Democratic Transition in Croatia: Value Transformation, Education, and Media

2. CROATIA SINCE 1989: The HDZ and the Politics of Transition .

2 CROATIA SINCE 1989 The HDZ and the Politics of Transition Marius Søberg T he Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica (HDZ, Croatian Democratic Union) has been a key player in Croatia’s journey from a republic in socialist Yugoslavia to an independent, democratic state on the threshold of joining the European Union. Founded in 1989, the party assumed a hegemonic role and dominated the political arena and executive offices following Croatia’s first multiparty elections in 1990, being in sole power from 1990 through 1999 and regaining power in a coalition in 2003. This chapter tracks the key political developments during Croatia’s transition in light of the leading and evolving role of the HDZ and its allies. Overall, I argue that the dominant role of the HDZ has had several negative consequences on the transition process. While historical achievements in this period include the end of one-party communist rule and the introduction of multiparty elections, as well as obtaining statehood and international recognition, the period has also been characterized by war, ethnic polarization , societal deterioration, severe economic disruption, and repressive regime policies.1 IN TRANSITION Any country undergoing transition faces challenges of a political and economic character. Indeed, those faced by Croatia have in many ways been typical of those confronted by the European postcommunist countries, including issues such as privatization and demonopolization of the media, 32 MARIUS SØBERG corruption, restructuring the legal system, and developing a civic culture capable of supporting democratic politics. However, a special feature of the Croatian transition was that democratization, state-building, and war would have to be handled simultaneously.2 Democratic transitions often involve great uncertainty since the very rules of the political game are yet to be agreed upon. This process is obviously not over when democratically elected authorities assume power. The overall change from an authoritarian to a democratic regime contains, as Guillermo O’Donnell notes, not one but two transitions: the first leads to the installation of a democratic government, and the second to the consolidation of democracy, or in other words to the effective functioning of a democratic regime.3 The building of a consolidated democracy involves in part an affirmation and strengthening of certain institutions, such as the electoral system, revitalized or newly created parties, judicial independence , and respect for human rights created or recreated during the course of the first transition. In Croatia liberalization and democratization began within the communist framework. Or rather, they began when Croatia was still a republic in an increasingly dysfunctional federal Yugoslavia. Thus, while there was agreement on the need to liberalize, democratize, and move beyond the one-party communist rule, there was no agreement on the future status of Yugoslavia and what, if any, connection Croatia should have with the federation . Thus, for the communists, democratic elections were essentially a means to reform Yugoslavia in some shape or form. For the opposition, and especially the HDZ, elections were a means to assume power in order to implement the Croatian state-building project. The disagreement was not on the need to democratize but on what unit should be subject to democratization . A democratic state presupposes the existence of a state. Croatia’s transition can be said to have consisted of three distinct phases. The initial phase includes the coming to power of the HDZ, the struggle for state-building, independence, and the Homeland War, thus roughly 1989–95. In this phase, the war and the HDZ’s state-building aspirations were given priority over democratization and reform. The second phase of transition can be defined as the period from the end of the war and the Dayton Peace Accords in late 1995 until the death of President Franjo Tudjman in December 1999. This was the false dawn of the democratization of Croatia. With the war over and the Croatian state-building project all but complete, the scene was set for reform. Instead, the war-time policies and institutional setup became institutionalized, and the HDZ was unable TABLE 2.1 Political Development 1991–2004 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Phase one Phase two Phase three Partly free (3.4) Partly free (4.4) Partly free (4.4) Partly free (4.4) Partly free (4.4) Partly free (4.4) Partly free (4.4) Partly free (4.4) Partly free (4.4) Partly free (4.4) Free (2...