ABSTRACT
After the World War II, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (since 1952, the League of Communists of Yugoslavia) was not officially registered with the state authorities, bringing the attention to the crucial moment that defined its role until as late as 1990: the Party did not see itself as a classic political party, but rather identified itself with the state. During the power monopoly of the Party, the Yugoslav state was subject to many reforms, including the constant distancing from the parliamentary system and gradual introduction of a specific corporatist system that reached its peak in 1974. Furthermore, the six Yugoslav republics became states, continuing the process of federalization. The Party and the state were supposed to fade away gradually. This chapter focuses on the analysis of a particular dichotomy: the project of the federalization of the state and the politicization of the masses on the one hand, and the role of the Party on the other hand. Additional focus is on Slovenia, the northernmost Yugoslav republic, and on the final period of the Yugoslav federation. During the 1980s, political issues were no longer being addressed at the Party forums but rather by the constitutional bodies – the assemblies (and governments and presidencies). The author proposes the following argument: the main political idea was to ensure that the system, as envisioned in the Party programs, was not threatened. However, when the Yugoslav political crisis intensified, the Party started losing its influence and became increasingly divided along the republican borders – the system turned out to be a suitable aggregator and accelerator of various opinions, based on the interests of each nation in the state. The national (republican) constitutional bodies and national communist parties prevailed; the federal (Yugoslav) toothlessly faded away.
