Suchergebnisse

The theory of public choice is a major link between political science & economic science. It includes economic research into the issue of non-market decision making, ie, the application of economic analysis to political decision making. The champions of the theory of public choice have the most confidence in the market & market institutions. They try to explain political decision making by means of the standards operating in the market. The public choice theory approach is based on the concept of methodological individualism & homo oeconomicus, since individuals try to promote their own interests both in the market & in politics. Theoreticians of public choice investigate voters' behavior, the roles of politicians, political parties, & interest groups in complex democratic societies. Central for their research is the political process in which voters behave as buyers, & politicians as entrepreneurs, while bureaucrats are prone to self-aggrandizement; their ambition is to boost the significance of their office. The theory of public choice emphasizes the category of exchange (political exchange) & the catalectic approach to economy. 12 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author looks into the methodological features of public choice theory. Drawing on James Buchanan's contribution, he demonstrates the differences between that kind of approach (often dubbed political economy) vs welfare economics & mainstream economics. Unlike welfare economics, which tries to work out the optimal state of allocation & distribution of economic resources by using certain logical rules based on Pareto principles, or mainstream economics, which tries to identify the improvements in observable economic categories (such as national income or investment consumption), political economy encompasses the process of collective decision making, ie, politics. In this, the efficacy criterion is the extent of consent (consensus) in collective decision making. The author concludes that Buchanan & G. Tullock's joint contribution in The Calculus of Consent paved the way for introducing a legitimate categorical mechanism for investigating the costs of political decision making in political science. 3 Figures, 25 References. Adapted from the source document.

Slovenia & Croatia differ greatly concerning the political position of their trade unions & their clout in political decision-making. The Slovenian way & pattern is inclusive & the Croatian conflictual. The difference -- despite the common historical legacy of Yugoslav self-management -- can be explained by the political interventions of the governments & the elites that played the dominant role in the early, formative, years of the transition. The pattern entrenched in that period persists, even when some radical reform is attempted & a new path chosen. Such a reversal was attempted after 2000 both in Slovenia & Croatia, but both attempts failed. References. Adapted from the source document.

Slovenia & Croatia differ greatly concerning the political position of their trade unions & their clout in political decision-making. The Slovenian way & pattern is inclusive & the Croatian conflictual. The difference -- despite the common historical legacy of Yugoslav self-management -- can be explained by the political interventions of the governments & the elites that played the dominant role in the early, formative, years of the transition. The pattern entrenched in that period persists, even when some radical reform is attempted & a new path chosen. Such a reversal was attempted after 2000 both in Slovenia & Croatia, but both attempts failed. References. Adapted from the source document.

One of the most significant results of European convergence is an increase in the number of channels for the "European" policy activities of subnational actors. These actors are no longer limited to bilateral political relations & national i.e. state actors, but are to cooperate & communicate with different actors in different arenas of decision-making & make use of various channels of influencing the European policy process. The question of subnational mobilization has become extremely significant in the theory of European convergence, particularly following the major reform of the EU cohesion policy of 1988 & the introduction of the partnership principle. In that sense, the mobilization of subnational actors is closely linked to the evolution of the EU cohesion policy. Tt should be noted that despite this, the EU cohesion policy is primarily the essential catalyst of subnational mobilization & thus not "exclusively" linked to the public policy realm; it has increasingly become a prominent feature of other public-policy areas. And finally, hand in hand with the elaboration of the common cohesion policy (related to subnational mobilization) the concept of the so-called multilevel governance was formulated in the context of the European integration, in the sense of identifying the environment in which the processes of the formation & the implementation of common European policies are today taking place. Figures, 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.

Zdravko Petak's Javna dobra i politicko odlucivanje ([The Public Good and Political Decision Making] Zagreb: Biblioteka Politicka misao, 2001) is discussed. Petak's criticism of the Keynesian thesis that state intervention into free market economy is both necessary & effective to ensure the public well-being of the citizens is examined. Petak applies the theory of public choice to debunk this view & argues that the state is (1) unable to act on economically efficacious precepts & (2) not a higher-rank, external, & objective actor capable of regulating economic processes outside the basic human instincts & behaviors that underlie the functioning of private markets. The origin & evolution of the public choice theory are outlined, & the universal postulates of egoism (self-interest), rationality, & maximization governing human behavior are described. It is concluded that Petak's rebuttal of the arguments advanced by proponents of state intervention into the national economy is convincing, however, he fails to formulate a viable alternative. Also, he does not address several related issues seen to provide subject matter for a future book. Z. Dubiel

Each election year in Croatia is an occasion for comparing the social guidelines & the practice. To what extent is the policy of gender equality applied to the participation of women in political decision-making at the parliamentary level in Croatia? Modest results are not an exception: almost in all countries there is the gap between the two. Nevertheless, the extent of the participation in older democratic countries is on the average somewhat higher, which can be attributed to the influence of the egalitarian concept of gender roles & the proportional electoral system. In younger democratic countries, including Croatia, the average is somewhat lower due to the significance of socio-economic factors. In some countries a higher level of participation can for the time being be achieved only via the mechanisms of affirmative action i.e. quotas. Therefore, for Croatia it is essential to achieve the "critical mass" of women in its parliament, which can be brought about by introducing quotas at the party level, by democratic selective procedures of nominating candidates, & by putting up candidates of both genders on the party lists, which means that the highest percentages of women in the parliament can be expected from modern parties promoting the deliberate regulation of the above processes. References. Adapted from the source document.

The author presents the complex institutional framework of the youth policy in Croatia using the theoretical insights from network management, described in the edited volume by Kickert, Klijn & Koppenjan Managing Complex Networks, as well as the typology of Theodor Lowi who recognizes four basic types of policies: distributive, redistributive, regulative & constitutive. The analysis shows that the youth policy in Croatia is basically a redistributive policy with elements of regulative policy. It is also shown that the success of the policy depends on strengthening the roof youth organization that could be both a partner & a critic in the working of government. Exploring whether young people have material goods, whether they are represented in the formal decision making bodies & whether they are well informed, the article points to the disadvantaged position of young people in Croatia that corresponds to the concept of social exclusion, which means that young people suffer from the impossibility to influence the circumstances, rules of the game & the future development of the political community where they live. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

A major role of political parties in a multiparty democratic system is to encourage equal opportunities of men & women with the aim of realizing full democracy. Among the parliamentary parties in Croatia, we can distinguish between those who can see no reason whatsoever to pay special attention to this issue, considering it settled, & those who advocate the need for & continuity of promoting women's rights. In an analysis of party attitudes on that issue, the following model was used: a dimension whose extremes are state intervention & self-regulation. It was linked with the dimension of the continuum modernism-traditionalism. Thus we get a four-field chart. The first field includes the traditionalist political parties (HDZ, HSS, & HSP) who view the social position of women as a result of a spontaneous development of the society in general; ie, they accept the rule of self-regulation. In the second, for the time being empty, there would be parties that strive for social regulation in the realization of traditional social values. The next field is complementarily shared by modern political parties inclined to self-regulation (HNS, HSLS, HND, SNS, IDS, DA) & those who advocate state regulation of the mentioned issue (SDP & ASH). The analysis of the attitude toward women in party organization shows the following: (1) low percentage of women among party rank-&-file, regardless of a party's nature; & (2) "the rule" that the higher the level of political decision making, the lower the number of women. 3 Tables, 27 References. Adapted from the source document.