Izvorni znanstveni članak
Indicators of Civil Society Development in Croatia
Gojko BEŽOVAN
Sažetak
This article deals with the issue of civil society development in
Croatia as a transitional and post war country during the 1990s.
Civil society development in this time is very much related to the
humanitarian crisis caused by the War and involvement of
international and foreign organisations. Beside that, civil society
in Croatia has a poor tradition, its development has been
hindered by half a century of communism and totalitarian
ideology, coupled with the lack of experience with the concept of
freedom of association. In the second part of the article, using
the concept of CIVICUS Index on Civil Society Project, we analyse
four dimensions of civil society in Croatia: the structure of civil
society; the legal, political and socio-cultural space in which civil
society operates in the larger regulatory, legal and social
environment; the values civil society represents and propagates
and the impact civil society has on social and community
development as well as on the public policy process. The most
critical area of civil society development in Croatia is related to
the limited space it has to operate in, as defined by the
legislative, political and social-cultural framework. With regard to
legislation we do need to deal more with public policy issues
trying to institutionalise a place for CSOs social capital building
activities. The negative attitude of the state, restrictive legislation,
a lack of social responsibility on the part of the corporate sector
and the absence of a culture of volunteering and public
spiritedness are vital problems. Regarding their impact, civil
society organizations seem, at least in their own perceptions, to
contribute significantly to solving specific social, economic and
political problems and furthering the public good. However,
influence on the public policy process is very limited. In the
concluding part we provide some recommendation for the future
development of civil society in Croatia.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
19499
URI
Datum izdavanja:
31.8.2003.
Posjeta: 2.805 *