Croatia in the European Union Changes Development and Perspectives
Croatia in the European Union Changes Development and Perspectives

Author: Davour Paukovic

Publisher: Lund Humphries Publishers

Published: 2015-11-01

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9781472431868

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For accession to the EU Croatia had to meet significantly higher criteria than previous states, with suspicion and concerns among existing members about further enlargement increasing. Meanwhile initially strong public support in Croatia declined as inconsistencies in EU policy, entry criteria and problems caused by the economic crisis all combined with fears about the loss of national identity and the ability to realize national interests. The successful Croatian accession to the EU in 2013 shows that, despite concerns on both sides, the EU continues to have meaning and significance and that membership remains highly desirable. Through nine mutually interrelated chapters the contributors speak not only about the political and social situation in Croatia, but also prospects for the European Union itself.

Croatia and the European Union
Croatia and the European Union

Author: Pero Maldini

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-03-09

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 131715696X

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The accession of Croatia to the EU marked the end of a long and arduous period of transition. Croatia had to meet significantly higher criteria than previous states with suspicion and concerns among existing members about further enlargement increasing. Meanwhile initially strong public support in Croatia declined as inconsistencies in EU policy, entry criteria and problems caused by the economic crisis all combined with fears about the loss of national identity and the ability to realize national interests. The successful Croatian accession to the EU in 2013 shows that, despite concerns on both sides, the EU continues to have meaning and significance and that membership remains highly desirable. Through nine mutually interrelated chapters the contributors speak not only about the political and social situation in Croatia, but also prospects for the European Union itself.

Current Situation and Future Perspectives of Regional Policy in Croatia
Current Situation and Future Perspectives of Regional Policy in Croatia

Author: Jakša Puljiz

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 23

ISBN-13:

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Regional policies in European Union member countries have undergone significant changes in recent two decades. New policy approach is particularly focused on issues such as regional competitiveness, role of regional and local actors in managing development, multi-annual programming and policy evaluation. Latest policy trends have not yet been recognized by Croatian policy-makers. Croatian regional policy is still based on old-fashioned instruments such as tax relief's and intergovernmental transfers, while a meaningful approach to supporting regional growth and competitiveness is lacking. Accession process could become a catalyst for setting up new and modern regional policy, but on the other hand it could result with having two parallel systems of supporting regional development based on entirely different principles. On the basis of the identified trends in European regional policies and the analysis of current regional development and regional policy context, the paper provides recommendations for improvement of the current policy approach.

Policy-Making at the European Periphery
Policy-Making at the European Periphery

Author: Zdravko Petak

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-05-30

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 3319735829

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This book examines Croatia's economic and political transformation over the last 30 years. It brings together the best political scientists, macroeconomists and public finance experts from Croatia to provide an in-depth analysis of the Croatian policy-making context and the impact of Europeanization upon its domestic institutional framework. The second part of the book scrutinizes the political economy context and Croatia's long-term macroeconomic under-performance, especially in comparison to other transition economies. The final part explores sectoral public policies, including cohesion policy, education, health, pensions, and local government. The book offers a unique blend of Croatia's political economy framework and public policy analysis.

How Europeanization Influenced the Political System of Croatia
How Europeanization Influenced the Political System of Croatia

Author: Dino Agovic

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2017-06-13

Total Pages: 15

ISBN-13: 3668463417

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Essay from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 1, , language: English, abstract: Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 after a free election in 1990. Franjo Tudjman had won against communist opponents in the elections. Almost immediately, the army of the broken Yugoslavia attacked Croatia in a bid to take over the country again, a war lasted four years. Elections of 2000 saw the entry of President Stipe Mesic, who was substantially associated with the developments that later erupted in the nation of Croatia including regional cooperation and national healing strategies.

After Ethnic Conflict
After Ethnic Conflict

Author: Cvete Koneska

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-01

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 1317183967

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After Ethnic Conflict: Policy-making in Post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia investigates how sensitive policy issues can be resolved in the aftermath of war by investigating how political elites interact and make decisions in ethnically divided societies. Focussing on the interactions between political elites and attempts to reach agreement across ethnic lines in Bosnia and Macedonia the book examines the impact that institutional factors can have on political actors and the decisions they make. Examining domestic factors and external influence in politics, Cvete Koneska identifies four key drivers of post-conflict cooperation: cross-cutting identities, minority veto powers, territorial autonomy, and informal practices to explain inter-ethnic political accommodation. By looking beyond the immediate post-conflict landscape, created by foreign peace negotiators and aid missions, to the internal political process she shows the real reasons political actors cooperate and how competing ethnic tensions are reconciled following ethnic conflict. Delving deeper into specific policy areas to compare successful and unsuccessful attempts at ethnic accommodation this book explores the factors behind the different policy outcomes that sustain or undermine peace and ethnic cooperation in ethnically divided societies.

