POLITICAL REALITY AND COMPARATIV POLITICS: GENESIS OF A POLITOLOGICAL DISCIPLINE

Komparativna politika je disciplina političkih znanosti koja je u svom razvitku neprekidno reflektirala zbivanja u području internacionalne politike. Autor pokazuje genezu discipline, koja se posebno intenzivno razvija od 50-ih godina u okviru američke politologije. Nakon definiranja same discipline, pokazuje se razvitak osnovnih pristupa u istraživanju, širenje predmeta koji ulazi u fokus, kao i važnost osnovnih pojmova kojima se preciziraju koordinate akademske discipline (politička vlast, politički sustav, politički režim). Autor analizira ulogu komparativne politike u kontekstu ostalih disciplina političkih znanosti, kao i njene aplikativne potencijale. Kroz analizu povijesnog razvoja discipline pokazuje vezu između promjena interesa i težišta u praktičnoj politici i ekspanzije komparativne politike, posebno razvitka regionalnih i tematskih specijaliziranih poddisciplina u okviru komparativnih politoloških istraživanja. U zaključnom dijelu autor pokazuje važnost i aplikativnu vrijednost discipline u sklopu posebnog interesa Hrvatske kao zemlje u procesu demokratske tranzicije za komparativnom analizom iskustva razvijenih demokracija i zemalja tranzicije.Comparative politics is a political science discipline which has in its evolution continuously reflected the developments in the field of international politics. The author outlines the genesis of this discipline, which boomed in the 1950s within the framework of American politology. He first defines this discipline and then goes on to give an account of the evolution of the fundamental research principles, the expansion of the subject matter and the importance of the key concepts that delineate this academic discipline (political power, political system, political regime). The author analyses the role of comparative politics in the context of other disciplines of political sciences as well as its applicative potentials. Through an analysis of the history of this discipline he points to the connection between the shift of the interest and the focus in practical politics and the thematically specialized subdisciplines within comparative politological research. In the conclusion, the author points out the importance and the applicatory value of this discipline for Croatia (as a country in the process of democratic transition) regarding the comparative analysis of the experiences of developed democracies and countries in transition