A Comparative Analysis of the Content of the Statutes of the Political Parties in Croatia (1991)

Premda se oblikovanje programa i statuta novih političkih stranaka u Hrvatskoj promatran kao manje važna normativna razina političkog djelovanja, komparativna analiza sadržaja statuta političkih stranaka u Hrvatskoj u vremenu njihova nastanka otkriva nam tendencije koje su prevladavale u političkoj praksi tog razdoblja kao i razinu iskustava u stranačkom organiziranju. Neki nalazi istraživanja su indicirali signifikantne razlike među nastajućim političkim strankama: u tretmanu prava i dužnosti članova odnosa prema unutrašnjem discipliniranju članova, u načinu učlanjivanja, u ovlastima predsjednika stranke, uključivanja mladih u stranačku politiku, modela odlučivanja, te odnosa prema prijašnjim strankama iz hrvatske političke povijesti. Naglašavajući da se ova analiza ne odnosi na aktualno stanje, već ono kakvo je bilo u samom začetku institucionalizacije stranačkom pluralizma, autor smatra da ona može pružiti osnovni uvid u jedan od neizostavnih segmenata neke buduće klasifikacije hrvatskog stranačkog sustava.The formulating of the new political parties\u27 programs and statutes in Croatia is considered to be a less important normative aspect of political activitiy. Yet a comparative analysis of the content of the statutes articulated by the political parties in Croatia at the time when they were formed reveals the prevailing tendencies in the political practice in that period as well as the level concomitant of experience in political organizing. Some of the findings point to significant differences among the emerging political parties in matters such as the treatment of the members\u27 rights and duties, attitudes towards internal party discipline, the procedure related to affiliation, the authority pertaining to the parties\u27 presidents, the inclusionof youth in the forming of party policy, models of decision-making, and attitudes towards earlier parties in Croatian political history. The author stresses that his analysis does not refer to the time of writing but to the situation at the very beggining of the institutionalizing of party pluralism. He believes that his results may offer important insights for some future classification of the Croatian party system