The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda was adopted in 2015, aiming to achieve its objectives by 2030. With less than 6 years remaining, the need for effective governance to implement and enforce sustainable development policies is crucial. Effective governance of the SDGs is crucial for global sustainability. This article explores governance areas where some progress toward sustainable development has been made and examines how these areas could drive broader transformation. The primary objective of this paper is to contribute to the discourse on conceptualizing and implementing effective sustainable development governance within the context of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. The paper aims to provide valuable perspectives on developing governance systems that are both efficient and flexible, thereby addressing the obstacles that have impeded advancements towards the attainment of the SDGs. The paper explores two governance models for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): rule-based and goalbased governance. Rule-based governance is based on formal laws and clear compliance standards, providing predictability but limited flexibility. Goalbased governance establishes broad targets without prescribing specific methods, fostering innovation while potentially leading to uneven enforcement. By conducting a thorough comparative analysis, the paper brings attention to the strengths and weaknesses of both models. Rule-based governance is well-suited for situations that demand precise regulations, while goal-based governance is more effective when dealing with complex and adaptable challenges. The paper explores the necessary conditions for successfully implementing each model, considering factors such as institutional capacity and stakeholder engagement. It aims to offer guidance on how to optimize governance frameworks to advance the SDGs. Key words: sustainable development goals, global governance, governance by rules, governance by goals.
Overprotective parenting is characterized by excessive protection that is inappropriate given the child’s age and developmental stage (Thomasgard et al., 1995). A review of the literature on the determinants of this type of parenting in adolescence reveals that research has predominantly focused on individual-level factors (parent and child), while the role of the broader socioeconomic context has been relatively rarely studied. The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which parental perceptions of socioeconomic circumstances in Croatian society predict overprotective parental behavior at the end of adolescents’ secondary education. A total of 450 parents/guardians of final-year high school students in Croatia participated. A hierarchical regression analysis was performed to predict the level of overprotective parenting. Apart from perceived adolescent anxiety and school achievement, parental perceptions of job insecurity and perceptions of competitiveness within society made a significant contribution to predicting overprotective parenting. The study results indicate that parental perceptions of socioeconomic circumstances in society play a significant role in predicting adolescent overprotection, even after controlling for adolescent and parental characteristics associated with this form of parental behaviour. The findings are important for a better understanding of the factors that contribute to the use of overprotective parenting in adolescence. Key words: overprotective parenting in adolescence, “helicopter” parenting, parental perception of socioeconomic conditions, perception of job insecurity, perception of competitiveness in society, perception of income inequality, adolescent anxiety.
This paper is based on the proposition that secondary vocational education represents an area of untapped potential for social investment in the Croatian context; in a sense of considerable »returns« in the form of desirable economic and social outcomes. The proposition is supported by three sets of arguments. Firstly, the paper proceeds to present an obsolete institutional framework of Croatian secondary (vocational) education which has remained in place since Croatian independence, despite failing to produce satisfactory economic and social outcomes. Secondly, the paper puts forward an analysis of interactions between key actors in the field of secondary vocational education, which results in constant »change that changes nothing«. Thirdly, analysis of developmental investments drawing on budgetary appropriations from regional governments (counties) and allocations from the European Social Fund points towards a lack of continuity and a high degree of territorial discrepancies. Based on these arguments, the author concludes that social investment in secondary vocational education in Croatia currently fails to adequately contribute towards any of its key functions: i) improving the stock of social capital; ii) facilitating flows from education to labour market, but also to full democratic citizenship and iii) protecting/buffering vulnerable groups included in the secondary vocational education. In concluding remarks, the author deliberates on necessary conditions for advancing social investment in Croatian secondary vocational education. Key words: social investment, vocational education, social exclusion.
