The significance of the positive political theory is recognized in the text and a special emphasis given to the theory of public choice and the theory of voting. The main reasons for the study of political, particularly electoral processes from the viewpoint of the positive theory are listed. The author further questions certain fundamental postulates of the normative theories of democracy and their unviability. He goes on to analyse the phenomenon of the so called electoral or voting paradoxes and their possible influence on electoral results and, ultimately, on the democratic norms themselves. The existence of the voting paradoxes and their theoretical rationale is considered unequivocal and is mathematically proved. The author also gives a review of the most significant works on voting paradoxes and the theory of public choice. (SOI : PM: S 225)
T eorija društvenog izbora postavlja značajan izazov pred teoriju demokratije. Erouova teorema mogućnosti pokazuje da nije moguće istovremeno da budu zadovoljeni neki normativni uslovi u pogledu procedure glasanja koji garantuju da je ona fer i da ishod glasanja bude koherentan. Ovaj rezultat dovodi u pitanje normativnu opravdanost demokratije u onoj meri u kojoj se ona zasniva na proceduri glasanja. Kao jedan od mogućih puteva za rešenje Erouovog problema predložen je uslov jednovršnosti u pogledu poredaka preferencija. U ovom radu bavićemo se pitanjem u kojoj meri koncepcija deliberativne demokratije može da doprinese postizanju jednovršnosti koja potom garantuje koherentan društveni izbor. U tom kontekstu posebno ćemo istražiti tezu da javna deliberacija dovodi do metasaglasnosti koja potom može da implicira jednovršnost. Ovoj tezi pristupićemo ispitujući njenu empirijsku i normativnu adekvatnost. ; T he social choice theory presents a significant challenge to democratic theory. Arrow's impossibility theorem shows that it is not possible for some normative conditions – regarding the voting procedure guaranteeing its fairness and that the outcome of voting be coherent – to be satisfied at the same time. This brings into question normative justification of democracy to the degree to which it is based on the voting procedure. The single-peakedness condition was proposed as one of the possible ways to solve the Arrow's problem. In this paper we will explore to what extent the conception of deliberative democracy may contribute to achievement of single-peakedness which subsequently guarantees coherent social choice. In this context we will particularly explore the thesis that public deliberation leads to meta-agreement which might subsequently imply single-peakedness. We approach this thesis by probing its empirical and normative adequacy.
The paper presents an analysis of the importance of some of thedeterminants of youth electoral absenteeism, which are in the focusof the predominant explanatory models of electoral participation –socio-demographic, party identification and cognitive model. Therelevance of numerous socio-demographic characteristics, partyidentification, political cynicism, political interest, and political knowledgeas predictors of youth electoral absenteeism were analyzed. Thisresearch was conducted on a sample of 788 fourth grade secondaryschool students attending 25 secondary schools in Belgrade. Theresults indicated that party identification, political interest, organizationalmembership and mother's level of education were significant predictorsof electoral absenteeism. For young persons without party identificationthe odds of non-voting were 3.6 times higher than the non-voting oddsof their counterparts but with party identification. The odds of electoralabsenteeism increased with the decreasing level of political interestor organizational membership as well as with the increasing level ofmother's level of education. The obtained results were discussed in thecontext of the proposed explanatory model of electoral participation aswell as some previous research findings. ; U radu se analizira znac
The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a difference between female abstinents in Bosnia and Herzegovina in terms of certain demographics (age, education, rural-urban, party and ethnicity) and socio-psychological characteristics (interest in politics, the ways of getting their information about politics, trust in institutions, dogmatism, nationalism, cosmopolitanism, the end justifies the means, the attitude towards the leader, conservatism, liberalism and authoritarianism). The study was conducted in the first half of March 2013, on a sample of 483 adult women who did not plan to vote in the upcoming elections, who in the past six years (three election cycles) either voted occasionally, or they voted, but have no intention of voting again, or they have never voted. We started from the assumption that the different modes of political abstinence differ with respect to the measured variables. The results show that the three categories of women abstinents differ in terms of certain socio-demographic variables: age, education, ethnicity, party affiliation and religious beliefs. There are differences among respondents concerning political interests. The greatest interest was found among the respondents who manipulate their turning out to the polls, followed by those who were disappointed in the elections, while the slightest interest in politics was among the respondents who have never voted. Television is still the dominant medium for getting information about political events, the second and third ones are newspapers and radio, but they