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The author defines the state of law as a typical product of German political culture which corresponds to, but also differs from, both the experience of the English rule of law and that of the French l’ État-Nation. The author pays particular attention to the issue of the legitimacy of the state of law. He focuses on two different approaches to this issue in the works of Volker Gerhardt and Ernst Wolfgang Böckenförde. Following a critical analysis of their fundamental assumptions the author goes on to divulge the thesis on the necessity of a balance between rights and power in the functioning of modern political systems.
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The author analyses political, philosophical, ethical and legal implications of the trial in which, in August of 1997, some former members of the Politburo of the United Socialist Party of the former Democratic Republic of Germany were sentenced to prison terms after they had been found guilty for the murders committed by the East German border patrols when trying to prevent people from fleeing to the West. The legal grounds for such a sentence is dubious, not only because it runs counter to the ban on the retroactive enforcement of legal provisions but also because it presupposes the universal validity of the western concept of human rights. If the intention was to react legally to what, from the Western point of view were unpardonable acts during the communist reign, then the most prominent representatives of that system should have been — in accordance with wartime law — treated as the enemies defeated in a (cold) war.
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The author analyses the role of religion in the formation of national identities in Central and Eastern Europe on the example of the Catholic Church in Poland in the 20th century. In Poland, like in most Central-European and Eastern-European societies, national identity developed against the state and was founded on certain elements of ethnic culture and tradition, the central position belonging to the Church. During communism, the Polish Catholic Church had the leading position in the construction of national identity, which identified Polishness with Catholicism. The Church also had a crucial role in the destruction of the communist system. However, it has found increasingly difficult to adapt to the new conditions of political democracy, ideological and cultural pluralism. As has been shown through the debates on abortion and religious education in state schools, the attempt by the Church to achieve the status of moral arbiter, above all democratic institutions, has resulted in new divisions and jeopardised its influence in the society.
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In this study, the author analyses the relationship between general culture and its particularistic segments within the integral political community and concludes: as long as there are citizens, there will be a conflict between the general and the singular; also, the mediation between these two categories is never final; instead, one should repeatedly define what is appropriate, right and compulsory. This is the strength of the type of reasoning to which the schematic landmarks such as universalism and particularism are necessary only as reminders of what is missing in order to fill in the gaps.
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The author claims that all major efforts concerning European security have always been linked with the end of a war. Thus the end of the cold war has been marked with the expansion of NATO and an attempt to create a new security. By analysing the political scope of the expansion, the military and strategic framework, the Russian reactions, and the economic significance, the author comes to the conclusion that the expansion is not conducive to the establishment of an integral system of European security. The purpose of this development by Clinton’s team was primarily to outline the new European borders (the key aspect of Clinton’s foreign policy) and, in the future, to create the conditions for further expansion and admittance of new members. Only in the remote future, through constant expansion and links with other European organisations, NATO could turn into the central system of European security.
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The author analyses the concept of human dignity in historical and logical perspectives of its meaning. The key terms are: (a) dignity as an attribute of humanity; (b) the meaninglessness of this notion in some historical periods; (c) human dignity as human achievement; (d) human dignity as human potential; (e) human dignity as belonging to humanity. Then he goes on to stress the superiority of dignity as such over the acquired dignity. And finally, the author concludes that human dignity is inviolable, both in the virtues of its autonomous subjectivity and in its deviations: in the fallacy, deception, guilt, and awareness of one’s own finality.
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What are today’s mass media like? Are they objective enough or are consumers too fastidious? How topical the issues of the freedom of the media, truth, and objectivity are? The author has tried to provide the answers by looking into the norms and regulations in Croatia and abroad, beginning with the Code of Honour of the Croatian Association of Journalists, the documents of the Council of Europe and the famous First Amendment to the US Constitution. Civil society has set up many commissions, councils and committees with the aim of controlling mass media so that they would not only be a profit-amassing industry but would also conform to the fundamental demands that are put on journalism. A probe into the freedoms of American journalism shows that there are no all-inclusive recipes and that these freedoms must be fought for and won. The best way to secure the right to the freedom of speech is to consistently respect the standards of professional journalism. However, our experience and practice show that this aspect is most lacking. Particularly interesting is how these problems were noticed by Croatian journalists Frano Folnegovi} and Bogoslav [ulek more than a century ago. Apart from the political restrictions and pressures, Croatian journalists do not pay enough attention to this respect for the standards of professional journalism, which can best be illustrated by the example of the catastrophe of that American plane near Dubrovnik, when some media reported not only that the plane had safely landed but published the late Secretary’s statement. Only by strictly respecting professional standards, which may be achieved through constant improvement, study and research, the preconditions for objective and authentic reporting may be realised.
