Original scientific paper
The Social Structure of the Croatian Parliament in Five Mandates
Vlasta Ilišin
; Institute for Social Research, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
In this paper we analyzed the social attributes and political experience
of the members of the Croatian Parliament in five mandates.
We established that the multiparty parliament, during the 18 years of
its existence, was dominated by men, averagely between 47 and 49
years of age, Croats, Catholics, highly educated, predominantly in the
social sciences and humanities, and politicians with significant managerial
and political experience acquired primarily during their work in
political parties. Furthermore, we found a relatively large fluctuation
of parliamentarians, resulting in a lower level of parliamentary experience
and a relatively short parliamentary career. Based on these
indicators, it can be stated that in Croatia a socially homogenous parliamentary
elite was formed, one with a potentially lower level of political
competence, and that patterns of political recruitment, coherent
in tendency with those in the developed democratic countries, were
established.
Keywords
Croatian Parliament; parliamentary elite; social structure; political experience and competence; political recruitment; democratic consolidation
Hrčak ID:
26399
URI
Publication date:
3.6.2008.
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