SOME DEMOCRATIC VALUES AND ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS AND YOUTH IN CROATIA Young People and Social Change after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Budapest, November 20, Anja Gvozdanović Institute for Social Research in Zagreb Croatia

A FEW GENERAL FACTS: CROATIA AFTER – 1991 Croatia is part of Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia 1991 Croatia declares independance 1991 – 1995 Homeland war General pauperization Retraditionalization “Spiritual renewal” Nationalism First change of government in 2000

PROCESS OF DEMOCRATIZATION: SOCIO-CULTURAL DIMENSION  Civic culture transformation  Social capital  Youth as a resource of value change

METHODOLOGY scientific-research project: Youth and European Integration Processes, Institute for Social Research in Zagreb N = 978 Univariate and bivariate data analysis

Comparison of students and non-students (youth) with regard to indicators of democratic potential: Support for some democratic attitudes and values Attitudes towards human rights Acceptance of certain social groups Hypothesis: university students have more democratic potential than rest of youth

SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDENTS AND YOUTH Rural provenience Fathers raised in rural environment Fathers’ high school education Living with parents Convinced believers Have no political party preference, indifferent Urban provenience Fathers raised mostly in small and major cities Fathers’ higher level of education Living with parents Religious Right-wing, left-wing and indifferent YouthStudents

ACCEPTANCE OF SOME DEMOCRATIC VALUES AND ATTITUDES Democratic (constitutional) values are largely accepted Students and youth differ in acceptance of following attitudes: True democracy cannot be imagined without opposition (Youth: 67.4%; Students: 78%) ‏ Every citizen has the right, if the need arises, to express his/her believes in the streets (Y: 71%; S: 77.9%) ‏ Citizens have no right to strike if that endangers the public order (Y: 46.3%; S: 38.1%) ‏ The opposition’s duty is not to criticize the govenment but to support its work (Y: 44.1%; S: 37.6%) The Croatian constitution has its weaknesses, but it is the best compared to all the others (Y: 23%; S: 16.6%) ‏

HUMAN RIGHTS TO BE PROTECTED o 50% of students and youth think that human rights in Croatia are mostly respected Values that should always be protected HR and freedomsYouth (%) ‏ Students (%) ‏ Protection of national minorities’ rights Cultural autonomy Freedom of information Right to privacy

RELATION TO CERTAIN SOCIAL GROUPS Acceptance of social groups (completely accept) ‏ Social groups Youth (%) ‏ Students (%) ‏ Fighters against racism Homosexuals Anti-globalists Sports fan groups Feminists Communists Skin-heads

CONCLUSION Univeristy students in comparison to youth: Better understand democratic rules Express higher level of tolerance Hold more liberal attitude toward members of social groups that don’t fit in traditional cultural matrix (except contracultural groups) ‏

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