Choosing Political Institutions in Postsocialism and the Formation of the Croatian Political System Cover Image

Odabir političkih institucija u postsocijalizmu i formiranje hrvatskog političkog sistema
Choosing Political Institutions in Postsocialism and the Formation of the Croatian Political System

Author(s): Nenad Zakošek
Subject(s): Politics, Public Administration, Government/Political systems, Electoral systems, Politics and law, Transformation Period (1990 - 2010)
Published by: Fakultet političkih znanosti u Zagrebu
Keywords: postsocialism; Croatia; political system; political institutions; electoral system;

Summary/Abstract: The author situates the question of choosing fundamental political institutions in postsocialism — above all the electoral system and the presidential or parliamentary system of rule — within the context of three types of discussions in political science: the comparative analysis of political systems and institutions, the discussion about the »transition« of authoritarian/totalitarian systems to democracy and the analysis of regional patterns of politics and political systems. The main thesis is that in choosing political institutions in postsocialism iit is necessary to respect the essential features of political space of East European societies. The most important among these features are lack of tradition of institutional conflict resolution, weakness of intermediary political and interest organizations, disproportional influence of political radicalism among political elites and voters, insufficient efficiency of the government and administration. The author demonstrates that the political space of Croatia is also essentially characterized by these features and that their negative effects in Croatia have been reinforced by the inadequate choice of plurality electoral system and presidential system of rule.

  • Issue Year: XXIX/1992
  • Issue No: 03
  • Page Range: 81-92
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Croatian