ATTITUDE OF POLITICAL ELITES TOWARDS PROTEST POLICIES AND VIOLENCE

Abstract

The topic of the paper refers to the influence of political elites on violence and their reaction to it. The emphasis of the paper is focused on the problems that arose during the regime changes, then the territorial questionability or independence of the state, which to a large extent represented a challenging test of the political elite’s abilities. The monitoring period is the period after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the regime change and the wave of democratization that followed around the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, that is, the period from 1989 to 1992. Also, in that time span, the SFRY ceased to exist in its previously recognized territorial integrity. The observed period of the fall of the communist regime and its collapse will be analyzed through various methodological approaches in the countries of Czechoslovakia and Romania. The paper also follows the disintegration of the state of SFR Yugoslavia, which first produced a conflict and later a civil war among its inhabitants. The starting point that warned the population of the above-mentioned changes are the protest activities which, with their organization, dynamics and functionality, provoked the reaction of the political elites at that time. Based on empirical data and a profound study of the theoretical approach to the actions of political elites, the author tries to explain whether the political elites in the indicated circumstances and also under different circumstances can become the causes of violence or their reactions can foster violence. Furthermore, in an illustrative conceptual format, using various research methods, the author seeks to illuminate and provide an objective account of the roles of political elites and their contribution to all that happened during the past events between these countries, perceived from today’s time distance.