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https://doi.org/10.22586/csp.v56i2.34180
“The People are the Source of each Government”: The Issue of Intraparty Democracy in the Croatian Peasant Party (1918-1929)
Suzana Leček
; Hrvatski institut za povijest, Podružnica za povijest Slavonije, Srijema i Baranje, Slavonski Brod, Hrvatska
Sažetak
During the 1920s the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) became the first Croatian broadly based party. It built a modern structure consisting of a wide network of local organizations (local and district) and bodies governing the party (General Assembly/General Committee, National Representation, Presidency). Local organizations played a crucial role in maintaining and strengthening the popularity of the party and the electorate and their representatives got into the broadest representative body – the General Assembly (at the local level) and subsequently the General Committee (at the district level). They retained considerable autonomy in deciding on issues at their level (district level and lower) and also exerted a major influence on the election of the national deputies.
It can be stated that the Croatian Peasant Party met many of the preconditions for it to become a successful democratic party. The party succeeded in including various groups in the party and afterwards in the process of decision-making, even if with varied success. The greatest success was achieved in its ability to attract the broadest social classes (primarily the peasantry), to some extent ethnic groups, although not much could be done for women with no voting rights (although, an effort was made to include them in the movement in other respects). Inclusiveness was confirmed by the restraint with which it resorted to the most drastic disciplinary measures – exclusion. It strove to solve conflicts through agreement, and formally at least there were no exclusions. Such tolerance considerably facilitated the transformation of the Croatian Peasant Party into a movement (which reached its climax in the 1930s).
The party strove to ensure a wide range of decision-making powers through some forms of direct decision-making (even if only symbolic), by applying an elective character to all duties (substitutability), by ensuring constant communication (informedness) as well as through the division of decision-making powers (subsidiarity). All representatives were elected and responsible for their work, which had to be reported on regularly, hence, reshuffles (reorganisations), particularly in local organizations, were common. A constant communication was successfully established and maintained between the leadership and local organizations (the membership), directly at public assemblies or indirectly at regular monthly district meetings, of which they received reports from people’s representatives. By respecting the principles of subsidiarity in decision-making, a balance between the party leadership and the local organizations was established. Decisions were made on various issues: decisions on party tactics were taken by the party leadership, whereas local organizations made decisions on local, concrete issues. The principle of subsidiarity became more apparent in the example of elections when it was evident, that the local organizations had no impact on the elections of the party leadership, and vice versa, the impact of the leadership on local elections (including elections of people’s representatives) was limited.
In conclusion, we can say that in the 1920s the Croatian People’s Party was a very dynamic, inclusive and (balanced) decentralized party which in practice succeeded in achieving the principles of intraparty democracy.
Ključne riječi
Croatian Peasant Party; intraparty democracy; inclusiveness; decentralization; subsidiarity
Hrčak ID:
326066
URI
Datum izdavanja:
31.12.2024.
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