In his analysis of the role of animals in political theory, ideology, & practice, the author claims that they are mostly used as metaphors, while in the world of real politics, people are not just considered & spoken of as animals, but are treated as such as well. The text includes several motifs from this substantial, historically well-documented, extensive topic. Political thinking in antiquity distinguishes a man from an animal, while the Renaissance & the modern political theory recognize the animality in politics. In contemporary theories & collective psychology, there are the motifs of rulers, shepherds & people, & erds. In fables as a literary genre, animals serve to teach the nature of politics as well as proper & improper political behavior. Adapted from the source document.
The context of the development of the Croatian society after the decay of the socialist structures is burdened not only with the processes specific for all postsocialist countries, such as the loss of traditional securities or the renaissance of "disintegrating capitalism" (Beck, 1994, 479), but also with specific postwar processes. Since this has resulted in complex mediation between individual & collective behaviors, the youth of the 1990s in Croatia have found themselves in an ambivalent situation; with the gap between the wish for security & the possibilities for development, they can hardly develop self-functioning ways of achieving material, cultural, & biographical resources. Skeptical about their own future, they tend primarily to provide for their everyday basic needs & declare themselves as nonpolitical, interested only in themselves, their private space, & free time. 66 References. Adapted from the source document.
The context of the development of the Croatian society after the decay of the socialist structures is burdened not only with the processes specific for all postsocialist countries, such as the loss of traditional securities or the renaissance of "disintegrating capitalism" (Beck, 1994, 479), but also with specific postwar processes. Since this has resulted in complex mediation between individual & collective behaviors, the youth of the 1990s in Croatia have found themselves in an ambivalent situation; with the gap between the wish for security & the possibilities for development, they can hardly develop self-functioning ways of achieving material, cultural, & biographical resources. Skeptical about their own future, they tend primarily to provide for their everyday basic needs & declare themselves as nonpolitical, interested only in themselves, their private space, & free time. 66 References. Adapted from the source document.
The author looks into the forms of political power in the Renaissance, & the typology thereof as provided by Niccolo Machiavelli in The Prince & in Discourses on Livy. The article aims to examine whether there is a differentia specifica distinguishing the Dubrovnik form of political order from similar forms of political power in Renaissance times. Republican forms of political power are analyzed here, & the author stresses the existence of forms situated along the transition line from republic to principate, ie., monarchy, & vice versa. An expose of presuppositions of Machiavelli's initial analysis of comparative political orders is followed by a comparative analysis of the Florentine republican model of government, the Venetian form of political power, and, finally, the Dubrovnik model of political order. Although each model had distinctive features, they were similar inasmuch as each preserved the common idea of civil republicanism (repubblicanesimo civile), & then shaped its political order in accordance with the interests of the main social & political forces in the country, ie., in its territory. For instance, the Florentine republicanism developed into a so-called "democratic republicanism" (here the term democracy means exclusively that which Machiavelli refers to as governo dei molti -- the government of many). Although such forms of wider participation of citizens in decision-making satisfied most citizens of Florence, the system was unstable, because it was subject to internal conflicts between fractions & parties, & to external pressures. The Venetian system of aristocratic republicanism was much more stable, but its social base was narrower and, ultimately, prior to its downfall, it transformed into a self-contained police system. The Dubrovnik model of political order was also a form of aristocratic republicanism, but its uniqueness lies in the fact that, unlike Venice or Genoa, it limited the authority & prerogatives of the state ruler, in this case the rector, who guaranteed the stability & non-corruption of the system. The inclusion of commoners through confraternities [bratovstina] in the city's public affairs made it possible to expand the social basis of such an order. These two characteristics also make the Dubrovnik political model unique. Adapted from the source document.
Starting from Agamben's term "Gesture" -- interpreted as "communication of communicability" -- and having in mind links between Gesture & politics, this text opens the possibility of reading Guy Debord's ideas into the heterotopia of the Prologue of "Dundo Maroje" by Croatian Renaissance playwright Marin Drzic. In this way, the possibility of cultural criticism has been tested on the basis of an insight into social performances structured as acts in a play; from the crisis & the culmination to the dramatic solution, & back again. The title syntagm "theatre of shame" is being argumented with the thesis that spectacularized societies archive shame by false identity witnessing. This paper suggests that our confrontation with the Other in ourselves -- exemplified through the lack of capacity to witness identity in the media -- leads to what Agamben describes as the slipping away of the truth of witnessing from the jurisdiction of the archive. Adapted from the source document.
This research deals with the stages of development of the political order of Florence, focusing on the changes of the republican order. Starting from Machiavelli's Florentine Histories, which set forth a criticism of the first period of republican government until the establishment of the Medici seigniory, the author also analyses the other two stages of republican government in Florence. He thus puts together a periodization of three republican models of Florence during the Renaissance, which he refers to as the First, Second & Third Republics. The period of the First Republic stretches from 1250 to 1434, until the establishment of the first Medici seigniory. The period of the Second Republic, which lasted from 1498 to 1512, is assessed here as the period of a mature republic, which also witnessed a clear-cut defining of the theory of civil republicanism, primarily through the works of Machiavelli & Guicciardini. The Second Republic ended with the Medici restauration, when the republican government was once again suspended, & the republican institutions were abolished, although the state formally retained the designation of republic. After the fall of Rome in 1527, the Medici rule in Florence also collapsed, & the period of the Third Republic began; it lasted from 1527 to 1530. This short stretch of time saw a radicalization of the Florentine republicanism, but the social antagonism within the city-state was also radicalized. For this reason, the Third Republic did not manage to withstand the internal tensions & conflicts, & thus to face a deteriorated international state of affairs. The republican government collapsed again & made way for the second Medici restauration. The author describes & analyses in the text the republican institutions & their metamorphoses from the First Republic to the Third Republic, as well as the attempts to stabilize the republican government & realize Machiavelli's theory of the mixed form of government. The Florentine political order is therefore outlined as a development from communal democracy to civil republicanism with strong democratic elements, which, as a result of historical circumstances, was superseded by oligarchic forms of government. Adapted from the source document.