The research was conducted using the method of semi-structured interviews with experts on the topics of urbanism and the quality of housing in housing estates constructed in the socialist and post-socialist periods. A total of 16 experts from Zagreb, Split, Rijeka and Osijek participated in the interviews in 2022. There were 10 architects, 5 sociologists, and 1 art historian. Based on the thematic analysis, it can be pointed out that the experts agree that the urbanism of socialist housing estates existed in a systematic and planned form, and that it provided residents with a satisfactory level of housing by meeting standards for the construction of basic infrastructure (schools, health centers, parks). In the post-socialist period, such urbanism was lost, leading to the loss of the estate as a housing unit, which experts point out as the key difference of contemporary housing construction, characterized by overbuilding. It is therefore recommended to introduce spatial standards for estates, which are now missing in the planning process. Key words: semi-structured interviews with experts, thematic analysis, socialist and post-socialist housing estates, spatial standards for estates, large Croatian cities
The author examines the concept, growth, and discriminatory aspects of the welfare state development in the United States of America in the 20th century concerning the African-American racial minority. According to him, the primary cause of the US welfare state’s decline in generosity from its founding to the present is the racial issue. Legal or institutional models of the exclusion of African-American users of social programs characterized different phases of its development, from the Progressive Era through the New Deal to the Great Society. These models were frequently the outcome of compromises between liberal reformers and conservative parts of society, especially in the segregationist South. From mothers’ pensions to the AFDC program, various constructions such as “adequate home” and “worthy parent” were used to reduce the number of African-American women receiving welfare payments. The conservative attack on the welfare state, which led to the elimination of the AFDC program and its replacement with a significantly less generous, work-oriented TANF that encouraged personal accountability had a racial undertone associated with the created stereotype of the Welfare Queen, a single African-American woman who lives by abusing public resources. Key words: welfare state, race, USA, social policy, discrimination.
The paper aims to explore the association between the economic and cultural capital of final-year secondary school students with the perception of immediate and longer-term aspects of the pandemic educational experience, as well as with the perception of the impact of the pandemic on the lives of students. The paper builds on the theory of cultural and social reproduction (Bourdieu, 2011) that enables identifying the social determinants of students’ perception of the educational experience during the pandemic, and of the impact of the pandemic on students’ lives. The conducted analyses are based on data collected between May and June 2021 on a nationally representative sample of students in the final year of 80 secondary schools (N = 8631) in Croatia. Binary logistic regression was used to analyse the effect of economic and cultural capital on the intention to study. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyse the effect of economic and cultural capital on the expected school grades at the end of the class, the perception of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on immediate aspects of the educational experience, as well as the assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of students. The same analysis was applied in exploring the effect of the pandemic educational experience on the perception of the impact of the pandemic on the lives of students. The results show that even in pandemic conditions, students with higher economic and cultural capital expect higher grades at the end of the class, as well as that they are more likely to intend to continue their education at the tertiary level than the students with lower economic and cultural capital. The analysis of the same predictor model revealed that students with higher economic and cultural capital perceive the consequences of the pandemic on teaching and work at school more negatively, as well as the general consequences of the pandemic on their lives, than students with lower economic and cultural capital. Furthermore, the obtained findings indicate that there is a positive relationship between immediate aspects of the pandemic educational experience and the students’ perception of the impact of the pandemic on their lives, and that this relationship was more often found among students with higher cultural capital. The paper considers pos- Rev. soc. polit., god. 32, br. 2, str. 105-127, Zagreb 2025. 127 Puzić S., Gregurović M., Odak I.: Povezanost ekonomskog i... sible explanations of the obtained findings, citing the importance of school adaptation for preserving the educational and thus the longer-term life perspective of students during the pandemic. Although the relationship between economic and cultural capital and the perception of the pandemic disruptions in some aspects has been shown to be partial and inconsistent (especially with regard to the effect of economic capital), the presented findings support its importance for a more complete understanding of the situation in which schools and students found themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic. Key words: COVID-19 pandemic, economic capital, cultural capital, educational expectations, educational experience, the impact of the pandemic on students’ lives.
The research was conducted using the method of semi-structured interviews with experts on the topics of urbanism and the quality of housing in housing estates constructed in the socialist and post-socialist periods. A total of 16 experts from Zagreb, Split, Rijeka and Osijek participated in the interviews in 2022. There were 10 architects, 5 sociologists, and1 art historian. Based on the thematic analysis, it can be pointed out that the experts agree that the urbanism of socialist housing estates existed in a systematic and planned form, and that it provided residents with a satisfactory level of housing by meeting standards for the construction of basic infrastructure (schools, health centers, parks). In the post-socialist period, such urbanism was lost, leading to the loss of the estate as a housing unit, which experts point out as the key difference of contemporary housing construction, characterized by overbuilding. It is therefore recommended to introduce spatial standards for estates, which are now missing in the planning process.
