In this text, consequences of the Croatian referendum for the EU held on January 22, 2012 are analyzed from various standpoints and from the angle of the controversy which it caused in the public, ...but also in the expert and scientific discourse in Croatia. The author first discusses the holding of the referendum in the context of its date-setting, which brought about a dispute between the government and the opposition and a part of the Eurosceptic public. Second, controversy arose regarding participation in the referendum, which is approached here in the context of irregularity accusations. Third, there is the issue of the referendum's legality and legitimacy, and the author draws a comparison with referenda held in other accession countries - not only in the fifth round of enlargement with post-communist and Mediterranean countries, but also in other countries where the referendum did not have a positive outcome. Relying on the available facts and variable analysis related to the referendum, the author then asserts that the Croatian referendum for the EU was undoubtedly successful, that its results, both with regard to the participation and the outcome, were even better than in many post-communist countries of the fifth enlargement. Finally, the reasons for the tardiness of Croatia's EU accession in contrast to the other Middle-European and Eastern-European countries and Slovenia are analyzed. It is viewed as a consequence of wrong political estimations and decisions. The author also focuses on the informational and educational deficit regarding the EU in Croatia, and finds that the Croatian citizens are poorly informed on the EU because of specific decisions of the government. Still, the result of the referendum met with positive reactions of EU political bodies and the member states, which opens up the process of ratification in other EU countries that should lead to full membership of Croatia in the EU on July 1, 2013. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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The texts focuses on constitutionalisation of democracy in the European Union and the phenomenon of democratic deficit through the failed Constitution for Europe and, thereafter, the Lisbon Treaty, ...which takes over the definition of democracy as the foundation of the European Union. In this context, the author also looks into the contribution of political scientist Zvonko Posavec, who was one of the first in Croatia to advocate the need for constitutionalisation of the European Union as a project of finalising the process of European integration. While writing about the need for constitutional foundation of the European Union, Posavec simultaneously reflects on representative democracy as the form of democracy on which the European Union is predominantly founded. Beside a valorisation of Posavec's works on democracy in the European Union, this paper deals with the problem of the democratic deficit in the European Union which is manifest in the lack of democratic legitimacy of EU institutions, with the sole exception of the European Parliament. The author finds, however, that the main deficit of the European Union is not the democratic process, but political alienation. He perceives the latter as alienation of citizens from the EU as a derivative community, non-transparent and distanced from the basic interests of the citizens and the media interest in politics. Although the European Union declaratively relies on basic democratic values, in practice democracy is experienced primarily through a democratic deficit contrasted by a more obvious bureaucratic surfeit of the European political construction. The author asserts that the Lisbon Treaty was a step towards founding the EU on democratic principles inasmuch as it introduced elements of participative democracy, although it did not accept proposals for introduction of direct democracy in the EU. Finally, the author puts forward some ideas which might reduce the degree of political alienation of citizens in relation to the European Union; this requires giving greater authority to the European Parliament, abolishing the monopoly of the legislative initiative of the European Commission, incorporating the Council of the European Union into the European Parliament as the second House, i.e. the European Senate, and consequently implementing the mechanism of consulting the citizens regarding the legislative initiatives of the EU. The author concludes that the democratic deficit and political alienation cannot be overcome in the European Union without overcoming the democratic deficits and concrete forms of political alienation in the member states which the European Union consists of. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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In this text, consequences of the Croatian referendum for the EU held on January 22, 2012 are analyzed from various standpoints and from the angle of the controversy which it caused in the public, ...but also in the expert and scientific discourse in Croatia. The author first discusses the holding of the referendum in the context of its date-setting, which brought about a dispute between the government and the opposition and a part of the Eurosceptic public. Second, controversy arose regarding participation in the referendum, which is approached here in the context of irregularity accusations. Third, there is the issue of the referendum's legality and legitimacy, and the author draws a comparison with referenda held in other accession countries - not only in the fifth round of enlargement with post-communist and Mediterranean countries, but also in other countries where the referendum did not have a positive outcome. Relying on the available facts and variable analysis related to the referendum, the author then asserts that the Croatian referendum for the EU was undoubtedly successful, that its results, both with regard to the participation and the outcome, were even better than in many post-communist countries of the fifth enlargement. Finally, the reasons for the tardiness of Croatia's EU accession in contrast to the other Middle-European and Eastern-European countries and Slovenia are analyzed. It is viewed as a consequence of wrong political estimations and decisions. The author also focuses on the informational and educational deficit regarding the EU in Croatia, and finds that the Croatian citizens are poorly informed on the EU because of specific decisions of the government. Still, the result of the referendum met with positive reactions of EU political bodies and the member states, which opens up the process of ratification in other EU countries that should lead to full membership of Croatia in the EU on July 1, 2013. Reprinted by permission of Fakultet politickih znanosti u Zagrebu
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This article deals with the political symbolism of the flag as a constituent part of political rituals and political mythology, and special attention is given to the desecration of the flag as a ...phenomenon of exceptional political symbolism. The author reviews cases of flag desecration, national and international, while in the second part of the article deals with the desecration of international organizations' flags highlighting the desecration of the EU flag. Then the article analyses the desecration of the EU flag in Croatia in 2011 within the context of criminal proceedings initiated against the perpetrators. In doing so, the author finds that Art. 186 of the Croatian Penal Code cannot apply to the desecration of the EU flag as a symbol of an international organization, because the EU is not a classical international organization, but an association of states sui generis, as the German Federal Constitutional court ruled in 1993. Moreover, the flag of Europe is not the official flag of the EU any more since the provisions on EU symbols were cancelled in the Lisbon Treaty entering into force on December 1, 2009. Therefore flag burners or flag rippers cannot be prosecuted under the provisions of this article, because no one can be indicted for a non-existing symbol. However, the study of political symbols is very important in contemporary political science and this should be dealt with in analysis and research. Adapted from the source document.
