The politics of Croatia are defined by a parliamentary, representative democratic republic framework, where the Prime Minister of Croatia is the head of government in a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Government and the President of Croatia. Legislative power is vested in the Croatian Parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The parliament adopted the current Constitution of Croatia on 22 December 1990 and decided to declare independence from Yugoslavia on 25 May 1991. The Constitutional Decision on the Sovereignty and Independence of the Republic of Croatia came into effect on 8 October 1991. The constitution has since been amended several times. The first modern parties in the country developed in the middle of the 19th century, and their agenda and appeal changed, reflecting major social changes, such as the breakup of Austria-Hungary, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, dictatorship and social upheavals in the kingdom, World War II, the establishment of Communist rule and the breakup of the SFR Yugoslavia.
The president of Croatia, officially the president of the Republic of Croatia, is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and chief representative of the Republic of Croatia both within the country and abroad. The president is the holder of the highest office in Croatia. However, the president is not the head of the executive branch as Croatia has a parliamentary system in which the holder of the post of prime minister is the most powerful person within the country's constitutional framework and everyday politics.
The Croatian Parliament or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor is composed of 151 members elected to a four-year term on the basis of direct, universal and equal suffrage by secret ballot. Seats are allocated according to the Croatian Parliament electoral districts: 140 members of the parliament are elected in multi-seat constituencies. An additional three seats are reserved for the diaspora and Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while national minorities have eight places reserved in parliament. The Sabor is presided over by a Speaker, who is assisted by at least one deputy speaker.
The Constitution of the Republic of Croatia is promulgated by the Croatian Parliament.
The Government of Croatia, formally the Government of the Republic of Croatia, commonly abbreviated to Croatian Government, is the main executive branch of government in Croatia. It is led by the president of the Government, informally abbreviated to premier or prime minister. The prime minister is nominated by the president of the Republic from among those candidates who enjoy majority support in the Croatian Parliament ; the candidate is then chosen by the Parliament. There are 20 other government members, serving as deputy prime ministers, government ministers or both; they are chosen by the prime minister and confirmed by the Parliament. The Government of the Republic of Croatia exercises its executive powers in conformity with the Croatian Constitution and legislation enacted by the Croatian Parliament. The current government is led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.
The president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the head of state of that country from 14 January 1953 to 4 May 1980. Josip Broz Tito was the only person to occupy the office. Tito was also concurrently President of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. Tito was eventually declared president for life and with his death in 1980 the office was discontinued and the new office of President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia took its place.
The Socialist Republic of Croatia, commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. By its constitution, modern-day Croatia is its direct continuation.
The president of the Federal Executive Council was the head of government of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, from the adoption of the 1963 constitution until the complete breakup of the country in 1992. Most non-Yugoslav sources referred to the post as "Prime Minister."
Croatia held an independence referendum on 19 May 1991, following the Croatian parliamentary elections of 1990 and the rise of ethnic tensions that led to the breakup of Yugoslavia. With 83 percent turnout, voters approved the referendum, with 93 percent in favor of independence. Subsequently, Croatia declared independence and the dissolution of its association with Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991, but it introduced a three-month moratorium on the decision when urged to do so by the European Community and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe through the Brioni Agreement. The war in Croatia escalated during the moratorium, and on 8 October 1991, the Croatian Parliament severed all remaining ties with Yugoslavia. In 1992, the countries of the European Economic Community granted Croatia diplomatic recognition and Croatia was admitted to the United Nations.
The Grand Order of Queen Jelena, or more fully the Grand Order of Queen Jelena with Sash and Morning Star, is an order of the Republic of Croatia. It was established in 1995. It ranks second in the Croatian order of precedence after the Grand Order of King Tomislav.
The Order of Duke Trpimir, or more fully the Order of Duke Trpimir with Neck Badge and Morning Star, is an order of the Republic of Croatia. It ranks sixth in the Croatian order of precedence after the Grand Order of King Dmitar Zvonimir. It is awarded to Croatian and foreign ministerial level officials and others for merit in contributing to the independence, integrity and international reputation of the Republic of Croatia, the construction of Croatia, and development of relationships between Croatia and other countries.
The breakup of Yugoslavia was a process in which the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was broken up into constituent republics, and over the course of which the Yugoslav wars started. The process generally began with the death of Josip Broz Tito on 4 May 1980 and formally ended when the last two remaining republics proclaimed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 27 April 1992. At that time the Yugoslav wars were still ongoing, and FR Yugoslavia continued to exist until 2003, when it was renamed and reformed as the state union of Serbia and Montenegro. This union lasted until 5 June 2006 when Montenegro proclaimed independence. The former Yugoslav autonomous province of Kosovo subsequently proclaimed independence from Serbia in February 2008.
The First Government of the Republic of Croatia was the Croatian Government announced on 30 May 1990 after the first multi-party elections ended 45 years of Communist Party rule, but while Croatia still remained a federal unit within SFR Yugoslavia. The prime minister was Stjepan Mesić of the Croatian Democratic Union. The cabinet was reformed on 24 August 1990 when Stjepan Mesić left Zagreb to assume the Croatian seat at the Yugoslav collective presidency following armed insurrection by ethnic Serbs.
The Second Government of the Republic of Croatia was the Croatian Government cabinet led by Prime Minister Josip Manolić. It was announced on 24 August 1990, when the previous prime minister, Stjepan Mesić, left Zagreb to assume the Croatian seat at the Yugoslav collective presidency following armed insurrection by ethnic Serbs. During the cabinet's duration Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. It was the 2nd cabinet of modern Croatia since the first multi-party elections, formed by the Croatian Democratic Union, and was reconstructed on 17 July 1991 in favor of a national unity government in response to the escalation of the Croatian War of Independence.
The independence of Croatia was a process started with the changes in the political system and the constitutional changes in 1990 that transformed the Socialist Republic of Croatia into the Republic of Croatia, which in turn proclaimed the Christmas Constitution, and held the 1991 Croatian independence referendum.
Dušan Bilandžić was a Croatian historian and politician.
The office of vice president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia existed from April 1963 to June 1967. It was established by the new Yugoslav Constitution adopted on 7 April 1963. The first to serve in the role was Aleksandar Ranković who assumed office on 30 June 1963. Due to an affair involving wire-tapping of Yugoslav president and general secretary of the League of Communists Josip Broz Tito, Ranković was forced to resign from the Central Committee and from the vice presidency on 1 July 1966. He was subsequently replaced by Koča Popović two weeks later who served out the remainder of Ranković's four-year term. On 26 April 1967 new amendments to the 1963 constitution were approved which disestablished the vice presidency once Ranković and Popović's combined four-year term was up. The office ceased to exist on 30 June 1967.
The Socialist Republic of Croatia, one of the constituent countries of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had gone through a number of phases in its political life, during which its major political characteristics changed - its name, its top level leadership and ultimately its political organization.