The paper aims to explore the association between the economic and cultural capital of final-year secondary school students with the perception of immediate and longer-term aspects of the pandemic educational experience, as well as with the perception of the impact of the pandemic on the lives of students. The paper builds on the theory of cultural and social reproduction (Bourdieu, 2011) that enables identifying the social determinants of students' perception of the educational experience during the pandemic, and of the impact of the pandemic on students' lives. The conducted analyses are based on data collected between May and June 2021 on a nationally representative sample of students in the final year of 80 secondary schools (N = 8631) in Croatia. Binary logistic regression was used to analyse the effect of economic and cultural capital on the intention to study. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyse the effect of economic and cultural capital on the expected school grades at the end of the class, the perception of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on immediate aspects of the educational experience, as well as the assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of students. The same analysis was applied in exploring the effect of the pandemic educational experience on the perception of the impact of the pandemic on the lives of students. The results show that even in pandemic conditions, students with higher economic and cultural capital expect higher grades at the end of the class, as well as that they are more likely to intend to continue their education at the tertiary level than the students with lower economic and cultural capital. The analysis of the same predictor model revealed that students with higher economic and cultural capital perceive the consequences of the pandemic on teaching and work at school more negatively, as well as the general consequences of the pandemic on their lives, than students with lower economic and cultural capital. Furthermore, the obtained findings indicate that there is a positive relationship between immediate aspects of the pandemic educational experience and the students' perception of the impact of the pandemic on their lives, and that this relationship was more often found among students with higher cultural capital. The paper considers pos sible explanations of the obtained findings, citing the importance of school adaptation for preserving the educational and thus the longer-term life perspective of students during the pandemic. Although the relationship between economic and cultural capital and the perception of the pandemic disruptions in some aspects has been shown to be partial and inconsistent (especially with regard to the effect of economic capital), the presented findings support its importance for a more complete understanding of the situation in which schools and students found themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This study aims to investigate the profound impacts of the pandemic on elder care in Serbia. Specifically, it seeks to understand the adjustments made in care practices when physical proximity impedes care. The research employs a qualitative, ethnographic approach to analyzing data from 40 interviews conducted with elder care providers and recipients between April and September 2022 as well as ethnographic observations and unstructured interviews. The study investigates how elder care was managed in diverse settings, including rural and urban areas, homes, and care facilities. It reveals varied responses and strategies care providers and recipients adopt amidst reduced physical interaction constraints. Key findings underscore the significant impact of the pandemic on elder care, highlighting intra-generational solidarity and the increased reliance on female household members for care provision. However, it also exposes the challenges faced by those in public elder-care homes or receiving home assistance, including limited care and a lack of closeness. Our study emphasizes the urgent need for policy and support systems tailored to address the specific challenges encountered in elder care, particularly during times of crisis, such as a pandemic.
This paper is based on the proposition that secondary vocational education represents an area of untapped potential for social investment in the Croatian context; in a sense of considerable & raquo;returns & laquo; in the form of desirable economic and social outcomes. The proposition is supported by three sets of arguments. Firstly, the paper proceeds to present an obsolete institutional framework of Croatian secondary (vocational) education which has remained in place since Croatian independence, despite failing to produce satisfactory economic and social outcomes. Secondly, the paper puts forward an analysis of interactions between key actors in the field of secondary vocational education, which results in constant & raquo;change that changes nothing & laquo;. Thirdly, analysis of developmental investments drawing on budgetary appropriations from regional governments (counties) and allocations from the European Social Fund points towards a lack of continuity and a high degree of territorial discrepancies. Based on these arguments, the author concludes that social investment in secondary vocational education in Croatia currently fails to adequately contribute towards any of its key functions: i) improving the stock of social capital; ii) facilitating flows from education to labour market, but also to full democratic citizenship and iii) protecting/buffering vulnerable groups included in the secondary vocational education. In concluding remarks, the author deliberates on necessary conditions for advancing social investment in Croatian secondary vocational education.
