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The author demonstrates the importance of public finances as a source of the theory of public choice. He identifies the contributions of the continental theorists of public choice from late 19th and early. 20th century, particularly that of the Swedish economist Knut Wicksell. The author considers his concept of the method of fair taxation the central source of the theory of public choice by James Buchanan and other representatives of the Virginian school. In the author's opinion, Wicksell's approach is basically normative but the author's detailed analysis of Wicksell's key work on the theory of fair taxation points to a series of salient points which are redolen of the positive theory of public choice as it was mapped out in the middle of the 20th century. (SOI : PM: S. 188)

The author analyses the relationship among legal nationhood, social nationhood, and democracy in democratic constitutional states. After identifing the definitions of democratic constitutional state, he concludes that it is an efficient structures within which one can mvestigate the relationship among democracy, legal and social nationhood. He suggests that these three principles have their normative roots in human freedom i.e. in the freedom of participating in p0litical negotiation, in the freedom from coercion and unjust rule, in the freedom from exigency, and in the free participation in the "we" of the modern industrial, technological and information society. And finally, the author analyses the tension between the legal and social nationhood which may be fruitful only if democracy contributes to the accomplishment of major social changes that maximise human freedom. (SOI : PM: S. 91)

The author analyses Schmitt's and Luhmann's theory of democracy and the constitutional state. By comparing them, he concludes that Schmitt's critique of the democratic pluralistic state has ended in the theory of direct or plebiscitary democracy in which the constitution is subject to an unpredictable will of political majority which can change it wilfully in line with the power relations. Luhmann, on the other hand, starts from the assumption of the separation between law and politics and builds his concept of the constitutional state on the bipolar differentiation and the mutual checks between law and politics. The author concludes that Luhmann does not give up on Hobbes' pessimistic conviction that human nature is bestial; he only offers a different strategy for the coexistence of cultured savages. (SOI : PM: S. 67)

The article is dedicated to Professor Richard Wisser. It is a critical analysis of Husserl's essay "The crisis of European sciences and transcendental phenomenology". The author first outlines Husserl's diagnosis of the crisis of science, philosophy and culture, followed by the elements and the mechanisms of that crisis. The root of the crisis of European science and culture lies in foregoing the genuine productive humanity. The authentic humanity cannot be based nor explained from its objectivizations but solely through the analysis of its productive imagination. The author also deals with the crisis of spiritual sciences, which he claims have brought about the loss of insight into the ultimate purpose of the existence of Europe as a brainchild of the historical humanity. (SOI : PM: S. 176)

The author provides a short review of the most important events in Croatian history during the 20th century. He begins by emphasizing the importance of the burning of the Hungarian flag in Zagreb during the visit of emporer Franz Joseph in 1895. Other turning points of Croatian history in the 20th century were: declaration of the Rijeka resolution, which was the basis of the Croato-Serbian Coalition; the end of long term relations with the Habsburg monarchy, and the entry into a unified state with Serbia; the experience of Serbian domination in that state; the events of the Second World War; and the renewal of Yugoslavia under a communist dictatorship. The author has decided to publish this review as a model for a further historical study of this period. (SOI : CSP: S. 453)

The author describes the evolution of philosophical foundations of the mechanical and the organic principle, from Spencer to Whitehead as well as Durkheim's first application of these principles (mechanical and organic solidarity) and their sociological extensions as a form of sociability (L. V. Wiese, Gurvitch). And finally, the author gives a detailed review of the application of the mechanical and the organic as a structure of organisation in the science of management (Burns, Stalker, and later theoreticians). The mechanical and the organic principles identily the structure of being, society and organisations from the point of view of the capacities of individuals and their involuntary or voluntary ties. The mechanical and the organic are also the poles between which the structure of an organisation varies depending on strategy, size, technology and environment. (SOI : PM: S. 256)

The author analyzes the current trends of the globalization of trade, capital, mass media, communication, transport, tourism and economic migrations. However, there is the backlash to the globalizing processes: cultural particularism which has mobilized traditions and triggered violent outbreaks of hostilities. Political scientist Francis Fukuyama has pointed out that today the key challenges to liberal democracy are a miscellany of particularistic fundamentalism, national extremism, totalitarism and authoritarian paternalism. Samuel Huntington also warns about the dangers of particularism. Within such a framework, the phenomenon of "ethnic cleansing" is only an extreme form of the trend which has marked the 20th century - ethnical homogenization as a reaction to the problems of multiethnic communities. The author is of the opinion that this development need not represent an obstacle for the dialogue and communication among cultures. (SOI : PM: S. 168)

In this text the author elaborates on two central assumptions. The first assumption (based on the comparative survey results from ten postcommunist countries) is that there is a marked positive correlation between the residue of "communist legacy" in people's minds and the electoral success of leftist parties. Since that legacy in Croatia (and Czech Republic) has been weakest, this is going to be an aggravating circumstance for SDP in their struggle for power. The second assumption is that the politics of leftist parties which could come to power is to shuttle between two extremes: the restoration of real socialism in a modified form and the social-democratic model of Sweden or at least Germany. According to the author, the key agents of such politics are "neotraditionalism" and "political capitalism" both inherited from the former system. (SOI : PM: S. 46)