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The author argues that in the debates about “democratic transition” of post-socialist societies the importance of development of state of law for the formation of democracy has not been sufficiently accounted for. The absence of state of law results in the formation of authoritarian structures of political power which in the long run obstruct the process of democratization. Those structures include the concentration of political power in the hands of charismatic leaders, the transformation of political into economic power, the formation of clientelist structures, the development of a system of privileges and corruption, and the break-down of the state monopoly of the means of violence, resulting in the “refeudalization” of political power. In conclusion the author describes two developmental options for the post-socialist societies: the formation of a “Latin American” type of authoritarian-populist regimes or the gradual transformation towards a Western type of state of law and liberal democracy, initiated by the pressures from the international environment and internal forces.
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A few years after the collapse of communist regimes, it is evident that the confidence about the ultimate triumph of liberal democracy was premature. This waking up to the reality is not only the consequence of the hardships in the transformation of post-communist societies, but of the intellectual scepticism regarding the normative potential of liberal democracy in the developed western societies. The problem might in most general terms be formulated as the incapacity of liberal democracy to generate and reproduce the normative requirements for its own survival. The author thinks that the solution to this paradox can nevertheless be found within the institutional framework of liberal democracy: if the traditional moral concepts on which liberal democracy was founded in the past are worn out indeed, and no civil-religious substitute for that tradition has emerged as yet, then its only possibility is to create its own, modern or post-modern, morality by means of the public discourse mechanism and the political participation of citizens. The normative dimension of liberalism must not be reduced to the theory of private ownership, market and competition, but be envisaged as a constitutional theory of human rights and restricted government and the egalitarian distribution of goods and opportunities.
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The essay describes the evolution of the concept of political culture, from the concepts such as Comte’s ’consensus’, Durkheim’s ’collective awareness’, Weber’s ’significance of individual actions’, to Parson’s ’action frame of reference’, and Mead’s ’national character’. The development began with Comte’s search for differentia specifica of social sciences in relation to other positive sciences and finished in 1963 with the introduction of the concept of political culture into political science by G. Almond and S. Verba. Our analysis has shown that many definitions of political culture point out that its essence lies in people’s beliefs since political culture is a set of beliefs regarding politics. As much as it may seem a paradox, it cannot be reduced to mere individual beliefs, but represents a system of inter-subjective opinions on various political objects. This explains the possible discrepancies between the political events and the political beliefs of the people, between their behaviour and political culture, and so on. Contrary to the belief of some authors, it has been shown how political culture may and should be taken as a common denominator for a variety of opinions on politics. Political attitudes, values, norms, public opinion and political ideologies are nothing but different manifestations of political culture. Thus, the concept of political culture includes diverse facets of the subjective attitude of people towards politics. This is the asset and not the downside of this concept, as some authors would have it. It is pointed out that the manifold manifestations of political culture do not carry the same ’weight’ in explaining the political activism of people and the functioning of political systems. The relationship between these manifestations is extremely complex and a challenge for research. It is this very relationship that could explain the stable and less stable (i.e. stable and vacillating) reactions of people in their political activity.
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The author analyses Schmitt’s and Luhmann’s theory of democracy and the constitutional state. By comparing them, he concludes that Schmitt’s critique of the democratic pluralistic state has ended in the theory of direct or plebiscitary democracy in which the constitution is subject to an unpredictable will of political majority which can change it wilfully in line with the power relations. Luhmann, on the other hand, starts from the assumption of the separation between law and politics and builds his concept of the constitutional state on the bipolar differentiation and the mutual checks between law and politics. The author concludes that Luhmann does not give up on Hobbes’ pessimistic conviction that human nature is bestial; he only offers a different strategy for the coexistence of cultured savages.
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In this text the author deals with the analysis of the fundamental legal texts regulating local self-government and administration in the Republic of Croatia and to what extent they are ’the fall guys’ to be blamed for the state the systems of local self-government and administration are in. He concludes that these laws are a major generator (though not the only one) of the crisis of local self-government and administration in the Republic of Croatia.