This paper aims to examine the drivers of income inequalities in the European Union. Existing literature suggested a variety of determinants of income inequality. This paper takes into account uncertainty related to the selection of explanatory variables and follows the Bayesian model averaging approach while controlling heterogeneities in panel data by fixed effects specification. Following previous empirical findings and conditions by the availability of reliable data sources, 20 potential drivers of income inequality for 28 EU member countries between 2016 and 2019 were considered in this research. Empirical findings from this research pointed out financialization, human capital index, and adjusted wage share as the most prominent drivers of post-tax income inequality in the short run. Furthermore, the results suggested stabilizing effects of taxation on income inequalities in EU member countries.
The author examines the concept, growth, and discriminatory aspects of the welfare state development in the United States of America in the 20th century concerning the African-American racial minority. According to him, the primary cause of the US welfare state's decline in generosity from its founding to the present is the racial issue. Legal or institutional models of the exclusion of African-American users of social programs characterized different phases of its development, from the Progressive Era through the New Deal to the Great Society. These models were frequently the outcome of compromises between liberal reformers and conservative parts of society, especially in the segregationist South. From mothers' pensions to the AFDC program, various constructions such as "adequate home" and "worthy parent" were used to reduce the number of African-American women receiving welfare payments. The conservative attack on the welfare state, which led to the elimination of the AFDC program and its replacement with a significantly less generous, work-oriented TANF that encouraged personal accountability had a racial undertone associated with the created stereotype of the Welfare Queen, a single African-American woman who lives by abusing public resources.
Overprotective parenting is characterized by excessive protection that is inappropriate given the child's age and developmental stage (Thomasgard et al., 1995). A review of the literature on the determinants of this type of parenting in adolescence reveals that research has predominantly focused on individual-level factors (parent and child), while the role of the broader socioeconomic context has been relatively rarely studied. The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which parental perceptions of socioeconomic circumstances in Croatian society predict overprotective parental behavior at the end of adolescents' secondary education. A total of 450 parents/guardians of final-year high school students in Croatia participated. A hierarchical regression analysis was performed to predict the level of overprotective parenting. Apart from perceived adolescent anxiety and school achievement, parental perceptions of job insecurity and perceptions of competitiveness within society made a significant contribution to predicting overprotective parenting. The study results indicate that parental perceptions of socioeconomic circumstances in society play a significant role in predicting adolescent overprotection, even after controlling for adolescent and parental characteristics associated with this form of parental behaviour. The findings are important for a better understanding of the factors that contribute to the use of overprotective parenting in adolescence.
Aiming to fill in the gaps in the existing body of political support research, we engage in an extensive analysis of its persistence in a multi-country setting. To be specific, this is an initial attempt to estimate the fractional integration order of government support across the so far neglected EU countries. Exploiting the benefits of the Comparative Political Data Set (CPDS), we reveal that the support of both left-and right-wing parties in national governments mostly exhibits limited memory and relatively low persistence. Our findings are robust across the EU countries (with very few exceptions) and are supported by two out of three fractional integration estimators. These results could inform scholars, politicians and EU policy-makers that extraordinary events (related to political support) are usually wiped out of the memory of the typical EU voter rather soon.
