Suchergebnisse

Comparative politics is a political science discipline which has in its evolution continuously reflected the developments in the field of international politics. The author outlines the genesis of this discipline, which boomed in the 1950s with the framework of American politology. He first defines this discipline and the goes on to give an account of the evolution of the fundamental research principle, the expansion of the subject matter and the importance of the key concepts that delineate this academic discipline (political power, political system, politic regime). The author analyses the role of comparative politics in the context of other disciplines of political sciences as well as its applicative potentials. As analysis of the history of this discipline he points to the connection between shift of the interest and the focus in practical politics and the thematically specialized subdisciplines within comparative politological research. In the conclusion, the author points out the importance and the applicatory value of discipline for Croatia (as a country in the process of democratic transition) regarding the comparative analysis of the experiences of developed democracies and countries in transition. (SOI : PM: S. 148)

The Croatian Constitution belongs into the category of pioneer constitutions in the Eastern European countries and its content-related achievement cannot be appraised outside the context in which it has been merged. Unlike some other Eastern European constitutions, it does not include the context of transitional experience. Consequently, the author analyzes the 1991 Croatian Constitution via several foci of comparison: The Preamble culture in the introductory article, Basic provisions and fundamental values provision, fundamental human rights, constitutional court, and others. In the conclusion, the author claims that the Croatian Constiuition is a solid foundation for developing today's type of constitutional state. (SOI : PM: S. 55)

The author analyses the concept of human dignity in historical and logical perspectives of its meaning. The key terms are: (a) dignity as an attribute of humanity; (b) the meaninglessness of this notion in some historical periods; (c) human dignity as human achievement; (d) human dignity as human potential; (e) human dignity as belonging to humanity. Then he goes on to stress the superiority of dignity as such over the acquired dignity. And finally, the author concludes that human dignity is inviolable, both in the virtues of its autonomous subjectivity and in its deviations: in the fallacy, deception, guilt, and awareness of one's own finality. (SOI : PM: S. 44)

The standard view of Croatian and Yugoslav historiography holds that the Catholic Church in the Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945) in general collaborated with the Ustasha-regime and supported its policies of persecutions and forced conversions. The author submits those assessments to a critical review, reexamining the documents and their standard interpretations. He concludes that a major reassessment of historiography regarding the role of the Church during the war is needed. While only pointing to major misrepresentations, the author provides basic elements for a new evaluation of the Church's role in the political turmoil during the World War II. (SOI : CSP: S. 474)

The author focuses on about twenty Croatian and non-Croatian authors, who published in this renowned political and literary review. They belong to different social groups and adopt differing political options, which also determine their attitude toward NDH. There are two main approaches. One, which simply explains the policies of NDH, where Jere Jareb is the most representative author. The other approach is the justification of those policies to some degree. A special attention is paid to authors who analyse foreign, especially German literature, that touches on Croatian issues, and to authors that were direct participants in the events, such as Mate Frkovic, who participated in the Lorkovic-Vokic putsch. (SOI : CSP: S. 95f.)

The author provides a definition of political marketing and hightlights its links with democratic polity, reviews the evolution of political marketing from the party to the marketing concept, looks into political marketing as a sort of construction of political reality and analyzes political marketing in Croatia. The author points out that political marketing is resisted by the very people who should make use of it, but that there are some objective circumstances which stand in its way, such as the lack of money, the undeveloped public electronic media, and the still predominantly traditional culture of the society, more inclined to oral communication. (SOI : PM: S. 167)

The author poses the question: what makes Francois Mitterrand the "classic" type of ruler i.e. what makes him above-the-average contemporary politician. Following the well-documented analysis of the entire period of his rule, the author concludes: history will reveal Mitterrand's various masks, but never his true face. He exploited the classical mise en scene of power, so his true persona should be sought in the interplay of his numerous disguises. Mitterrand stands out among the contemporary political figures in the ability to use his power to ward off all attempts at its usurpation, th transforming his own power into the memory of the coming generations. (SOI : S. 178)

The author describes Buchanan's theory of political constitution and his individualist understanding of political science. On the basis of homo economicus, Buchanan deduced the normative elements of political science, i.e. the proposals for the choice of political institutions. In his opinion, the choice of political institutions always contains the ethical dimension. The positive elements of political science are illustrated by means of the analyses of the behaviour of political actors within the designated framework. The author shows how this type of radical individualism does not satisfy the standards of political science since it de facto does away with the political sphere. (SOI : PM: S. 195)

Polemically oriented towards Plessner's "Belated Nation" and the introductory presentations in the debate about this book at the Faculty of Political Science, the author is of the opinion that the German case is the one of a belated attempt at empire-creation, and that all the nations in the world are "late" - except for the Dutch. By referring to the literature on politico-economic history and the model and comparative analysis of the nation-state as a complex politico-economic community within the world system of the West, the author thinks that Schieder's typology of the creation of European nations is not plausible, neither theoretically nor factually/historically. (SOI : PM: S. 30)

