Croatia, Government

Croatia’s first non-Communist constitution was proclaimed in December 1990 when the republic was part of the former Yugoslavia. The constitution was amended in December 1997. According to the constitution Croatia is a democracy, with a directly elected bicameral legislature and president. When the nationalist Croatian Democratic Union (CDU) won the first democratic elections in Croatia in 1990, the party transformed Croatia into an ethnocracy, in which sovereignty belongs to ethnic Croats. While the 1990 elections were free and fair, the CDU maintained power in subsequent elections by rigorous governmental control over mass media. Opposition parties have struggled for exposure as a result. Croatia’s voting age is 16 for those who are employed; otherwise it is 18. Croatian law permits ethnic Croats who live outside of Croatia to vote in Croatian elections, even if they have never lived in Croatia and are citizens of other countries.