Suchergebnisse

The discussion about the character & actual role of the parliament in Croatia does not easily differentiate political & scientific opinions, which is in accord with the experiences of advanced democracies. The author considers a scientific debate possible, however, if it is fundamental in the comparative method, & formulates three comparative starting points for such a debate. First, the historical role of the parliament as a symbol of Croatian statehood must be considered. The author considers that in the second half of the 19th century, the power of the governor (ban) was significantly more important in the preservation of Croatian sovereignty than the parliament. Second, a critical grading of the socialist theories on the rule of representative assembly is necessary. These have considerable influence on policy & theoretical discussion in postsocialist countries. Third, caution must be used in approaching Western-style parliamentarism, where the seat of power is in the executive, & the parliament plays only a minor control function. The author suggests that discussion about the Croatian parliament concentrate on increasing constitutional & functional possibilities & roles; eg, through institutions of parliamentary investigations, interpellations, & ombudsman. Adapted from the source document.

The author holds that the constitutional theory today is put to the test in three areas. The first is the problem of the relationship between transnational regimes & government institutions. Constitutional/legal theory is faced with the question how the norms concerning transnational regimes can acquire the dignity of legal norms via "constitutionalization." The second challenge is posed by transnational regimes sui generis such as the EU's legal system. The third concerns the process of EU's expansion. For the author, a constitution is both an instrument & a symbol; ie, it is doubly coded. On the one hand, it leans on practice & instrumental implementation, & on the other on the world of representation. There are different types of constitutions. Type one are manifests, largely solely symbolically coded. Type two are the constitutions in the form of contracts, structured more in the form of a legal relationship between discrete actors than a monolithic symbolic corpus. Type three are programmatic or planned constitutions, & they are associated with the rise & fall of socialist societies. They identify the already politically defined developmental goals. And finally, there are the so-called constitutions-cum-laws. These are a result of a regular legislative process that enables people in the capacity of presumed agents of sovereignty to debate constitutions & accept them. The author's opinion is that the transition of Central- & East-European countries is a transition from the simple-coded with the primacy of the symbolic to the double-coded constitutions. This transition is not smooth. The first difficulty lies in "transplanting" constitutional solutions to different social/historical contexts. The second relates to the anticonstitutional mentality that prevails in these societies. Despite everything, the constitutional balance in Central & Eastern Europe is satisfactory on the whole. The constitutions of these countries are interesting because of three symbolic aspects. The first refers to the constitution formation processes in which these societies ceased to be objects of authoritarian rulers. The second aspect regards the search for new forms of identity & unity. The third aspect refers to the attempts to banish tyranny from politics & social life by means of legal chains. 35 References. Z. Dubiel

U razdoblju od 1944 do 1947. KPJ je imala rukovodeću ulogu u novom državnom aparatu, ali je postojalo i višestranačje. Dilema da li ovakav stranački pluralizam ili jednostranački sistem brzo i relativno lako je riješena u korist KPJ. U tom razdoblju stranački sistem u Jugoslaviji se najviše približio boljševičkom. Sukob sa Staljinom prisilio je rukovodstvo da potraži novi identitet jugoslavenskog društva, različit od birokratskog sovjetskog sistema, ali uz zadržavanje diskontinuiteta sa zapadnim tipom građanskih demokratskih društava. Tražio se tzv. treći put društvenog razvoja na terenu samoupravnog socijalizma. KPJ je donjela odluku o vlastitoj preobrazbi u SKJ, ali se nije bitno izmijenila niti vlastitom ulogom niti organizacijskom strukturom. Polovicom 1950. lansirana je teza o odumiranju države, ali nerazvijenoj društvenoj praksi i dogmatskom teorijskom nasljeđu korespondirale su i nerazvijene teorijske rapsrave o bitnim problemima odumiranja države. Nakon kratkotrajnih inicijalnih rezultata smanjivanja uloge i funkcije države, nastupaju duga razdoblja jačanja države. Država je ostala sila iznad institucionalnih oblika samoupravljanja. Ustavom 1974. oktroiran je tzv. integralni sistem socijalističkog samoupravljanja. U takvom sistemu, ali i zbog njega, razgara se duboka i dugotrajna društvena kriza. Usprkos čestim promjenama politički sistem reproducirao je stare birokratske insitutcije koje su onemogućavale provođenje dubljih društvenih promjena. Dominacija politike nad ekonomijom nije dozvoljavala da se faktički radi na deetatizaciji i debirokratizaciji političkog sistema. Prelaz na razvijeni model parlamentarne demokracije bio je neophodan, ali je vrlo dramatičan. ; In the period from 1944 to 1947 the KPJ (Communist Party of Yugoslavia) played the leading role in the new government, but the multi-party system also existed The dilemma of choosing between such party pluralism and the one-party system was quickly and relatively easily resolved in favour of the KPJ. In this period the party system in Yugoslavia had come closest to the Bolshevist system. The conflict with Stalin compelled the leadership to search for a new identity of the Yugoslav society, different from the bureaucratic Soviet system, but retaining the discontinuity with the Western type civil democratic societies. What was sought after was the so-called third road of social development on the pounds of self-managing socialism. The KPJ decided to transform itself into the SKJ (League of Communists of Yugoslavia), but in essence it neither changed its role nor organizational structure. In the mid-fifties the withering away of the state concept was launched, but the undeveloped social practice and dogmatic theoretical legacy was also accompanied by undeveloped theoretical debates about the crucial problems concerning the dying away of the state. After short-lived initial results in reducing the role and function of the state, came long periods in which the state strengthened its power. The state remained a force above the institutional forms of self-management. With the 1974 Constitution the so-called integral system of socialist self-management was octroyed In such a system, but also due to it, a deep and long lasting social crisis had flamed up. In spite of frequent changes, the political system reproduced old bureaucratic institutions which prevented deeper social changes from taking place. The domination of politics over economy did not permit work to be done on the deetatization and debureaucratization of the political system The transition to the developed model of parliamentary democracy was indispensable but it has been very dramatic.