Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.32984/gapzh.12.1.1
On the Croatian Constitution: Uncertainty of Constitutional Governance after the 30th Anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia
Sanja Barić
orcid.org/0000-0001-6496-9062
; Faculty of Law, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
Abstract
Constitutional democracy is a description, a characteristic, but it is also the „foundation and goal“ of contemporary civilizations which Croatia belongs to. Democracy itself, as a form of governance, is ideally an asymptotic process of constant improvement. The same goes for constitutionality. These processes, however, are not irreversible. While it is impossible to draw a complete and sharp demarcation line between the adjective and the noun in the „constitutional democracy“ syntagm, the aim of this paper is to look into predominant processes of constitutional development in Croatia not only in order to point out challenges, but also to draw attention to important potential for the future functioning both of the state and its citizens. A major problem is identified as a form of Dunning-Kruger syndrome of pre-political state of mind of a significant part of the social matrix in the Republic of Croatia that in turn renders the evolution of constitutional governance particularly complex and not at all certain. We allow a mild optimism given the previous steps and remembering that democratic and constitutional processes are not linear. However, the state of dangerous stagnation and immersion in the corruptive-clientelistic mentality calls for serious and interdisciplinary approach to this problem. The fundamental question remains: to what extent can constitutional law provide remedies to these challenges and what are the necessary steps in that direction? The paper firstly analyses the actual value of constitutionalism in Croatia through its positive and negative aspects. Then we turn to the causes of problems we have identified. We find them both in the state of the social matrix and reflections of this state in recent acts of the highest state institutions. The importance of assigning institutional and civil responsibility is particularly pointed out. Keeping in mind a notorious need for constitutional revision, we focus on formative and educational potential of the future constitution-making process. A constitution cannot prosper without an adequate level of internalization on the level of state bodies, but also of its citizens. Education and understanding of constitutional democracy remain the corner-stones of a functioning society. At the end we propose a synergy of members of academic institutions for an additional beneficial effect.
Keywords
constitutional democracy; Constitution of the Republic of Croatia; Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia; pre-civil society; pre-political state of consciousness
Hrčak ID:
260588
URI
Publication date:
16.7.2021.
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