The texts focuses on constitutionalisation of democracy in the European Union and the phenomenon of democratic deficit through the failed Constitution for Europe and, thereafter, the Lisbon Treaty, ...which takes over the definition of democracy as the foundation of the European Union. In this context, the author also looks into the contribution of political scientist Zvonko Posavec, who was one of the first in Croatia to advocate the need for constitutionalisation of the European Union as a project of finalising the process of European integration. While writing about the need for constitutional foundation of the European Union, Posavec simultaneously reflects on representative democracy as the form of democracy on which the European Union is predominantly founded. Beside a valorisation of Posavec's works on democracy in the European Union, this paper deals with the problem of the democratic deficit in the European Union which is manifest in the lack of democratic legitimacy of EU institutions, with the sole exception of the European Parliament. The author finds, however, that the main deficit of the European Union is not the democratic process, but political alienation. He perceives the latter as alienation of citizens from the EU as a derivative community, non-transparent and distanced from the basic interests of the citizens and the media interest in politics. Although the European Union declaratively relies on basic democratic values, in practice democracy is experienced primarily through a democratic deficit contrasted by a more obvious bureaucratic surfeit of the European political construction. The author asserts that the Lisbon Treaty was a step towards founding the EU on democratic principles inasmuch as it introduced elements of participative democracy, although it did not accept proposals for introduction of direct democracy in the EU. Finally, the author puts forward some ideas which might reduce the degree of political alienation of citizens in relation to the European Union; this requires giving greater authority to the European Parliament, abolishing the monopoly of the legislative initiative of the European Commission, incorporating the Council of the European Union into the European Parliament as the second House, i.e. the European Senate, and consequently implementing the mechanism of consulting the citizens regarding the legislative initiatives of the EU. The author concludes that the democratic deficit and political alienation cannot be overcome in the European Union without overcoming the democratic deficits and concrete forms of political alienation in the member states which the European Union consists of. Reprinted by permission of Fakultet politickih znanosti u Zagrebu
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This paper discusses the dilemmas regarding the nature of the European Union in contemporary political science and in the field of European Studies as a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary field. ...The first part focuses on the evolution of the European Union from the original European Coal and Steel Community, via the European Economic Community, to its growth into a political union. The Maastricht Treaty, which lay the foundations of the European Union as a political union of its member states, instigated a debate on the actual nature of this supranational union as political construct. Consequently, the author analyses the various characteristics of the European Union, which is manifest in various forms, and asserts that it has some "state-like features" and some "organisation-like features", which are characteristic of international organizations. In the approach to the European Union as a supra-state community, some essential traits of both federation and confederation are simultaneously manifest, corresponding to two tendencies in the development of the European Union as a super-state. Moreover, there is the conception of the European Union as an empire. Finally, this paper specifies the tasks of present-day political science and the need to find a new heuristic instrument, which, according to the author, can be found in the conception of the political system that was introduced in political science (comparative politics) by Gabriel Almond and David Easton. Such an approach, which is nowadays further developed by Jean-Pierre Quermonne, Wolfgang Wessels and Simon Hix, is additionally strengthened by the fact that various models of democratic practice are being incorporated in the European Union in opposition to the basic, legitimacy-related democratic deficit, models which confirm the possible conclusion regarding a European Union as a complex community with many faces. Adapted from the source document.
