FUNCTJONING OF THE »PLEBISCITE DEMOCRACY« IN CROATIA 1945 – 1952 (THE ELECTORAL ASPECT OF LEGITIMIZING PROCESS ORGANIZATION)

U radu se istražuje uloga izbora u uspostavi i funkcioniranju poslijeratnog političkog sustava u Hrvatskoj od 1945. do 1952. godine. Analizom izbornog zakonodavstva i izborne prakse, a osobito doktrinarnih postavki Komunističke partije, dolazi se do osnovnog zaključka: izbori u tom periodu- imaju značaj rituala, služeći kao jedan od organiziranih oblika podrške uspostavljenom državnom sustavu, Komunističkoj partiji i istaknutim političkim ličnostima.This article examines the role of elections in the establishment and functioning of political system in Croatia 1945 – 1952. The objects of analysis are elections far the Sabor 1946 and 1950, federal elections 1945 and 1950, and local elections from the same period. The research is based on archives material, newspapers, documents, and literature. The emphasis is on the following aspects: development of the electoral legislature, characteristics of electoral praxis, and the Communist party conception of the role of elections. Given the monopoly position of the KP in the political system in postwar Croatia and Yugoslavia, its conception of elections determined the nature of electoral legislature and procedure. In accordance with its doctrinal positions, the Communist Party considered elections just a formality by which it organized popular support for the established system. Consequently, the electoral legislature secured victory for its »transmission«, Nacional Front. The electoral praxis, marked by various methods of party activity and pressure, and often disregarding constrains of legality, was even more significant