The author discusses the crucial question of whether Serbia truly pursues the path of modernization and European integration, or just a simulation of these processes. The author proposes the thesis that there are numerous obstacles on Serbia's transitional path toward the (post)modern European society. Therefore, he tries to discover the essential reasons for the citizens' reluctance and resistance, the reasons which are related to the modernization of the Serbian society. Serbia is today at the crossroads of the traditional and modern understanding of life. It contains some elements of (post)modernization, but still with a strong influence of its traditional (conservative) heritage. The processes of re-traditionalization (re-mythologization and pseudo-mythologization) represent a major obstacle to the liberation of the society from the grip of the past and to its orientation towards European values. According to the author, the main creators of retrograde flows can be found in the political establishment of contemporary Serbia. He labels them, ironically and derogatorily, the 'guardians' of tradition, who use demagogic statements, populist paroles, and media information control (for their personal and party interests) to slow down Serbia on its European path.

The author gives an outline of constitutional and legal provisions regulating the rights of ethnic minorities in the Republic of Croatia as well as the site-based policy of the protection of minority rights. The major areas in which the Government of the Republic of Croatia has been supporting the activities of the minority groups' organisations are: publishing, cultural societies, libraries, minority curricula, preservation of the minority cultura heritage and research projects. Between 1992 and 1997, the Government of the Republic of Croatia earmarked 22 million DEM for the minorities' activities. The author concludes that the ethnic minorities in Croatia, despite the political and economic hardships, have enjoyed a high degree of minority rights and freedoms. (SOI : PM: S. 64)

The author poses the question about the fate of neoconservatism, in the 1980s the official political orientation in the USA. Twenty years later, one can see how anti-communism and anti-modernism, neoconservatism's fundamental ideological premises, have changed the political practice and awareness, both (and equally) in American foreign and national policy. Though conceptually incoherent, neoconservatism has proved to possess exceptional clout. This has led the author to conclude that neoconservatism, despite the claims by neoconservatives themselves that it is dead, still has much leeway, since voters' awareness has been changed: they have got used to the new political context, they vote for well-balanced "mixtures" of rightist and leftist ideologies. (SOI : PM: S. 164)

The author critically analyses Plessner's views on the lack of a clear idea of the state in German tradition as well as the consequences of that for its development in the 20th century. The author claims that it is not so much a question of the non-existence of the idea of the state as of the non-existence of a democratic social stratum that would have prevented the authoritarian and later totalitarian developments. He also rejects the interpretation of history as meaningful, goal-oriented processes, since they presuppose a philosophical knowledge about the goals and purposes of an inimitable historical development, the assumption which today cannot be methodologically vindicated by any historian. (SOI : PM: S. 53)

The author is of the opinion that experts in international law are not broad-minded regarding the establishment of a state. Most legal experts take for granted the statements of the international judiciary on the existance of certain rules of general international law and consider them validated and indisputable. This faction has been given support by states since they uphold those legal statements that suit their interests. The author analyses the Opinions of the Arbitration Committee on the process of the disintegration and the criteria for the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia as well as the criteria for the creation of the new states. He considers this precedent as central for international judiciary law. (SOI : PM: S. 187)

The policy of pressure on Croatia as an illustrative - although not isolated - example has not inspired empirical and theoretical studies of this phenomenon. The discussion has remained at the level of everyday political discourse, even "coffee-house politics". Due to its extreme topicality, as well as its theoretical "solvency", the author has attempted with this essay to come up with a theoretical definition of the concept of pressure and to demonstrate on the Croatian example its goals, scope, dynamics and future prospects and outcomes. Among the existing approaches, the author has chosen the "politico-economic approach" which defines the policy of pressure as a specific form of political communication between the "centre" and the "periphery" in Wallerstein's "world system". The example of Croatia serves the author as an ideal-type model of such communication through a combination of political science and sociological analysis. In his opinion, and due to certain favourable contingencies, Croatia is the nearest to the ideal type of such communication. + Due to a lack of systematic empirical data, the discussion naturally remains at the theoretical- hypothetical level, and should be understood as an invitation to further discussion and as an incentive for more extensive empirical research. However, since this is a very dynamic phenomenon, the question is: is the author's argumentation still valid today as it was at the time when the essay was written? There have been two changes: (1) the war on Kosovo which proves the author's hypotheses; and (2) a certain "thaw" in the relations between the international community (particularly USA) and Croatia (it is still unclear whether this change concerns the fundamental strategic trends or is solely a "politico-meteorological" phenomenon (the alteration of colder and warmer periods). This is why the author did not deem any alterations in the text necessary; one should wait and in the meantime expose the (hypo)theses to some critical scrutiny. (SOI : PM: S. 211)