The author analyzes the relationship between constitutional law & political reality. Using historical material on German constitutional legal practice to analyze this relationship, the author concludes that a good constitution can function solely in the setting of a good political culture. The citizenry of a certain political culture always goes hand in hand with a good constitution. Adapted from the source document.
The author outlines Haberle's theory of constitution in five parts: (1) the concept of the constitution; (2) the constitution as a public process; (3) the constitution as culture; (4) the "fifth" method of interpretation; (5) critical objections. With this division the author covers, if not all, then at least the essential features of Haberle's concept of the constitution. In the author's opinion, Haberle, after Savigny, worked out a new principle for interpreting the constitution -- the cultural principle. At the time of the decline of nation-states & the era of intensive international concurrence of constitutions, this principle -- apart from the classic methods of the interpretation of constitutions -- has been gaining importance. Finally, the author looks into the controversies triggered by Haberle's theory of constitutions. Adapted from the source document.
The author has tried to prove that interethnic relations in democracy cannot be handled solely by means of legal, economic, & institutional means; political culture, ie, civic democratic political culture, can have a significant role. The analysis shows that there is room for the build-up of a transnational democratic citizenry, free from all ascriptive criteria & identities such as religion, ethnicity, etc. It also reveals how classic liberalism neglects various identities (ethnic, national, etc) while communitarian liberalism overlooks the excluding force of various identities. It has also demonstrated that there are several concepts of civic identities (liberal, communitarian, & social/group) & that each of these concepts can exert profound influence on the relationship between citizens & their political community. Finally, the relation between patriotism & interethnic relations in democracy are reviewed. Patriotism, in the circumstances of growing social pluralization, & despite a plethora of political integrations, can play a prominent role in bridging the political & cultural atomizations & conflicts in society. It can undertake this role only if constituted in the civic & not the crude (fixed) ethnic sense -- though the national defines the limits & the meaning of this constitution -- provided it evolves into loyalty to one's homeland & goes hand in hand with the development of democracy & human rights. In short, the purpose of this paper is to provide evidence that it is necessary to expand democratic political culture that might aid in resolving intricate & sensitive relations among various ethnic & cultural communities. Patriotism can assume a decisive role in this. It lays down the limits & legitimacy of each meaningful political discourse & each genuine political subject. Adapted from the source document.
Empirically different (multicultural) Europeans are linked by means of two familiar & historically well-drilled programmatic scripts: the first one is logical-grammatical & the second scientific-technical. The first enables them to express their irreducible empirical differences in the form of a universally comprehensible logical argument that can be democratically decided upon, the second enables them to level all differences by the power of scientific & technical imperatives that disregard the logical & the democratic argument, Eurocracy & Eurotechnocracy operate with calculated scientific algorithms, European citizens & Euro-optimists & Euro-pessimists with analogies of everyday speech & its logical arguments. The communication among the proponents of these two programmatic scripts, among the different media & the different sources of power can be achieved solely by means of translation. However, translation is never going to be completely & totally faithful since the media are incommensurable; hence, mutually selectively it follows that Tertium non datur, or everybody speaks in their own languages heard by all but understood by none, hence the moral: Nenzo contra Europae nisi Europa ipse. 15 References. Adapted from the source document.
This article analyzes the formation of the "Association for the Yugoslav Democratic Initiative" (UJDI), promoted by a group of intellectuals from the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Zagreb in early 1989. The aim of this association was the democratic transformation of Yugoslavia during a period of political and economic crises. The paper focuses on the debate about constitutional reform and the constitutional "model" proposed by UJDI. Through UJDI's experience, the author analyzes some of the aspects and implications of the political cultures at the end of the 1980s. Furthermore, the author contributes new perspectives on the Yugoslav political crisis and the attempts of UJDI to call for democratization as the country teetered on the brink of war. Adapted from the source document.
Rad promišlja i prikazuje interakciju globalizacije i kulture kao sustava značenja koji reguliraju društveni život, odnosno na općoj razini skicira i analizira neke teze glede odnosa kulture i globalizacije. Globalizacija je društvena, ekonomska, politička i kulturna činjenica suvremenog društva, totalni fenomen. Ona je sveprisutna pojava današnje epohe i ostavlja upečatljive tragove svoje nazočnosti u svim prostorima u kojima se odvija. Osnovni aspekti globalizacije su ekonomski i politički odnosi koji se razvijaju između zemalja i regija i sve više čine okvir nekoj vrsti kulturnoga međusobnog približavanja u kojemu izvjestan broj istih vrijednosti prolazi krozviše zemalja s tendencijom prema kulturnoj jednakosti.Globalizacijski proces uključuje sve veći broj kulturnih elemenata, proširuje prostorne, kvantitativne i kvalitativne dimenzije kulture, a uključivanjem sve većega broja ljudi potiče aktivno djelovanje kulture. U prošlosti i danas dodiri kultura su se skladno prožimali, ali i iskazivali dramatične i često konfliktne oblike. Istinsko življenje trebalo bi biti međusobno razumijevanje i poštovanje, sporazumijevanje i ravnopravna suradnja jer smisao čovjeka ogleda se u humanosti. ; This paper represents an analysis and an account of the interaction between globalization and culture as systems of meaning that regulate social life. In other words, the paper provides a general outline and insight into certain thesis regarding the relationship between culture and globalization. Globalization is a social, economic, political, and cultural fact of modern society, an absolute phenomenon. It is an omnipresent occurrence of today's epoch leaving significant traces of its presence wherever it occurs. The basic aspects of globalization refer to economic and political relations that develop between countries and regions and that increasingly represent a framework for closer cultural contacts within which a certain number of the same values pass through many countries with a tendency towards cultural equality.The globalization process includes an increasing number of cultural elements, it broadens the spatial, quantitative and qualitative dimensions of culture, and, by including an increasing number of people, promotes active functioning of culture. In past and at present cultural contacts have harmoniously interfused, but they have also taken dramatic and often conflicting forms. True living should consist of mutual understanding and respect, agreement and equal cooperation because the meaning of man is reflected in humanity.