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In this article the author analyses the anti-corruption policy in Croatia as part of a wider awareness-rising process in transition countries. After the collapse of Communism, corruption spread ...quickly in post-Communist countries as a result of exogenous factors such as the export of corruption by the most developed countries seeking to find new markets, and endogenous factors such as hasty privatization and the creation of new political elites caught in the web of various conflicts of interest. In Croatia the situation was exacerbated by the war itself and war speculations and profiteering, followed by a corruptive privatization and lack of anti-corruption standards in the political culture of the country. Croatia had to adopt, on its way to European Union membership, a set of concrete measures countering the spreading of political corruption throughout the society. An important role was, thus, played by European Union conditionality requesting an integral approach to the pathological phenomenon of corruption. The author argues that such an integral approach has not yet been achieved due to the reduction of political corruption mostly to bribe and graft, while more sophisticated forms of political corruption have not been tackled yet, such as party clientelism, cronyism, electoral fraud and trading in influence. Therefore the author invokes the results of a comprehensive approach to political corruption as done by contemporary political science in the world, and advocates the formulation of a comprehensive anti-corruption code that would eliminate the dispersion of anti-corruptive legislation in numerous acts and redundancy that obfuscate the action of political actors in combating corruption. Here the role of the European Union is tantamount because it sets very tough standards based on a wide investigation of political corruption in Croatia at all levels, especially in the highest echalons of political life. An anti-corruption strategy as well as concrete action plans in combating corruption became part of the benchmarks, a third generation conditionality standards elaborated by the EU, and Croatia had to comply to them and build the society's capacity to deal with political corruption in a more efficient way, thus eliminating ambiguity and hesitancy that could harm the political actors in power. Reprinted by permission of Fakultet politickih znanosti u Zagrebu
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8.
Vjeciti povratak fasizma Grubisa, Damir
Politička misao,
01/2012, Volume:
49, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
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This paper discusses the dilemmas regarding the nature of the European Union in contemporary political science and in the field of European Studies as a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary field. ...The first part focuses on the evolution of the European Union from the original European Coal and Steel Community, via the European Economic Community, to its growth into a political union. The Maastricht Treaty, which lay the foundations of the European Union as a political union of its member states, instigated a debate on the actual nature of this supranational union as political construct. Consequently, the author analyses the various characteristics of the European Union, which is manifest in various forms, and asserts that it has some "state-like features" and some "organisation-like features", which are characteristic of international organizations. In the approach to the European Union as a supra-state community, some essential traits of both federation and confederation are simultaneously manifest, corresponding to two tendencies in the development of the European Union as a super-state. Moreover, there is the conception of the European Union as an empire. Finally, this paper specifies the tasks of present-day political science and the need to find a new heuristic instrument, which, according to the author, can be found in the conception of the political system that was introduced in political science (comparative politics) by Gabriel Almond and David Easton. Such an approach, which is nowadays further developed by Jean-Pierre Quermonne, Wolfgang Wessels and Simon Hix, is additionally strengthened by the fact that various models of democratic practice are being incorporated in the European Union in opposition to the basic, legitimacy-related democratic deficit, models which confirm the possible conclusion regarding a European Union as a complex community with many faces. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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This paper discusses the dilemmas regarding the nature of the European Union in contemporary political science and in the field of European Studies as a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary field. ...The first part focuses on the evolution of the European Union from the original European Coal and Steel Community, via the European Economic Community, to its growth into a political union. The Maastricht Treaty, which lay the foundations of the European Union as a political union of its member states, instigated a debate on the actual nature of this supranational union as political construct. Consequently, the author analyses the various characteristics of the European Union, which is manifest in various forms, and asserts that it has some `state-like features' and some `organisation-like features', which are characteristic of international organizations. In the approach to the European Union as a supra-state community, some essential traits of both federation and confederation are simultaneously manifest, corresponding to two tendencies in the development of the European Union as a super-state. Moreover, there is the conception of the European Union as an empire. Finally, this paper specifies the tasks of present-day political science and the need to find a new heuristic instrument, which, according to the author, can be found in the conception of the political system that was introduced in political science (comparative politics) by Gabriel Almond and David Easton. Such an approach, which is nowadays further developed by Jean-Pierre Quermonne, Wolfgang Wessels and Simon Hix, is additionally strengthened by the fact that various models of democratic practice are being incorporated in the European Union in opposition to the basic, legitimacy-related democratic deficit, models which confirm the possible conclusion regarding a European Union as a complex community with many faces. Reprinted by permission of Fakultet politickih znanosti u Zagrebu
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