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The article discusses the problem of political trust and its importance for the functioning of democracy, as well as the differences in the origin and structure of political trust between the old and the new democracies. Political trust is a prerequisite for the legitimacy of democratic regimes. In the new democracies, the commitment to democracy does not automatically create political trust. The problem of democratic functioning of institutions in the circumstances of widespread distrust, that is, the problem of creating trust in the circumstances of institutional inefficiency, revives the determinism of the socio-cultural matrix in transitional societies. The origin and the structure of political trust are discussed within the framework of the cultural and institutional approach. The cultural approach considers trust to be exogenous and determined by socio-cultural characteristics, while in the institutional approach trust is considered to be endogenous, and resulting from functioning institutions. The author points out the limits of the institutional approach since it neglects the fact that existing socio-cultural factors are not compatible to the new political structure caused by the developmental and political discontinuity of the transitional societies. The author also points out the importance of trust in the system's institutions. Trust is an important socio-cultural feature which enables the consolidation of democracy. The institutions may gain political trust exclusively by being reliable and working in bringing about democratic relations. Workable institutions demand responsibility of political actors, and by respecting democratic norms and procedures they secure the liberty and equality of citizens and enable active political participation. Only in this way can institutions generate trust that would underlie the legitimacy of democratic regimes. Therefore building institutions that would be autonomous to demand efficiency and responsibility from political actors, and would be responsive towards the citizens is the biggest problem and a most important task of the democratic consolidation. Adapted from the source document.

The article discusses the problem of political trust and its importance for the functioning of democracy, as well as the differences in the origin and structure of political trust between the old and the new democracies. Political trust is a prerequisite for the legitimacy of democratic regimes. In the new democracies, the commitment to democracy does not automatically create political trust. The problem of democratic functioning of institutions in the circumstances of widespread distrust, that is, the problem of creating trust in the circumstances of institutional inefficiency, revives the determinism of the socio-cultural matrix in transitional societies. The origin and the structure of political trust are discussed within the framework of the cultural and institutional approach. The cultural approach considers trust to be exogenous and determined by socio-cultural characteristics, while in the institutional approach trust is considered to be endogenous, and resulting from functioning institutions. The author points out the limits of the institutional approach since it neglects the fact that existing socio-cultural factors are not compatible to the new political structure caused by the developmental and political discontinuity of the transitional societies. The author also points out the importance of trust in the system's institutions. Trust is an important socio-cultural feature which enables the consolidation of democracy. The institutions may gain political trust exclusively by being reliable and working in bringing about democratic relations. Workable institutions demand responsibility of political actors, and by respecting democratic norms and procedures they secure the liberty and equality of citizens and enable active political participation. Only in this way can institutions generate trust that would underlie the legitimacy of democratic regimes. Therefore building institutions that would be autonomous to demand efficiency and responsibility from political actors, and would be responsive towards the citizens is the biggest problem and a most important task of the democratic consolidation. Adapted from the source document.

In his State, Plato allowed his philosopher-kings the "noble lie," the "lie" that benefits the person lied to, akin to the "medical lie" used by a physician to his patient's benefit. This text, using Plato as its starting point, looks into the role of the "noble lies" in today's politics. It turns out that such lies occur in today's democratic societies. Also, the "noble lies" are held responsible for stifling democratic publics & the loss of political trust. 17 References. Adapted from the source document.

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.

A consequence of the growing dynamics of the media market is tile increased influence of advertisers manifested in, among other things, disguised advertising. As most Croatian citizens cannot see through advertisements that masquerade as ordinary articles, disguised advertising is increasingly evident in the content of the Croatian media. This manipulation of readers affects the citizens' trust in the media. On the basis of comparative analyses of the classical & the disguised advertising, this paper brings the results of the content analysis of two most influential Croatian dailies: in December of 2006 there were 327 texts with the elements of disguised advertising. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

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 article the author argues the thesis on the necessity of scientific cooperation, interaction and holistic approach for appropriate explanation of the contemporary crisis. It is of great importance to define conceptual frameworks of the crisis, together with main spots in the analysis of the crisis amalgam. The key thesis is the necessity of transformation in the structure of political-economic and social organisation of contemporary states/societies. It includes transformation of completeness of interactions between structures and actions which constitute societal community through reformistic confidence in public policy. With the help of Parsons and Luhmann, the author indicates the structure of contemporary imbalance which he perceives as spillovers of the economic in all other societal subsystems. He displays the thesis of de-democratization of democracy. Finally, he demonstrates the structural character and the means of functioning of the contemporary crisis on the example of Higher education. Adapted from the source document.

The concept of social capital (SC) has gained wide acceptance & usage in social sciences, particularly in sociology, political science & institutional economics. This paper reconsiders the dynamics of social capital in Croatia presented in a previous article (Stulhofer, 2001). Using data from the two cross-national social science research projects (World Values Survey -- Croatia 1995 & South East European Social Survey, 2003), the author analyses changes in generalized trust, trust in institutions, & membership in civic associations during the 1995 2003 period. The findings point to a decrease in SC, which can not be solely attributed to the situational effects of war present in 1995. The strongest predictor of the negative dynamics of SC in Croatia remains the perception of corruption within state institutions. 6 Tables, 33 References. Adapted from the source document.

The logic of civil religion consists of minimizing community in order to maximize pluralism. Every modern society needs pluralism on the one hand, and securing of its foundations on the other. Still, civil religion may raise suspicion with regard to use of religion for political purposes. And instrumentalization is contradictory to the character of religion, although the latter always has political consequences as well. Civil religion serves politics with the aim of educating citizens. Perhaps, however, it can also be perceived as preparation of totalitarian beliefs and liturgies, such as are known to us from the first half of the 20th century. Civil religion can go hand in hand with excessive nationalism, proselytism, and Satanization of enemies. Such undesirable consequences of civil religion are discussed in this article on the basis of examples from the time of the French Revolution. The Revolution was largely marked by civil religion, the former even legitimized the latter. Four examples from the history of the French Revolution are analyzed: human rights as civil religion; cult of reason and of the supreme being; worship of the Revolution's "martyr" Jean-Paul Marat, and, finally, Satanization of enemies. Following his expose, the author confronts these questions: Is the confusing element of civil religion the fact that it wants to utilize religion per se for political purposes? What is it that protects civil religion from degenerating into nationalism and proselytism? Or else civil religion can be both: the basis of a tolerant pluralist democracy as well as the preparatory stage of totalitarianism? Adapted from the source document.

The perceptions of science by the Croatian public & the political elite are a combination of scientific-technological optimism, the exemption of science from social responsibility, the skepticism regarding the speed of changes that science brings into people's lives, & a mixture of cognitive realism & optimism, & the reservations towards the cognitive possibilities of science. Also, the perceptions of science by the public & by the elite differ significantly. The public perceptions link modernism & traditionalism, confidence & a lack of it in the socially responsible role of science (& technology). Politicians nurture three different views of science. The first view implies both the beneficial & the neutral social role of science. The second view implies the reservations of the elite regarding the humanistic social role of science & its cognitive power, while the third way links the cognitive limitations of science & the skepticism regarding the way in which it changes the traditional way of life. The perception of science by the public depends on the social composition, while the politicians' views are significantly influenced by their political worldview & orientations & party allegiance. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.