The author looks into one of the most important concepts in the last decade of comparative research: social capital. The concept of social capital was originally developed in sociology, where it denotes potential benefits that individuals enjoy, derived from their involvement in various social networks. This concept was fully utilized in the field of comparative politics into which it was "introduced" by Robert Putnam in Making Democracy Work, in which he presents the results of his research in which he establishes a positive link between social capital -- embodied in the norms of generalized reciprocity, horizontal networks, & trust -- & higher levels of democratic efficiency. In the last decade, the concept has been used in a number of studies in comparative politics, the starting point of which was the thesis that spatial & temporal differences in the levels of political efficiency may, at least partly, be explained by the level of social capital of a community. By comparing the concepts of political culture & social capital, the author concludes that social capital is a major conceptual innovation in comparative politics & represents a revival of social/cultural variables in comparative analysis. 63 References. Adapted from the source document.
In this paper the author uses the analysis of a concrete case -- the introduction of political education into England's school system -- to describe the scientific, professional & political debates surrounding the status of school political education in schools in democratic states. Based on this analysis he concludes that England's case unmistakably proves that the proposals regarding the introduction of the new political education syllabuses, regardless of their quality, will invariably fail unless there is a strong political will i.e. the resolve of the political elites to accept & implement them. He also concludes that in today's democratic states there is some sort of a consensus on the necessity of the existence of this segment of education as an essential component of school systems. The consensus is based on the understanding that the future of democratic political systems to a large extent depends on the existence of citizens who possess the knowledge, attitudes & capabilities necessary for their informed & responsible inclusion in the process of political decision-making. The author thinks that the analysis embarked on in this paper might serve as an incentive for the actualization of the debate on the present status, scope, models & contents of political education in Croatian schools. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.
The Council of Europe, founded in 1949 to promote greater unity & safeguard the political & cultural heritage of the continent, has become the largest international governmental organization in Europe with its 46 members. It proclaimed the year 2005 the "European Year of Citizenship through Education." The promotion of democracy & democratic political culture is one of the chief objectives of the Council of Europe, & the interest & active participation of citizens in public affairs are the conditions necessary for the development of democratic political culture. The awakening of citizens' interest & civic involvement begins at school. The Republic of Croatia as a member of the Council of Europe will observe 2005 as a Year of Citizenship through Education. In January of that year, the Croatian Ministry of Education, Science, and Sports set up a special commission consisting of 22 members representing educators & teachers from all three levels of the educational system, nongovernmental organizations, ministry departments, & mass media. The commission developed an action plan which it presented to the public in March of 2005 & which contained the principal objectives that the country's schools should seek in their teaching democratically minded citizenship. Z. Dubiel
The author presents a thesis about the difference between cultural/historical & political identity by distinguishing the cultural/historical majorities & minorities from the political winners & losers. He points to the democratic paradox according to which states are not ruled by the losers' political majorities but by the winners' political minorities. According to the author, in multiethnic societies, it is necessary to equally develop the popular & the political culture -- that is both cultural & political tolerance. Adapted from the source document.
In the last in a series of polemics the author despairs at the pointlessness of further argument with Vujevic over his review of the latter's Politicka i medijska kultura u Hrvatskoj (Political and Media Culture in Croatia). The sticking point is the question of how to interpret a survey result showing that 38% of those surveyed in Croatia were in favor of legally protecting political parties of non-mainstream viewpoints as indicating a majority of Croatians are "tolerant." Cited is international political science research that indicates the relative consistency of such views & their percentages in both Europe & the US. A. Siegel
The problems of democratic legitimation & the ineffectiveness of the democratic system characterize the postsocialist societies despite their normative-institutional democratic constitution. The socioeconomic conditions affect democratization, but it seems that the sociocultural factors (especially the patterns of dominant political cultures) are the key determinants for the survival & development of the democratic political system. Transitional societies are marked by developmental discontinuity. Normative-institutional & culturological changes possess different dynamics & do not occur concurrently. This discrepancy brings into question the legitimacy & success of democratic consolidation. Such an interactive relationship between the political culture & the political system (structure) makes up the framework for the study of major political-cultural preconditions for democratization. The paper deals with the sociocultural features of transition, the nature of cultural changes (value changes & institutional learning), political trust, legitimacy, the features of civic political culture, the attitude towards power & authority, political participation, the role of political elites, the sociocultural aspect of economic development, & the interest in politics. It is possible to overcome the distinctive discrepancy between culture & structure primarily by means of the transformation of sociocultural preconditions i.e. as democratic resocialization (through the processes of value change & institutional learning). It turns out that democratic consolidation is essentially defined by this sociocultural transformation. Sociocultural conditions i.e. political-cultural preconditions, are the key predictors of the success of the democratizational process. Apart from the implemented values of democracy & the citizens' acceptance of these values, democracy also requires active citizenry, hence the expansion of citizens' participation is seen as the main goal of that transformation. References. Adapted from the source document.
In a response to Vujcic's reply to the earlier polemics regarding the review of the author's Politicka i medijska kultura u Hrvatskoj (Political and Media Culture in Croatia), the question of how to define tolerance, & whether this should imply support for the minority instead of just acceptance is taken up once again. The author defends himself against Vujcic's charge that he has not analyzed his own data correctly, pointing out that public opinion & media polling show a broad & general correlation for tolerance of minority viewpoints. Disagreements over the semantics of "tolerance" continue, as Voltaire's definition is once again held up as a model. 1 Table. A. Siegel