This article deals with the history of the Croatian left in the last seventy years with a special emphasis on its role during World War Two. The author analyzes the national policy of the Croatian left towards Croats and Croatia in the second Yugoslav state and highlights numerous positive attempts at solving the Croatian national question. He goes on to point to the difficulties which the Croatian left had to face in achieving the desired aims. The unsatisfactory solution for the Croatian question in the second Yugoslavia was the cause of constant friction and of the disintegration of the Yugoslav federation. The author is of the opinion that the Croatian leftist parties should not repeat the same mistakes and harbour illusions of a Yugoslav community, which has always been extremely detrimental to the Croatian nationalist interests. (SOI : PM: S. 60)

The significance of the positive political theory is recognized in the text and a special emphasis given to the theory of public choice and the theory of voting. The main reasons for the study of political, particularly electoral processes from the viewpoint of the positive theory are listed. The author further questions certain fundamental postulates of the normative theories of democracy and their unviability. He goes on to analyse the phenomenon of the so called electoral or voting paradoxes and their possible influence on electoral results and, ultimately, on the democratic norms themselves. The existence of the voting paradoxes and their theoretical rationale is considered unequivocal and is mathematically proved. The author also gives a review of the most significant works on voting paradoxes and the theory of public choice. (SOI : PM: S 225)

The Sarajevo Convention, on which the Sarajevo Declaration and the Pact on Stability were adopted, is a kind of a finale to the ten-year contlict in the Balkan region. The most important pioneers in that dynamic process of Europe's preparation for accepting the countries of Europe's South-East have been the Brussels study by the Center for political analyses, the German "new politics" and the US support. The analyses of the goals and mechanisms of the Pact show that it is a major political instrument, though hailed as a mixed blessing. If all the actors - states, nongovernmental organizations, associations, and individuals - are provided with long-term conditions for creating affiliations, joint views and projects, the process of building better relations may be initiated. The Europeisation of South-East Europe is going to be a lengthy and complex process, and the Pact on Stability may become an important form of building new relations in this region. (SOI : PM: S. 22)

The author explores the legitimating roots of the constitutional state. In his opinion, they can be found in moral universalism and national democracy. Both principles undoubtedly belong with the fundamental tenets of the constitution of modern constitutional state. While the former implies the universality of its postulates which are accepted by every constitutional state, the latter represents the restrictive principle of this universalness. The author links these two principles and defines a people as a group of individuals who, regardless of their ethnic, cultural, and religious station may, in line with the principles of freedom and equality of individuals create a successful political community. By the universality of its legality, the defence of human rights and power-sharing, constitutional state is a necessary prerequisite for the prospect of fashioning a people as a group of responsible individuals in establishing universal will. (SOI : PM: S. 16)

Croatia is the only postcommunist country in which the process of democratic transition coincided with the process of creating the state by means of a war. These three processes are in a special interaction: the transition enabled the realization of the state-building programme, which triggered off the war which, in turn, jeopardized the completion of both projects. The author illustrates the dynamics of the political changes in Croatia since the eighties, which started with the liberalization of political life and continued with two stages of democratic transition, before and after gaining independence. The Serbian insurgence and later an open aggression have somewhat hampered the transition and brought about the "ethnification" of politics. At the end the author analyses the pattern of the creation of democratic institutions which has been, in both stages (before and after the 1990 elections) under the control of the ruling political party. (SOI : PM: S. 99)

The author looks into the methodological features of public choice theory. On the example of James Buchanan's contribution, he demonstrates the differences between that kind of approach (often dubbed political economy) versus welfare economics and mainstream economics. Unlike welfare economics, which tries to work out the optimal state of allocation and distribution of economic resources by using certain logical rules based on Pareto's principles, or mainstream economics, which tries to identify the improvements in observable economic categories (such as national income or investment consumption), political economy encompasses the process of collective decision-making i.e. politics. In this, the efficacy criterion is t extent of consent (consensus) in collective decisionmaking. On the example of Buchanan's and Tullock's joint contribution in the book "The Calculus of Consent", the author concludes that this paved the way for introducing a legitimate categorial mechanism for investigating the costs of political decision-making into political science. (SOI : PM: S. 88)

The author claims that all major efforts concerning European security have always been linked with the end of a war. Thus the end of the cold war has been marked with the expansion of NATO and an attempt to create a new security. By analysing the political scope of the expansion, the military and strategic framework, the Russian reactions, and the economic significance, the author comes to the conclusion that the expansion is not conducive to the establishment of an integral system of European security. The purpose of this development by Clinton's team was primarily to outline the new European borders (the key aspect of Clinton's foreign policy) and, in the future, to create the conditions for further expansion and admittance of new members. Only in the remote future, through constant expansion and links with other European organisations, NATO could turn into the central system of European security. (SOI : PM: S. 97)