Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.3935/zpfz.69.1.01
The Crisis of Democratic Constitutionalism and the Prospects of Further Democratic Transition in Croatia
Branko Smerdel
orcid.org/0000-0002-1836-1248
; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Thirty years after the “constitutional revolutions” of the 1990s, the best part of the modern political and social theory prevalently turns its focus to the evident crisis of democracy and constitutionalism in the modern world. Not only had the excessive expectations not been justified, but the very viability of the concept of liberal democratic constitutionalism was brought into question.
Croatia has been slow and continues to fall behind due to a decade of efforts to victoriously complete the process of establishing an independent and sovereign state during the struggle against foreign aggression and domestic rebellion by a part of the population. This problem has been exacerbated by the political and economic developments in the neighbouring countries.
The consequence of the longest negotiations on accession to the European Union membership to date was that the Union into which Croatia was finally admitted is very different from the one for whose membership it had applied. After a brief analysis of the new challenges which have profoundly changed the European Union, the author pleads for a realistic orientation in constitutional and political theory, which in his view must offer radical answers to these challenges in order to provide intellectual grounds for dealing with this crisis, while preserving the fundamental elements of liberal democratic constitutionalism.
Keywords
crisis; constitutionalism; democracy; European Union; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
217851
URI
Publication date:
28.2.2019.
Visits: 3.839 *