Suchergebnisse

Diese Doktorarbeit erforschte die ?pre-accession diversity conditionality?, die eine weitestgehende Integration nationaler Minderheiten in jenen Staaten des westlichen Balkan fordert, die derzeit eine Mitgliedschaft in der EU anstreben. Die ?first generation conditionality?, also die erste Stufe von Bedingungen und Auflagen im Bereich der Minderheitenrechte forderte Respekt und Schutz gegenüber Angehörigen von Minderheiten und richtete sich gegen die Staaten Mittel- und Osteuropas. Im Unterschied zur ersten Stufe, die primär normative und institutionelle Regelungen zur Eingliederung der nationalen Minderheiten einforderte, beinhaltet die zweite Stufe nunmehr neue Bedingungen im Zusammenhang mit Fragen der Flüchtlingsrückkehr, der strafrechtlichen Verfolgung von Kriegsverbrechen und der inter-ethnischen Versöhnung nach den Konflikten auf dem Balkan. Die Einführung solch ?maßgeschneiderter? Anforderungen mag seine Erklärung darin finden, dass die EU die Gräueltaten der Kriege und Konflikte thematisieren wollte, welche die Region in den 1990er Jahren erlitt. Die zweite Stufe von Anforderungen bemüht sich um die Stabilisierung der Region durch die Förderung einer demokratischen politischen Kultur, die die Demokratie insgesamt stärken soll. Die vorliegende Forschungsarbeit hat mehrere miteinander verbundene Zielsetzungen: Beschreibung der Relevanz politischer Kultur für die demokratische Konsolidierung; Anerkennung der EU als den maßgeblichen Akteur politischer Sozialisierung; Veranschaulichung der noch bestehenden Unzulänglichkeiten bei der Entwicklung der politischen Kultur angesichts der schon zwei Jahrzehnte andauernden Postkonflikt- und Postautoritären Transition; und Darlegung von Schlussfolgerungen zur Frage, ob ?maßgeschneiderte? Anforderungen soziokulturelle Änderungen bewirken können, die das Maß an zwischenmenschlichem Vertrauen zwischen den Bevölkerungsgruppen derjenigen Länder, die immer noch entlang interethnischer Bruchlinien zerrissen sind, heben. ; This dissertation researched the pre-accession diversity conditionality that requires broadest integration of national minorities in several of the Western Balkans countries currently aspiring to attain membership in the European Union. The first generation minority conditionality required ?respect for and protection of persons belonging to minorities? and was applied towards the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. In comparison to the first generation minority conditionality, which primarily required normative and institutional mechanisms for accommodation of national minorities, the second generation conditionality contains novel elements related to refugee return, prosecution of war crimes and post-conflict inter-ethnic reconciliation. The introduction of such tailor-made diversity conditionality might be explained by the Union?s goal to address the atrocities of the violent wars and conflicts that hit the region in 1990s. The second generation conditionality is attempting to stabilise the region by developing a democratic political culture and consequently contributing to the quality of democracy in the region. The research work has several interrelated objectives: to describe the relevance of the political culture for democratic consolidation; to position the EU as the political socialization agent since, trough the Stabilization and Association process the EU is producing a change of political culture in the Western Balkans countries aspiring to the EU membership; to illustrate remaining inadequacies in the development of the democratic political culture in spite of two decades of the Western Balkans post-conflict and post-authoritarian transition; and to provide conclusions if a tailor-made diversity conditionality for the Western Balkans is able to produce sociocultural changes that will increase the level of interpersonal trust among the populations of the countries that are still torn along inter-ethnic cleavages. ; Antonija Petričušić ; Abweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des Verfassers ; Zsfassung engl. Sprache ; Graz, Univ., Diss., 2013 ; OeBB ; (VLID)231737

Potential candidate countries of the Western Balkans have to be(come) stable democracies in order to be allowed to join the European Union (EU). In reaching this goal they are, besides economic and institutional challenges, being contingent upon not only by the legacies of recent large scale inter-ethnic conflicts, but also by the socio-cultural characteristics of their citizens. The empirical data presented in this paper reveal that citizens of the Western Balkans countries generally do not trust in political institutions, demonstrate almost apathy for social and political actions and believe they themselves are not able to influence the political process. This all results in low and inadequate political participation in all surveyed countries, and along with their undeveloped political culture, it indicates inadequate democracy promotion in the EU's accession policy in the entire region. This paper therefore argues that the EU should consider changing the pre-accession democratisation approach, since mere export of its regulatory framework so far has not contributed to the democratic consolidation and development of democratic political culture in the future Member States from the Western Balkans.

AbstractThe paper pursues the explanation that political leaders in Croatia and Serbia at the beginning of 1990s used different and sometimes conflicting historical narratives of the two biggest ethnic groups in Croatia (Croats and Serbs), manipulating those conflicting narratives and constructing nationalistic discourse in order to (re)-assure their power position. At the outset, the paper attempts to explain the term 'ethno-mobilisation.' In the following part the paper deals with the actors and means of ethno-mobilisation that was taking place in Croatia. In the third part the paper elaborates on the consequences of such ethno-mobilization policies. The paper finally underlines that in spite of the quite advanced minority legislation that emerged in early 1990s, realization of the rights of minorities, particularly Serbs, was often hindered by unjust bureaucratic processes and the absence of political will.

This paper explores a connection between religion and politics in Croatia by analyzing the conservative civic initiative "In the Name of the Family" (U ime obitelji). It is a part of a broader religious-political movement, which emerged over the course of the last decade, that is connected to other international conservative organizations and initiatives. They advocate for a decrease of secular influence on the family, oppose sexual and reproductive rights, and insist on the primacy of religious freedoms. The political nature of the movement manifests itself through multiple attempts to scrap the legislation and practices of both state and private institutions that are contradicting the value system of the Christian (Catholic) majority. The religious-political nexus of the movement is confirmed by its continuous involvement in policy-making, here manifested through the use of direct democracy institutes.

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