CIVILNO DRUŠTVO I POLITIKA U HRVATSKOJ
CIVIL SOCIETY AND POLITICS IN CROATIA

Author(s): Lino Veljak
Subject(s): Politics, Civil Society, Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), Post-Communist Transformation
Published by: CEDET Centar za demokratsku tranziciju
Keywords: Civil and political society; reduced civil society; transition; democratic culture; liberal-democratic order; stable democracy
Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses the role of civil society in the process that led to the change of government in the parliamentary elections on January 3, 2000. After the operational definition of a reduced civil society and the presentation of the genesis of civil society and multi-partyism in Croatia, the author reconstructs the formation of civil society during the period of the authoritarian rule of the HDZ. It pays special attention to independent media and those non-governmental organizations whose value system is compatible with the liberal-democratic order. The role of civil society in building a democratic culture suitable for such an order cannot be precisely determined, just as the degree of direct and indirect influence of civil society on the results of the mentioned elections cannot be determined either. Arguments that speak in favor of the relevance of that influence are given, but also arguments that call into question the attempt to attach too much or decisive importance to that influence. The relationship between civil and political society is also problematized, and their ambivalent interaction is pointed out.

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