Apart from extensive theoretical discussion on the role of medicine in the context of the socalled medicalization of society, the book offers comprehensive empirical analysis of public attitudes towards personal health, health system, doctors, prescribed and alternative medications, as well as toward social inequalities in health. The analysis is based largely on the Slovenian public opinion survey (from the very first survey in 1968 to the survey in 2012) and the European social survey. At the theoretical level it discusses the boundaries of the role of medical knowledge which are increasingly being set by politics and capital, and not by inherent logic of the medical profession and science, a process which may ultimately undermine medical knowledge itself. Some experts have observed that the development of the field of medicine is going in the direction of a greater possibility of routinisation and even concluded that medicine is being proletarised. The more technical medical practice becomes, the more its exclusiveness and prestige are reduced. The authors conclude that focusing health policy measures on individuals’ attitudes to health and on the doctor-patient relationship would be an erroneous strategy. The key factor in reducing the insecurity of individuals in such an important field as health is equal access to health services. Equality can be achieved by providing more support to the most vulnerable social categories, and not with the simple provision of formal equality and even less so with the liberalisation of the health care system.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32797277
A significant decreasing trend in political participation could be observed in so-called Western democracies in the last decades of the 20th century. In this framework, researchers largely agree on the key factors of participation: from generational differences and socio-economic status through civic values to civic competencies. The emergence and expansion of the Internet have brought new opportunities to expand political participation practices and to include in these practices certain groups which have so far been less active. By analysing the presence of various forms of participation via the Internet in Slovenia, we assess a thesis on the (possible) expansion of space for political participation and search for answer(s) to research questions about the relationship between traditional forms of political participation in general and digital forms of participation: a) are online forms merely combining with other traditional forms of participation; or b) are they emerging as a new type of political participation? We also investigate whether digital participation does indeed involve new groups of people and who are potential 'digital citizens'. In the analysis, we use the latest data from the Slovenian Public Opinion Survey 2013, which includes both information on the forms of political participation generally and information on digital-specific forms of participation.
COBISS.SI-ID: 534527
The article discusses the process of cultural adaptation of the general public in transition countries to the new structural environment, most notably the transition into the multiparty system and market economy. Based on the dataset provided under the EU grant 'Democratic values' it establishes, that the gradual process of transition in Slovenia obtained the characteristics of a long learning process, during which the public adopted sets of often incoherent values, norms and opinions. While the public fully endorses political freedoms, the acceptance of the market economy is only conditional. Despite the new circumstances public preferences for the strong role of government in the regulation of social inequalities remain strong.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32525661
This article attempts to fill the gap in the literature regarding the determinants of voter behaviour at presidential elections in a post-socialist context, taking into account the changing patterns of competition both within the party system (parliamentary elections) and at presidential elections. Slovenia is taken as a case study of predictors of voting behaviour at presidential elections (1997, 2002, 2007 and 2012) based on bivariate and multivariate methods using Politbarometer public opinion survey data. The key findings are that the predictors of voting behaviour change over time and that party identification has recently been declining in importance as a predictor of voting behaviour at presidential elections.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32637789
The article presents basic concepts and researchers’ assumptions about the process of democratization in Central and Eastern Europe. Let us mention two of them: concept of impossibility of simultaneous transformation, and various versions of structural concept. Further, dilemma about normative (constitutional, electoral) and/or actual (based on the support, trust) democratization is discussed. On this basis the author presents basic ideas and operationalization of comparative research “Consolidation of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe”. Two comparative analyses (in the framework of eight selected Eastern European countries) illustrate patterns of value orientations regarding contrast between capitalism and socialism. in eight selected Eastern European countries and in particular shows an example of Slovenia. Additionally, the case of Slovenia is presented.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32522589