Croatian youth on politics and society: legacy of war in Croatia, disputes about democracy and possibilities for radicalism (original) (raw)
Related papers
A number of recent international studies have reported the growing electoral success of populist parties among younger age groups. In this study, authors analysed the " breeding ground " for populism among the youth in Zagreb using the results of the Memory, Youth, Political Legacy and Civic Engagement (MYPLACE) project in Croatia. A mixed methods approach was employed with thematic analysis of 61 semi-structured interviews and regression analysis on a survey sample data of 1,216 young people aged 16–25. Qualitative analysis indicated analogies to Cas Mudde's three core concepts of populism (the " good people " , the " bad elite " and the " general will ") among interviewees' opinions. In addition, common ideological features of populism (nationalism and radical egalitarianism) were to a degree present among the interviewees' attitudes. In the quantitative part of this paper, the authors narrowed the analysis of populism to the radical right variant of populism, and – given the lack of prominent populist actors in Croatia – to support of ideas rather than political parties. The attitude towards a political system with a strong leader not constrained by parliament was chosen as the outcome since it holds significant populist potential in contemporary democracies. Analyses showed the connection of the anti-elite, anti-systemic attitudes – as well as authoritarianism and a few right-wing political attitudes – with the strong leader preference. Both qualitative and quantitative results of this study indicated that the " breeding ground " for populism exists among the youth in Zagreb. Additional research is required to further examine that complex and previously unexplored topic.
Political Knowledge and Participation of the Youth in Two Locations Slovakia and Hungary
2018
Political Knowledge and Participation of the Youth in Two Locations, Slovakia and Hungary. MYPLACE is the abbreviation for Memory Youth Political Legacy and Civic Engagement. The project analyses how shadows of totalitarianism and populism in Europe shape engagement of young people. According to the project, the present generation of young people shares the experience that they grew up in Europe where there are basically no right-wing or left-wing authoritative governments. The Myplace (2012) survey contributed to the Commission’s initiative by its specific approach testing urban-rural division line of political participation by selecting representative survey samples of young people in two different regions in two countries. Comparison of survey sets in Slovakia and Hungary plays an especially important role with regard to historical and political contexts of relation of the two member states of the EU.
The problem of political culture and the closely related problem of political socialization as a process by which political culture is formed, maintained and changed, play a particularly important role in the course of the transition from a communist regime to a democracy. In these countries the question is not so much one of the maintenance of the existing political system, but of a transition from one system (the communist) to another (the democratic) and of the gradual rooting and consolidation of a new regime. This special situation presents an extraordinarily interesting subject for research. Many non-traditional questions and problems are emerging. For example, politically conservative attitudes tend to increase with age, but what happens in a country where, on the contrary, conservatism represents something new, which is succeeding the forced rule of a "progressive" party and ideology? In addition, the division of the Czechoslovak federation into two independent states has given an increased importance to political apprentissage and the adoption of patriotic symbols strengthening ties to the national community. How do the young Czech people of today see their Slovak contemporaries, who have become "foreigners" overnight? The project, the results of which are summarized in this report, was conceived as a comparative study. The basic subject of research activity was young people aged 14-18 in middle schools or training centres and apprenticeships. A systematic proportional selection of middle-school students and apprentices undertaken right across the territory of the Czech Republic has allowed us to interpret the results as representative for youth as a whole. Nevertheless, we always draw attention to any significant differences between the middle-school and apprenticeship groups. The generation of the parents of the young people questioned, i.e. people currently in their forties, has provided a group that on the one hand allows for a degree of inter-generational comparison, and on the other assists the investigation of the transmission of values and the way in which the political attitudes of the young generation are moulded. The research has focused on three forms of perception of political reality: knowledge, values, and attitudes, as defined on various levels. A number of specialists have rightly drawn attention to the important role played by the first confrontation between the idealized values learnt within the family and schools, and the values discovered to be, as it were, really operating in social and political life. The recent conflict between school and family under the former regime (which we shall be discussing further), like the later period of political transition to democracy, has on the one hand complicated the situation for the younger generation, but on the other has stimulated young people to a more active and critical approach. In the context of the research project we have sought to determine the relations between the emergent value structures of young people and their political attitudes. For respondents less than 16 years old, however, it was not appropriate to use only standardised questionnaire methods. We therefore also employed the method of verbal associations based on a list of key terms in the questionnaire.
2017
The application of marketing to the domain of politics has become relevant in recent times. With this article the authors wanted to explore the issue of the current political engagement among young people in Croatia. The question is what makes young people (age 18-30) politically active in young democracies such as that of the Republic of Croatia. Therefore, the objective of this study was to discover the real or hidden motivations behind the decision to actively participate in politics among young members of the two largest political parties in the country – the Croatian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Croatia. The study expected to find that the motivation for political engagement of young people is often connected with a possible achievement of individual goals and egoistic needs such as: self-acceptance, social success, financial success, prestige, reputation, status, recognition from the others etc. It was also expected that, due to the poor economic and soc...