Suchergebnisse

The author analyzes the specific features of the American political system, its structure, & the political effects that it produces. She pays particular attention to the 1992 congressional elections & how they differed from previous ones, especially in that more women, members of ethnic communities, & young people, were elected to the House of Representatives. The changes in the composition of Congress are the result of three essential factors: (1) the long battle for the recognition of civil rights, especially for women; (2) the inclination of the electoral body to limit the congressional term of office; & (3) a better possibility of tailoring electoral units so that minorities can become majorities & secure a larger representation in Congress. 1 Table, 22 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author looks at a book with the promising title Law and Revolution, particularly, promising to those prone to think about law strategically. Starting from the main points of the book & of some interpretations of legal history that qualify these points, the author then demonstrates how negligible appear to be the possibilities of strategic action in the renewal & development of Croatian law. Adapted from the source document.

The author analyzes the attitude of the lawyer Carl Schmitt toward the philosopher Hegel. He considers the way in which Schmitt relates to Hegel & believes his references to Hegel are not justified. Namely, Schmitt was not Hegelian. The author proves his theory with an analysis of the stance of each philosopher toward liberalism, political theology, the friend-enemy theory, & each one's style of reasoning. Adapted from the source document.

The discussion about the character & actual role of the parliament in Croatia does not easily differentiate political & scientific opinions, which is in accord with the experiences of advanced democracies. The author considers a scientific debate possible, however, if it is fundamental in the comparative method, & formulates three comparative starting points for such a debate. First, the historical role of the parliament as a symbol of Croatian statehood must be considered. The author considers that in the second half of the 19th century, the power of the governor (ban) was significantly more important in the preservation of Croatian sovereignty than the parliament. Second, a critical grading of the socialist theories on the rule of representative assembly is necessary. These have considerable influence on policy & theoretical discussion in postsocialist countries. Third, caution must be used in approaching Western-style parliamentarism, where the seat of power is in the executive, & the parliament plays only a minor control function. The author suggests that discussion about the Croatian parliament concentrate on increasing constitutional & functional possibilities & roles; eg, through institutions of parliamentary investigations, interpellations, & ombudsman. Adapted from the source document.

The majority of Central & Eastern European countries, such as Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, & Serbia, adopted mixed governmental systems, better known as semipresidential, in their transitions to democracy. The author analyzes the attributes of semipresidential systems from the basis of Western European experience, first & foremost those of the German Weimar & the French Fifth Republic. Semipresidential systems are unstable because they allow too many diverging political games, may create a dangerous political climate in situations of cohabitation, tend to increase presidential powers beyond those granted by the constitution, &, in times of political crises, do not allow for compromise of political powers. The author concludes that semipresidential systems are not suitable for consolidating democracy. 1 Table, 51 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author initiates the article with the theory that the concept of sovereignty significantly differs in the late Middle Ages & the early modern age. Bodin gave to the sovereign the competency to both legislate & command, thus creating a significant shift forward from the medieval monarchical competency. Although he connected the two competencies, he was still unable to make the sovereign master of law but only master of statutes, with some limitations. The modern age recognizes two types of sovereignty: sovereignty of the sovereign & sovereignty of the people. The first case deals with absolute monarchies, while the second is concerned with democracies. Today, only the latter case is politically relevant. The author differentiates between 'the people' as a group of autonomous individuals, & 'the people' as an organic entity. The first form of political unity comes from autonomous individuals, & sees in the government only limiting power, while the second sees the basis for political unity in the whole of the ethnic body, culture, language, religion, history, etc. The second form has its roots in the romanticism of the 19th century; since the fall of socialist systems, it is again dominant in political thought & practice. The author warns of the dangers of one-sided use of organic unity in the creation of political communities & considers a combination of national & individual elements (democratic & liberal) the only successful basis for sovereignty. Adapted from the source document.

The author considers basic controversies surrounding the constitutional model & reality of Croatian parliamentarism. He contends that all these issues can be summarized in one debatable question: Is it a fair assessment that the Croatian political system & Croatian parliamentarism are marred by the concentration of power wielded by the upper echelon of the government, especially the President of the Republic, while the parliament is powerless & marginalized. The author challenges this assumption by systematically dividing basic characteristics of parliamentary governments & semipresidential systems into specific examples of both foreign policy & majority & consensus decision making; while emphasizing the influence of the party system on constitutional government. He believes that a change from a semipresidential system to a purely parliamentary system would not significantly affect the relationship between the law-making & executive arms of government. Adapted from the source document.

The author pleads for a renewal of political philosophy by asking what it means to think politically again. He also reexamines characteristics in the concept of democracy that renew its weight in relationship to totalitarianism & cannot be reduced to an institutional system. After looking critically at the works of Tocqueville, who -- contrary to most of his contemporaries -- saw democracy as a form of government, the author comes to the conclusion that democracy appears to be a historical social category, par excellence, of a society that, in its form, accepts & maintains undefinability. This is in significant contrast to totalitarianism, which, establishing itself with the slogan of building the new man, in fact acts against this undefinability & tries to conserve the rules of its own organization. Thus, in the contemporary world, totalitarianism manifests itself secretly as a society without history. Adapted from the source document.