are much less influential. Yet among the three categories of women abstinents significant differences were found only regarding television and radio. Three categories of women abstinents differ only in cosmopolitanism and liberalism variables. There is a difference between women abstinents in their confidence in institutions. The most trust in institutions is found in women who occasionally took part in the elections, followed by those who voted, but no longer do so. The least trust in institutions is found among women who have never voted. ; Cilj ovog istraživanja je ustanoviti da li postoji razlika među apstinenticama u Bosni i Hercegovini prema određenim demografskim (starost, obrazovanje, selo-grad, stranačka i etnička pripadnost) i socio-psihološkim karakteristikama (zainteresovanost za politiku, način informisanja o politici, povjerenje u institucije, dogmatizam, nacionalizam, kosmopolitizam, cilj opravdava sredstvo, odnos prema vođi, konzervativizam, konzervativistička autoritarnost i liberalizam). Istraživanje je provedeno u prvoj polovini marta 2013. godine na uzorku od 483 punoljetne žene koje ne planiraju da glasaju na predstojećim izborima, a koje su u posljednjih šest godina (tri izborna ciklusa) nekad glasale, a nekad ne, glasale su, ali više neće, ili nikad nisu glasale. Pošli smo od pretpostavke da će različiti modaliteti političke apstinencije da se razlikuju s obzirom na mjerene varijable. Dobijeni rezultati pokazuju da se tri kategorije apstinentica razlikuju po pojedinim sociodemografskim varijablama: starost, obrazovanje, etnička i stranačka pripadnost i vjerska ubjeđenja. Ispitanice se međusobno razlikuju i zainteresovanošću za politiku. Najveće interesovanje nalazimo kod ispitanica koje manipulišu svojim izlaskom na izbore, a slijede one koje su se razočarale u izbore, dok je zainteresovanost za politiku najmanja kod ispitanica koje uopšte ne glasaju na izborima. Televizija je još uvijek dominantan medij za informisanje o političkim dešavanjima, dok su na drugom i trećem mjestu dnevne novine i radio, ali su znatno manje uticajni. Ipak, između tri kategorije apstinentica nalazimo značajne razlike samo kod televizije i radija. Tri kategorije apstinentica se međusobno razlikuju samo po varijablama kosmopolitizam i liberalizam. Prisutna je i razlika između apstinentica po njihovom povjerenju u institucije. Najviše povjerenja u institucije nalazimo kod ispitanica koje nekad izlaze, a nekad ne izlaze na izbore, slijede ispitanice koje su glasale, ali više neće. Najmanje povjerenja u institucije nalazimo kod ispitanica koje nikad ne glasaju.
With the emergence of television, pre-election campaigns in US shifted its focus from the content and the platform to the image of candidates who became well-packaged products. The biggest election turnout in US occurred exactly at the time of the emergence of this media; however, the percentages of voters' turnout plummeted in the nineties. Enhanced by the attributes of television as a media, the focus on "how" rather than on "what" did not achieve absolute results, and voters responded to the invasion of political image producers with voting abstinence. The latest chapter in pre- election campaigning is the Internet. With its properties and the rapid expansion of the users' net, the new media offers different conditions of communication with voters and is becoming a powerful - and so far, insufficiently utilised - weapon in the hands of pre-election strategists. (SOI : SOEU: S. 191)
This article presents a brief and critical review of current research of political representation of women. Is the number of women in political institutions represents the indicator of development of democratic society and what influences the increase of number of women active participants in the political institutions? Different approaches to the definition and types of political representation are examined, with special emphasis on the relationship between descriptive and substantive representation. The effects of various political factors that determine the presence of women in institutions are considered - the electoral system, the internal organization of parties, selection and recruitment, intra-party rules and lobbying, party magnitude, open/closed electoral lists, voting behavior and the quota system. The results of a large number of studies in this field are compared, with particular reference to the current representation theory - the critical mass, supply and demand, political presence, strategic partnership and critical actors.
This article presents a brief and critical review of current research of political representation of women. Is the number of women in political institutions represents the indicator of development of democratic society and what influences the increase of number of women active participants in the political institutions? Different approaches to the definition and types of political representation are examined, with special emphasis on the relationship between descriptive and substantive representation. The effects of various political factors that determine the presence of women in institutions are considered - the electoral system, the internal organization of parties, selection and recruitment, intra-party rules and lobbying, party magnitude, open/closed electoral lists, voting behavior and the quota system. The results of a large number of studies in this field are compared, with particular reference to the current representation theory - the critical mass, supply and demand, political presence, strategic partnership and critical actors.