Discrimination can be defined as any unequal treatment of a person linked to a specific or related trait that is not justified and leads to a disadvantage. The purpose of this text is to present the situation concerning discrimination based on age and disability in the workplace and the role and activities of social partners regarding its reduction in Croatia. The methodology involved desk research of various documents related to workplace discrimination and social partners' activities. Furthermore, six semi-structured interviews with social partners were conducted on the topic. The results show that social partners are quite active in the fight against age and disability discrimination. Some social partners stress that other priorities must take precedence because there are more urgent problems in the Croatian labour market than discrimination. However, despite sophisticated laws, research and interviews have shown that a significant part of employers and employees do not understand the concept of discrimination and/or do not even know whether discrimination is punishable by law. There is a need to organize a public campaign to raise citizens’ awareness of all types of discrimination, particularly workplace discrimination related to age and disability. Ključne riječi discrimination; Croatia; labour market; age; disability; social partners
The significant social, political, economic, and technological changes in recent decades have brought about numerous social risks, to which the welfare state and the social welfare system are finding it increasingly difficult to provide adequate responses and solutions. These changes and processes have also resulted in social exclusion of a growing number of people, which, in its most extreme form, manifests in people experiencing homelessness. This paper analyses the results of 14 semi-structured interviews conducted with experts – representatives of public and civil institutions and organizations involved at various levels in addressing the problem of homelessness in Croatia – focusing on their perspectives on desirable models of social inclusion for homeless individuals. The results of the thematic analysis indicate a consensus among experts that social inclusion should be based on the principles of an individual approach, communication, and empowerment; that traditional shelters are generally considered an undesirable model of social inclusion; knowledge of, but not prioritization of innovative models of social inclusion; and, along with housing provision and work integration, the simultaneous importance of meeting the cultural, social, and spiritual needs of homeless individuals. The paper highlights the coherence of perspectives among different social service providers as a crucial element in social inclusion of vulnerable social groups and a prerequisite for the further development of the concept of integrated social services and welfare mix in Croatia. Key words: homelessness, welfare mix, semi-structured interviews, social inclusion, experts.
The significant social, political, economic, and technological changes in recent decades have brought about numerous social risks, to which the welfare state and the social welfare system are finding it increasingly difficult to provide adequate responses and solutions. These changes and processes have also resulted in social exclusion of a growing number of people, which, in its most extreme form, manifests in people experiencing homelessness. This paper analyses the results of 14 semi-structured interviews conducted with experts-representatives of public and civil institutions and organizations involved at various levels in addressing the problem of homelessness in Croatia-focusing on their perspectives on desirable models of social inclusion for homeless individuals. The results of the thematic analysis indicate a consensus among experts that social inclusion should be based on the principles of an individual approach, communication, and empowerment; that traditional shelters are generally considered an undesirable model of social inclusion; knowledge of, but not prioritization of innovative models of social inclusion; and, along with housing provision and work integration, the simultaneous importance of meeting the cultural, social, and spiritual needs of homeless individuals. The paper highlights the coherence of perspectives among different social service providers as a crucial element in social inclusion of vulnerable social groups and a prerequisite for the further development of the concept of integrated social services and welfare mix in Croatia.
This study explores how prosocial engagement may enable young people to become committed to environmental protection. Using serial mediation analysis, we examine the data from 530 undergraduate business students in Southeast Europe to depict the psychological pathways connecting prosocial attitudes and behaviors with a propensity for environmental engagement. Statistical analysis is performed using the PROCESS macro Model 6. Although limited by similar socio-economic circumstances across the analyzed region and the cross-sectional research design, our findings suggest that the mediated indirect relationships help to develop attitudes and behaviors responsible toward the environment. Implications of the study include the broader possibilities for education and public policy-making: prosocial engagement could serve as a promising instrument to motivate young adults to accept the concept of sustainable development. In this way, synergies between prosocial engagement and environmental awareness might be used to develop a more sustainable, ecologically aware society. Key words prosociality; environmental engagement; attitudes; behaviors; young adults
The deficit of workers, especially skilled nurses, is a growing concern in the long-term care (LTC) sector. In developed economies, the share of migrant workers in LTC has been steadily increasing. The goal of this paper is to explore the potential role of immigration in tackling the LTC workforce shortage in Croatia, a country marked by a “care drain”, through semi-structured interviews (N=13) with stakeholders from the government, the City of Zagreb, non-governmental organizations, professional associations, nursing homes and the academic community. There is a high consensus among interviewees that immigration is one of the possible solutions to the LTC labour shortage in Croatia. However, in order to keep the native workers and attract foreign ones, working conditions should be improved and wages raised. It is also crucial to develop integration policies and provide foreign workers with good professional training and quality language education. Key words long-term care; care workers; nurses; migration; population ageing; Croatia
