early part of the current century, while the construction of a building in the Secessionist style (The Hum Café) followed shortly. The trend prevailing at the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th centuries is evident also in a series of simple, modest houses designed in no definite style at all, but containing elements of various neo-styles or of the Viennese Secession in their facades. Gutters for carrying off rain water, usually sunk in decorative roof cornices supported by consoles; rows of tall windows with simply dressed stone frames that were molded in some cases; standard shop entrances in the ground floor; balconies with wrought-iron balustrades; basement windows protected with iron grating, etc., all these elements were commonplace during that period lasting through the thirties of the current century when the increasing use of concrete almost entirely repleced stone as building material, rendering the facade construction an utterly simple affair. Among the movables dating from the above mentioned period, the Neo-Gothic furniture of the pharmacy (Narodna Apoteka) at Komiža, and the home furniture owned by the Lučić-Roki family at Vis (designed by Dragutin Inkiostri Medenjak, painter and decorator, 1866-1942) are worth mentioning. So are several pieces of furniture, etc., dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries scattered in various houses on the island. Two painters native from Komiža, Vinko Foretić and Miho Marinković, contributed to the development of the modern art in Croatia during the early part of the current century. While the former returned to his native island after years of youthful wanderings, dedicating his ability to landscape painting and portraying of life and people of Komiža, the latter ended his days as a university professor (member of the Faculty of Architecture) in Belgrade. Boasting marvellous scenery and views of the sea, picturesque water-front and interesting fishermen popular even abroad, Komiža has attracted a number of artists for a long period now. One of them was Đuro Tiljak who came to live on the island time and again where he painted considerable number of his canvases. A memorial collection of his works, comprising all his creations involving the island, was opened at Komiža in 1967. The Island of Vis, having played a most important part in the People's Revolution, has a special niche in its history. Owing to its geographical position, lying far from the mainland in the open sea, the island, turned into a wartime garrison by the People's Liberation Army as soon as Italy surrendered to the Allies in 1943, became an impregnable fortress in the Adriatic, successfully resisting the attacks of German forces in the area. That is why a number of localities and structures on the island, reminding us of those eventful years, are significant not only for the history of Dalmatia but of the whole of Yugoslavia. The glorious days of the recent past are re-awakened by memorial tablets or slogans found on old stone-built houses in the island villages and hamlets; by graves of fallen partisans scattered in a number of grave-yards and on the former aerodrome – once a lonely window flung open to the outer world and now a peaceful green vineyard; and also by miscellaneous articles or documents surviving in the silanders' homes. Numerous traces of red – or blue – painted slogans still found on the walls of houses at Vis, Komiža, Podšpilje, Marinje Zemlje, Dračevo Polje, Podstražje, and other villages and hamlets on the island, bear eloquent testimony to the wartime events, particularly to the significant ones in 1944. The cave located to the nort-west of Borovik is no doubt the most important monument belonging to that period as it served as sheltered headquarters for the People's Liberation Army from where its Commander-in-Chief, Marshal Josip Broz Tito, controlled its activities in the field aiming at the liberation of the country. The cave has therefore been named Titova Špilja. Several memorial tablets have been erected in the post-war period, either to mark some historic spots or to honour the victims of the Fascist persecution, fallen partisans, etc., Among the memorial tablets set up at Komiža, the one on the Tower is in memory of the 1940 municipal election victory of the workpeople of Komiža when 18 councilmen were returned, who directed the municipal affairs under the leadership of the Communist Party of Croatia; others, set up on various houses at Vis, mark the one-time seats of the District Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia for the central Dalmatian archipelago, and of the Regional Committee of the People's Liberation Movement, etc. A memorial tablet, set up on the Kučić Family house at Komiža, reminds us of the decision made by the local Communist Party Committee in 1941 to start attacking the invader's forces, while the inscription on another tablet erected on the house owned by Luka Borčić (at Žena Glava), records the spot where – from January through October 1944 – the Dalmatian Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia conducted the armed revolt of the people against the Fascist invader. Fallen partisans have been hounoured by memorial tablets set up at Vis, Komiža, Podstražje, Marinje Zemlje, Podšpilje, and on the Island of Biševo. Both native and British airmen, killed in action in the course of the struggle for liberation, have also been honoured, the native flyers at Velo Polje and the British at the Čunkovica crossroads. Monuments remind us of the executed hostages at Vis and Komiža in 1943 while a memorial tablet records the spot where Nikola Marinković – Top was killed. As a part of the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the stay on the island (in 1944) of the members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, of the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army, and of Marshal Tito himself, several buildings were dedicated in 1964 to the fighters killed in action and to the victims of Fascist cruelty. Among such buildings are the memorial school, designed by the Architect N. Šegvić, and the memorial premises for popular meetings, etc., designed by S. Planić. A memorial well built at Podšpilje bears the inscription of some verses by J. Franičević and of names of the fallen fighters. A large monolith erected at Vis marks the spot where the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the People's Liberation Army, Marshal Josip Broz Tito, reviewed the First Dalmatian Brigade decorating it for bravery with the Order of People's Liberation. A sentence from his speech reading: »Tuđe nećemo – svoje ne damo« (We do not what is not ours but we will not surrender what is ours) has been cut in the monolith. A number of buildings at Vis bear inscriptions recording various wartime events, e. g. the stay there (in 1944) of the presidium of the Anti-Fascist Council of Yugoslavia, of the People's Committe, of the Vis Island District Committee, etc. Some buildings at Komiža are marked in a similar way, and we learn from the inscriptions which of the houses were occupied by the Military Command, Military Hospital, Refugee Collecting Station, etc. Memorial tablets have also been set up at Borovik Village, in order to mark the houses once occupied by the Centrl Comittee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, the 26th Division Headquarters, and the Soviet, British, and American military missions. The Dalmatian Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia, the Agitprop, the Slobodna Dalmacija Editorial Office, etc., were housed at Žena Glava Village, while various aerodrome services etc. had their quarters at Marinje Zemlje. The headquarters of the 1st Dalmatian Brigade and 3rd Overseas Brigade were at Podselje. A number of miscellaneous movable articles connected with the People's War of Liberation have been preserved and are now on show at the Museum at Vis as also in some private homes. A significant architectural contribution has been recorded on the island in the field of building construction. The Yugoslav Army Club premises at Komiža and a number of handsome dwelling-houses (all designed by the Architect Vitić) and the large Wine Cellars (designed by the Architect Fabris) are particularly noteworthy.
