Naslov
The Development of Kin-state Policies and the Croatian Citizenship Regime

Autori
Koska, Viktor

Izvornik
Minority studies (2064-227X) 2013 (2013), 16; 214-230

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
kin-state; ethnicity; citizenship

Sažetak
The close relations between Croatia and the Croat ethnic communities abroad precede the constitution of the contemporary Croatian state. However, the salience of these relations intensified during the Croatian struggle for independence from the former multinational Yugoslav federation, reached its peak during the 1990s following the proclamation of independent Croatia and remained one of the most salient issues of the Croatian politics till today. In 1991, the newly proclaimed Croatian state defined itself primarily as a national state of the Croatian ethnic nation. It has been largely argued by many scholars (Hayden 1992, Verdery 1998, Štiks 2010) that such novel Constitutional definition of the state opened a venue for the policies of ethnic engineering leading to, on the one hand, exclusion of certain minorities from Croatian citizenship, while on the other, enabled the limitless incorporation of all ethnic Croats regardless of their residency (Ragazzi 2009, Štiks 2010). Closer scrutiny of Croatian citizenship policies, legal provisions regulating the dual nationality status within the Croatian citizenship regime and the recently enacted Strategy on the relations of Croatia with Croatians abroad, reveal that from the 1990s until the present date, the Croatian state resembles in many features of Brubaker’s model of the nationalizing state, being perceived as a state ‘of’ and ‘for’ a particular ethno-cultural community (Brubaker 1996 :106). This paper aims to provide an analytical overview of the developments of the Croatian state’s relations with its ethnic compatriots abroad within the framework of Croatian citizenship. For the purpose of this paper, citizenship regime will be defined as ‘the concept which encompasses a range of different legal statuses viewed in their wider political context, which are central to the exercise of civil rights, citizenship and full socio-economic membership within a particular territory’ (Shaw & Štiks 2010:5). The trajectory of the development of this relationship will be analyzed through three sections of this paper. Firstly, the overview of the special position of the Croat ethic community within the Constitution and the Law on Croatian Citizenship will be provided. Here, the particular accent will be on the preferential treatment of Croats regarding their dual citizenship status, and the political consequences of these provisions. The second part will move to analyze of the ongoing political debates on the scope of political rights that Croatia should grant to its ethnic compatriots abroad. Finally, the paper will analyze the implications of the recently enacted Strategy on the relations between Croatia and Croats abroad and the Law on Relations between the Republic of Croatia and Croats Abroad.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Politologija

POVEZANOST RADA