Large parties in the Croatian Party System: A Comparison of the Electoral Success of the HDZ and the SDP

Ovaj rad analizira neke od razloga zašto je HDZ ostao najjačom političkom strankom u Hrvatskom otkad je dobio prve slobodne izbore s obzirom da nijedna u istočnoj Europi nije uspjela isto. Kao odgovor, nudim 2 činitelja: jak ideološki rascjep baziran na identitetu i kulturi gdje HDZ relativno lako osvaja desni prostor te snažnu stranačku organizaciju koja je uspješno izvršila penetraciju u društvo. Koristeći obilje podataka pokazujem da ekonomija nije previše značajna politička tema u Hrvatskoj što dvjema najvećim strankama omogućava stabilnu potporu neovisno o rezultatima na vlasti te kako je javna uprava podložna političkoj kontroli što najbolje koristi stranka koja je najbolje rasprostranjena po cijeloj državi tj. HDZ. Na kraju naglašavam da su to samo od nekih razloga za HDZ-ov uspjeh te da je više istraživanja potrebno, posebno koristeći novije podatke i uzimajući u obzir na najnovije izborne rezultate.This paper analyzes some of the reasons CDU has stayed the strongest political party in Croatia since it won the first free elections considering no other party in Eastern Europe managed to do so. As an answer, it offers 2 strong factors: an ideological cleavage around identity and culture where the CDU is dominant on the right specter with relative ease and a strong party organization that penetrated society at all levels. Using a wealth of empirical date the paper shows that economic issues are not an important political topic in Croatia which gives both of the strongest parties a stable line of support independent of how successful they are in government. Public administration is subject to political control which is best used by the party that has the most developed web of local branches and that is the CDU. In the end, I point out that those are just some of the reasons for CDU's success and that more research is necessary, especially using fresh dana and taking into account the last parliamentary elections