Predmet istraživanja u ovoj disertaciji je plaćena komunikacija na televiziji u parlamentarnim izbornim kampanjama u Srbiji posle 2000. godine. Disertacija pronalazi svoje ishodište u teoriji okvira i socijalnom konstruktivizmu što je inherentno utemeljenje ove teorije. Koristili smo tri metodološka pristupa: (1) kvalitativnu analizu sadržaja u političkom izbornom oglašavanju, (2) analizu okvira i (3) dubinske intervjue sa političkim konsultantima i članovima izbornih štabova. U disertaciji su korišćeni brojni izvori sekundarnih podataka. Period istraživanja je obuhvatio period posle 2000. godine, sve parlamentarne izbore na uzorku onih subjekata koji su prešli cenzus. Nalazi istraživanja pokazuju da posle 2000. dolazi do krupnih promena u političkoj komunikaciji. Političko oglašavanje dobija važnu ulogu u kampanjama, produkcija je ogromna a ulaganja izbornih učesnika drastično uvećana u odnosu na period pre 2000. godine. Političko oglašavanje je gotovo po pravilu služilo za ubeđivanje a malo ili nimalo za informisanje. U disertaciji je autor jasno potvrdio da izloženost političkom oglašavanju i okvirima u njima osnažuje uticaj na biračeve preferencije odnosno na njihovu izbornu odluku. Autor je ukazao i potvrdio sužavanje saznajne odnosno edukativne komponente u kampanjama koja je limitirala kvalitetno informisanu izbornu odluku za većinu birača. Disertacija nije potvrdila da je oglašavanje preuzelo primat nad informativom, već da je kombinacija ogromne produkcije (posebno između 2007 i 2012) i zavisnosti redakcija od "stranačkih kamera", ugrozila pravo birača na kvalitetno informisanu izbornu odluku. Autor je delimično potvrdio da teme koje se pokreću u plaćenom oglašavanju nisu programski usmerene i da se više koriste u cilju ojačavanja imidža kandidata/lidera, a ne promocije javnih politika. ; This thesis examines paid political communication broadcast on television in Serbian parliamentary election campaigns after the year 2000. The thesis is rooted in framing theory and social constructivism, the broader underpinning of this concept. Three methodological approaches were employed: (1) qualitative analysis of the content of political election advertising since 2000; (2) frame analysis; and (3) in-depth interviews with political consultants and campaign managers. The thesis has also relied on numerous secondary sources. For all parliamentary elections after 2000, the paper looks at advertising by political subjects that won sufficient votes to cross the five percent threshold required to enter parliament. The findings show that the year 2000 was a watershed for political communication, with political advertising assuming an important role in election campaigns; political entities dramatically increased their investment, which made the volume of adverts produced grow by an order of magnitude. A major finding of the thesis is that political advertising has nearly always been deployed to persuade, with little or no thought being given to its informative function. The author clearly confirms that exposure to political advertising and the frames contained in it has had a substantial impact on voters' preferences and affected their voting decisions. The author also identifies and confirms how the narrowing of the knowledge or educational component in campaign messaging has restricted the ability of most voters to make informed voting choices. The thesis has not shown that advertising has supplanted news, but rather that the combination of the flood of advertising (especially from 2007 to 2012) and the dependence of television channels on content fed to them by political parties has jeopardised the right of voters to make informed choices. The author has partially confirmed that topics raised in paid advertising are not issue-oriented, but image-oriented, aiming to enhance the public perception of a particular candidate or leader rather than promote policies put forward in political manifestos.
This work analyses the relation between democracy and political participation, the typology and model of political participation, the findings of the research of political participation in the world (S. Verba, N. H. Nie, 1972; S. H. Barnes, M. Kaase, 1 979; and others), and the research of the same phenomenon on a sample of Croatian students. This analysis has shown that today all the elements necessary for a more comprehensive theory of political participation are in place. This theory would enable a more systematic and standardized investigation of this phenomenon in the national and the international context. The article also shows how the non- conventional participation is gaining ground while the conventional is gradually levelling out. Significant are the results of the analysis of the etiology of political participation, particularly the relation between the standard SES model and the model of value orientations (left-right materialism, materialism-postrnaterialism, etc.). The analysis of the model of participation of Croatian students has shown that the model of protest behaviour/potential' has a more complex etiology than other models, such as conventional participation and voting in parliamentary elections. Thus, for the "protest potential" it is necessary to possess a developed civic competence, a critical attitude towards the government's performance, a liberal arts education, etc., while for the conventional participation it is central to have a higher level of political interest. Significant differences between the Croatian students and those from other European countries can be observed regarding the role of value orientations in explaining political participation. (SOI : PM: S. 140)