In this paper on the subject of comparative constitutional law studies, the author presents the experience of two foreign courts whose competence includes the control of the compatibility of laws with the constitution. The examples concern the constitutional right to freedom of the press. In the course of the practice of the US Supreme Court & the Constitutional Council in France, the constitutional stipulation concerning freedom of the press provokes one of the liveliest controversies in the public life. The "dictum" of the decisions concerning freedom of the press represents a living source of contemporary understanding & action within this significant & complex constitutional law. While tasking into consideration some existing circumstances in the life & institutional structure of the Republic of Croatia, the author asks in what direction the Constitutional Court of Croatia will turn should the circumstances put it into the position of having to answer a question concerning freedom of the press. Adapted from the source document.

The author discusses the political effects of Hungarian electoral law on the formation of the Hungarian parliament. Although the makers of the new electoral law argued that the democratic legislative body should widely & justly represent all interests, points of view, & opinions of the electoral body, electoral law only partly stimulates proportionality. The disproportionate effects of the Hungarian electoral law (system) have been caused, according to the author, by several elements: namely, the prohibitive clause, the application of the electoral number procedure (the Hagenbach-Bischoff method & the Hare method), the two-thirds rule for the distribution of the remaining mandates, & the size of the electoral districts. In the 1990 parliamentary elections, the combined electoral system (that fuses electoral systems belonging to two different types -- the majority & the proportional system) achieved one of its basic political aims; it made great party fragmentation on the parliamentary level impossible, although a comparatively large number of political parties participated in the electoral process. One of the first effects of Hungarian electoral law on the formation of the Hungarian parliament was a reduction of multiparliamentarism. 8 Tables, 33 References. Adapted from the source document.

The disintegration of communist societies is a continuation of the processes that were interrupted when the communist parties came to power with their programs of radical changes aimed at erasing all the social relationships that had been developed within a civil society. The author does not contest the thesis that the development of bourgeois countries is a historical rule, but he stresses that the problems of postcommunism cannot be solved by simply imitating everything from the West. The East European countries will have to undergo the same historical processes as the West, but in their own manner. The phase in which national states are formed cannot be avoided, & it does carry certain risks. Potential conflict situations cannot be avoided by stopping the processes put into motion by the fall of communism because this would produce an opposite effect. The author contests the opinion of the advocates of large integrative wholes who assert that the communist federations have disintegrated as a consequence of the activities of the nationalists & the national movements. He shows that disintegration represented an inseparable part of the dissolution of the old political order. Adapted from the source document.

The author shows that it is not possible to formulate a consistent theory of freedom, tying together the internal perspective of action & the external perspective of rational description & explanation of action. In the history of philosophical discussion about freedom as a fundamental concept of liberalism, Kant & Hegel represent two extremes. Each tried to formulate consistently a concept of freedom & its moral & political consequences, but both paid the price of one-sidedness. Kant postulates the primacy of the internal perspective of the moral subject, which is ideally expressed by his categorical imperative. However, the concept of freedom defined from the stance of autonomous morals loses contact with the historical world of traditional values, with the consequence of moralizing politics & unrealistically disregarding the nation as a characteristic framework of politics. Hegel points out the priority of the external perspective, which gives him an analytical advantage relative to liberal theories of natural law & Kant's moralist position. However, as warned by the German political theorist Hermann Heller, Hegel's position results in defining the sphere of collective morality as superior to individual action, disregarding the protection of individual liberties against the state & accepting national politics of power as the only criterion for international politics. The author concludes that liberal constitutions, unlike totalitarianism, must then be inconsistent. Adapted from the source document.

The author suggests that the process of establishing a Croatian state based on law ought to differentiate varieties both on the diachronic & genetic level as well as on the synchronic & systematic level. He maintains that distinguishing different types of state based on law (absolute/sovereign, liberal, social) & their specific problems offers analytical possibilities for the theoretical definition of institutions & regulating mechanisms better able to solve the basic problems in the development of Croatian society & the Croatian state. 32 References. Adapted from the source document.

In the processes of democratic transition in Central & Eastern Europe, parliaments play an important role. The author examines the problems of functioning of the Croatian Sabor in the period 1990-1993. In particular, he analyzes the changes of the constitutional structure of the Sabor, the development of the postsocialist parliamentary party system, the main problems of constitutional transformation, & the policy agenda of legislation. He demonstrates that a weaker role played by the parliament in Croatia results from the imbalanced party system & unstructured character of the ruling party, a strong presidential institution, & the consequences of a deep ethnic cleavage between Croats & Serbs in Croatia. Adapted from the source document.

In his examination of the basic coordinates of Croatian foreign policy, the author points to the need for good neighborly relations -- through the mechanism of the Conference on Security & Cooperation in Europe -- with the countries that were, until recently, parts of the former Yugoslavia as well as with those that became independent long ago. He stresses the need to develop relationships with the great powers, especially with the US, & to develop bilateral relationships with nonaligned countries. One of the aims is to develop good relations with Europe through economic & political links as well as cooperation in matters concerning security. The subregional frameworks of international cooperation in which Croatia participates appear to be insufficient for solving political & security questions. Special consideration ought to be devoted to NATO as a mechanism that could protect the security of Croatia. As a new state, Croatia must demonstrate that, in both its internal development & its international activities, it is ready to fulfill the obligations imposed by its membership in the UN. Adapted from the source document.