Strategies of Symbolic Nation-building in South Eastern Europe
Strategies of Symbolic Nation-building in South Eastern Europe

Author: Pål Kolstø

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-01

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 1317049365

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After the conflagration of Tito’s Yugoslavia a medley of new and not-so-new states rose from the ashes. Some of the Yugoslav successor states have joined, or are about to enter, the European Union, while others are still struggling to define their national borders, symbols, and relationships with neighbouring states. Strategies of Symbolic Nation-building in South Eastern Europe expands upon the existing body of nationalism studies and explores how successful these nation-building strategies have been in the last two decades. Relying on new quantitative research results, the contributors offer interdisciplinary analyses of symbolic nation-building in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia to show that whereas the citizens of some states have reached a consensus about the nation-building project other states remain fragmented and uncertain of when the process will end. A must-read not only for scholars of the region but policy makers and others interested in understanding the complex interplay of history, symbolic politics, and post-conflict transition.

A Discourse Analysis of Corruption
A Discourse Analysis of Corruption

Author: Blendi Kajsiu

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-03-16

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1317188357

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Why did Albania enjoy some of the most successful anti-corruption programs and institutions along with what appeared to be growing levels of corruption during the period 1998-2005? Looking at corruption through a post-structuralist discourse analysis perspective this book argues that the dominant corruption discourse in Albania served primarily to institute the neoliberal order rather than eliminate corruption. It did so in four interrelated ways. First, blaming every Albanian failure on corruption avoided a critical engagement with the existing neoliberal developmental model. Second, the dominant articulation of corruption as abuse of public office for private gain consigned it to the public sector, transforming neoliberal policies of privatisation and expanding markets into anticorruption measures. Third, international anticorruption campaigns reproduced an asymmetric relationship of dependency between Albania and the international institutions that monitored it by articulating corruption as internal to the Albanian condition. Finally, against corruption international and local actors could articulate a neoliberal order that was free of internal contradictions and fully compatible with democratization. As a rare example of post-structuralist discourse analysis of corruption this book can be useful for future research on discourses of corruption in other countries of the region and beyond.

State-Building and Democratization in Bosnia and Herzegovina
State-Building and Democratization in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author: Soeren Keil

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-03-03

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1317050266

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State Building and Democratization in Bosnia and Herzegovina details the post-Dayton evolution of the country over the last two decades. Carefully evaluating the successes and failures the book explores the slow progress of the democratization process and how key elites initially took hold of the state and its institutions and have successfully retained their grip on power, despite heavy international presence and reform attempts to counter-balance this trend. Bosnia and Herzegovina offers a useful lens through which to view international state-building and democratization efforts. International engagement here incorporated significant civilian and military investment and has been ongoing for many years. In each chapter international scholars and field-based practitioners examine the link between post-war events and a structure that effectively embeds ethno-national politics and tensions into the fabric of the country. These contributors offer lessons to be learned, and practices to be avoided whilst considering whether, as state-building and democratization efforts have struggled in this relatively advanced European country, they can succeed in other fragile states.

The Politics of Social Ties
The Politics of Social Ties

Author: Mila Dragojevic

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-02-24

Total Pages: 198

ISBN-13: 1317020057

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After forced migration to a country where immigrants form an ethnic majority, why do some individuals support exclusivist and nationalist political parties while others do not? Based on extensive interviews and an original survey of 1,200 local Serbs and ethnic Serbian refugees fleeing violent conflict in Bosnia and Croatia, The Politics of Social Ties argues that those immigrants who form close interpersonal networks with others who share their experiences, such as the loss of family, friends, and home, in addition to the memory of ethnic violence from past wars, are more likely to vote for nationalist parties. Any political mobilization occurring within these interpersonal networks is not strategic, rather, individuals engage in political discussion with people who have a greater capacity for mutual empathy over the course of discussing other daily concerns. This book adds the dimension of ethnic identity to the analysis of individual political behavior, without treating ethnic groups as homogeneous social categories. It adds valuable insight to the existing literature on political behavior by emphasizing the role of social ties among individuals.