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absrtact by the author: "One of the myths that constitute the "symbolic foundations" of the Albanian identity, is that one intermingled in the "The Legend of Walling up". Within the symbolism of the legend, myths and its pure meaning it emcrges as a founding act. Thereforc, it can be said that this legend is "our" foundation, respectively that of our identity, with the most distinguished quality of foundation. In some Albanian territories, as well as in other Balkan regions, walling up is done at the feet of a bridge under construction. In some other regions, but not in non-Albanian regions of the Balkans, walling up is done at the foundations of a castle. At least, the identity is determined thanks to its difference from the Other. But the other way round, it can be said that the difference from the Other springs from the identity, changing the Other`s identity and idea into absurdity. But this is not die only absurdity of the foundations of this big world, of our dear world". This is extracted from Bashkim Shehu`s essay "The Fall of` Berlin Wall”. The author writes, of this mirror where Europe, that is the civilized Europe looked at itself, using a metaphor of a distinguished contemporary writer, brought about the disappearance of the identity of this Europe, of its cohesion as a system of political and cultural values. The mirror was broken, together with it the reflection, smashing its identity into pieces as something that will differ from the rest of Europe, the Other Europe. The Other disappeared and this made the identity disappear. In the meantime, this European Identity which does not exist as a reflection on itself exists as a reflection for the Other, for the Other Europe.
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The author analyses the role of the constitutional judiciary and the traditional theory of the tripartite division of power. His radical conclusion is: the division of power in Montesquieu’s sense, as a tool of control and balance in modern state, does not exist. There is no social violence to which such balance, control or correction could be applied to. In such circumstances, the role, selection and work of constitutional judges is of utmost significance for the control, correction and balancing of political process.
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Different parts of State territory on land, sea and in the airspace are explained first. The concept of territorial sovereignty is envisaged through principles of its all-inclusiveness and its exclusivity, subject to many exceptions and restrictions imposed either by rules of general international law or by specific treaty obligations that can be assumed by a State. The concept of State servitudes was not assimilated in the practice of international courts and tribunals. Besides, it can be the cause of some misconceptions and confusion in public international law. Within the explanation of territorial boundaries are discussed the so-called natural boundaries such as boundary rivers and lakes and mountain boundaries, as well as the artificial boundaries. Follow explanation of the principle of uti possidetis, of procedures of fixing boundaries and of special legal scope of boundary treaties in international law.
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Nothing is more prone to errors than newspapers. Croatian newspapers (dailies, magazines and a few journals) were studied during a several-month period in 1997. The review is not comprehensive, nor have all the pages been scanned, since this would require a sort of analysis for which there were no necessary funds nor researchers. Nevertheless, the picture of the typical newspaper errors is all-inclusive. The errors which are a result of haste, hard working conditions and obsolete technology are bearable and excusable. However, flagrant carelessness shows disrespect for readers and the profession. Even worse is ignorance. Journalism is advancing fast, but there are certain well-known basics which can be easily learned. There is no excuse for ignorance-based errors, as there is no justification for a surgeon who would — due to ignorance — amputate a healthy instead of a diseased leg. But, what to say about the intentional, deliberate distortion of facts? It is unforgivable not to inform the public about the opinions of the president or the Governor of National Bank or to give a true dimension to a crime. This is the dark side of Croatian journalism which may be rectified by educated professionals who respect the rules of the profession and whose primary concern are not ideological connotations and drifts.
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The article deals with youth policy in the Westpomeranian Region. The author focused in particular on the local and regional aspects of this policy.Its aim is to diagnose the situation of youth policy in Westpomeranian Region at the regional and local level. The author asked the following research questions: does the system of youth policy work properly? What is the thematic scope of youth council activities? Do young people involved in youth policy know the mechanisms of its functioning in the Westpomeranian Region? Do the Secretariat for Youth of the Westpomeranian Region and the Youth Council of the Westpomeranian Region fulfill their function of running youth policy in Westpomeranian Region? To find answers to the above research questions, the following methods were used: analysis of existing data, survey and interview techniques.The conducted analyzes showed the recognition and visibility of the activities of Secretariat for Youth and Youth Council of the Westpomerania in the region. The research indicated that Youth Council of Westpomerania has an increasing impact on youth policy and Westpomeranian Region. Through the analysis of data, the correct dynamics of formation of youth councils in the region was observed. Some problems of youth policy were also diagnosed, i.e. lack of budget, lack of cooperation with adults and low youth involvement. According to the author, these elements require further work of entities involved in youth policy.
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The aim of the article was the analysis of electoral characteristics of the Sub-Carpathian Voivodeship, as well as varied political preferences of citizens, with special consideration of years 1989–2015. The basis for presenting the considerations were the election results to Sejm, as well as the results of elections to the European Parliament, by means of which it was possible to indicate recurring cyclicality of right-wing political support of the citizens of that area.High election turnout in Sub-Carpathia in comparison the nation-wide turnout was also included in the analysis. The most important part of the discussion was the answer to the question of what factors determined changes in political support of the Sub-Carpathian Voivodeship citizens and whether the contemporary political activity of the entities participating in political competition reflects historical and cultural conditioning of the partitions of Poland.
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