Forms of National Minorities’ Political Representation in Croatia – Functionality Problems of Councils and Representatives

Abstract

In this article, the authors are comparing two studies from 2010 and 2015 on the functioning of councils and representatives of national minorities, which are advisory bodies inaugurated by the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities (2002), that represents the basis of the Croatian model of minority rights protection. Both studies were conducted at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb (Center for International and Security Studies), through the questionnaire distributed via e-mail to all the available councils and representatives which were listed within two cycles in the Register of councils, coordination of councils and representatives of national minorities. By putting the analysis of the research in the broader context of development of minority rights in Croatia, with special emphasis on forms of political representation at various levels, authors are providing an answer whether there is any and what kind of progress in the functioning of councils and representatives of national minorities, namely the bodies that may be considered a form of non-territorial autonomy, according to their function, role and scope of jurisdiction.