Between Core and Peripheral Politics: Opposing the EU in the Western Balkans

This article seeks to determine whether parties’ governmental/opposition and core/peripheral positions in the Serbian and Croatian party systems are related to their responses to European integration. In general, parties’ positions in the party system were not crucial driving forces behind their stances towards the EU. However, the experience of opposition significantly contributed to ideological transformation and the adoption of a Euro-enthusiastic agenda by strategically motivated, formerly Eurosceptic parties. Also, different types of party systems in Serbia and Croatia created different opportunities for parties to express Eurosceptic sentiments, with a fragmented and polarised system in Serbia being more conducive to the sharp contestation of EU issues.     

Pantheon on a tablecloth: Yugoslav dictatorship and the confrontation of national symbols in Croatia (1929–1935)

This paper questions the effects of the state- and nation-building that occurred in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during the 6 January Dictatorship (1929–1935) and points to the importance of symbols during this process. By using an ethno-symbolist approach and extending it to “banal nationalism,” the article analyzes some of the most prominent and influential symbols from within an everyday environment. Using the Croatian ethnic space as a framework, the article traces the population’s attitudes toward the Yugoslav national flag and representations of King Alexander – two of the most forced symbols in the centralized Yugoslav one state and one nation concept of nation-building. The regime possessed all the mechanisms of power necessary to impose these symbols, though most Croats clearly felt no connection to them. Despite severe penalties, they opposed the regime’s plans for national reconstruction of the country by displaying Croatian flags and various symbolic representations of Stjepan Radi? – as a martyr of the Croatian nation. By linking this problem to specific studies that deal with the development of nationalism, this paper outlines the struggle between Yugoslavism and Croatianism through acceptance and resistance toward the Yugoslav symbolism.     

Relationship between job satisfaction and customer satisfaction in public sector using a structural equation model

The role of the customer in modern public administration has changed from a passive and subordinate function to that of an active user and partner in the management of society as a whole. This kind of customer not only demands an administration that responds correctly and on time, but also expects quality, user-friendliness and other requirements. Meeting these demands has led public administration to measure and improve its performance and to introduce targeted change policies. The authors present the development of so-called C-LOPE model. C-LOPE model attempts to develop a structural model to determine relationships between leadership, organisational climate, performance, e-administration and the level of customer satisfaction with public administration services. Measurable parameters are defined for each of the four factors, enabling the model to be applied in practice.     

Governance Strategies and Welfare Effects: Vertical Integration and Contracts in the Catfish Sector in Vietnam

Abstract

Using an original dataset from the Vietnamese catfish sector, we study the impact of vertical coordination options on household welfare and the implications of different stages of vertical coordination for the success of the whole sector. The welfare gain from contract farming and employment on processor-owned estate farms is estimated using a maximum simulated likelihood estimator. Our results show positive welfare effects from participating in contract farming, but not from employment on processor-owned estate farms. The results imply that contract farming presents opportunities for economic growth, but additional effort is required to make the contracts more accessible to smallholders.