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The author's thesis on opposition is based on the theoretical & practical experience of modern political regimes, particularly Croatia's postcommunist experience. The author shows how the belated political constitution of the nation has occurred at the expense of political emancipation, pluralization, & democratization. Small nations, which did not take part in the creation of modern state & the establishment of the contemporary political & legal culture, suffer from a double setback: they do not have a state of their own & are regarded as small, "unhistorical" peoples. The fascination & obsession with the state & the identification of the nation with the state is especially visible in those postcommunist societies that have not gone through the process of political emancipation, ie, the emancipation of the state. The author points out that the fascination with the state has had serious consequences for the development of democracy, since any oppositional opinion & activity or criticism of the government is disqualified as an attack on the state. This fascination & the identification of the nation & the state is a barrier to state building since it stands in the way of its emancipation & integrational processes. 11 References. Adapted from the source document.

If anyone can be considered the creator of American democracy & its most influential promoter, it is Thomas Jefferson. American democracy is deemed Jeffersonian -- rightly & doubly so: Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence (1776), the basic political & constitutional act, but he also inspired, created, & proselytized American democracy all over the world. Tocqueville considered him to be the sturdiest apostle of democracy ever. Jefferson is one of the few scholars & politicians whose belief in the value & the possibilities of democracy never wavered. His political credo

In this article, the author shows the (un)ethical side of democracy determined as a median point of politics. That which is ethical in politics, is also ethical in democracy, which is a vehicle of political accomplishment. The ethics lie in the way & means of accomplishment, & not in the purpose & goals of political activity. Adapted from the source document.

The author demonstrates how the individual is implied in the very idea & concept of democracy as being free in principle & equal to other individuals. The emancipation & subjectivization of man in the new era appears to be the fundamental presupposition of every democracy, including, of course, the pluralistic one. In a political community in which the free individual does not happen to be the starting point & the purpose of the political system, there is no democracy. Neither is there any demos, as this entity is only possible if a full & unalienable political subjectivity of the individual is presupposed. Without the philosophy & the historical experience of liberalism, there would be no possibility for a modern pluralist democracy either. Pluralism suits human nature & relationships among people more than all other political forms. Man himself is "structured pluralistically" because of the complex mental structure & the different interests that activate him. No social order or political system based on the principle of collectivity (regardless of its social, national, religious, or philosophical origin) has any chance either to promote social progress or to survive. Adapted from the source document.