The article presents the results of empirical research on the general population’s attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccination policy in the Republic of Serbia. The research aims to examine if and to what extent the respondents were vaccinated against COVID-19, their attitudes towards the vaccination policy, and, especially, why they did not get vaccinated or were hesitant. The research was conducted on a sample of the general population (n = 501) by distributing a specially designed questionnaire comprising twelve open and closed questions. The starting hypothesis was that there was significant resistance to vaccination and that respondents were reluctant to get vaccinated due to distrust not only of the COVID-19 vaccines but also of the Serbian health authorities and the public vaccination policy. The findings confirm this hypothesis and reveal specific reasons for resistance and hesitancy, including concerns about the vaccine’s safety, side effects, and insufficiently tested vaccines. A large number of respondents disclosed distrust in the health authorities and noted that they were not prone to changing their minds. The authors explain these reasons by numerous cognitive biases. The conclusion provides an overview of specific behavioral measures for improving the effectiveness of the vaccination policy in Serbia.
The contemporay technological developments have been redefining human communication, concurrently raising the question whether users of online services and various media platforms can cope with so much freedom. Thus, the Internet as a global medium opens new legal issues and poses new challenges in the field of media legislation. Information policy, and legislation must adequately respond to the challenges of the new digital age. New media pose a new challenge for law and values, not only in a speculative sense but also in a real procedural and human sense. In times of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), law should not turn a blind eye to the developments in the virtual space. The development of new digital environments and media platforms raises the question whether the legislation should be the same for all media, traditional and new ones alike. The first step in addressing this issue should be the provision of a broad and realistic definition of the concept of media, which will ensure the recognition of the new media. Secondly, media regulations and principles referring to the new media should be more flexible and less strict as compared to the traditional media (but only provisionally), which is more purposeful than turning a blind eye to the new media. Non-recognition and non-regulation of information dissemination via the Internet opens the possibility of causing much greater damage to the public interest.
Life in the period of the fourth industrial revolution, complete and comprehensive digitization of almost every segment of human life, brings with it new challenges of recognition, understanding and coping in the digital environment. The crisis caused by the Covid-19 virus has further encouraged forms of virtual communication, and accelerated the development of digital services and their provision to unimaginable limits. The paper analyzes the way in which the digital environment influences the change in the way of providing media services, which are increasingly digital, and less classic and traditional. This means meeting and confronting a lot of information on the Internet and new social networks, which are becoming an alternative medium. younger population. Living in a digitized, hypertechnologically mediated world leads to the quantitative nature of information, without clearly determining its quality. A lot of information also leads to a lot of misinformation and false news. The appearance of the so-called algorithmic echo chambers, "clickbait" journalism, an increase in hate speech, as well as a decrease in trust in both the mainstream media and the journalistic profession in general. Therefore, in addition to strengthening the legal capacity of Internet regulation and the responsibility of digital service providers for the quality of audio-visual media content, it is important to pay attention to an important segment of preventive social action - development and strengthening of media literacy. Media literacy is one of the key competencies for living and working in a digitized and mediated environment, so it is necessary to clearly define its concept.
Constitutional principles are a complex and multi-layered issue that exceeds the boundaries of academic deliberations only on the essence of (constitutional)legal order and the quality of a constitutional text. It raises the question of identifying the fundamental values on which a society rests. In the work, the author gives only basic considerations of this problem, which is not otherwise particularly addressed in Serbian constitutional theory. It begins with the premise that constitutional principles have the appropriate terminological manifestation and internal relationship, which is shaped into a specific structure. As a rule, this structure is not hierarchical, although it has this formal tendency. The author points out that the structure of constitutional principles reflects the internal logic of the constitution and the constitution itself, but also their functional and targeted direction. In this sense, it indicates the difference between the primary (basic, original, supreme) and secondary (derivative, special principles, sub-principles) principles of the constitution. According to the author, all principles of the Serbian constitution can be divided into: general (initial) and three sets of special principles of the constitution, according to their case and matter. Based on an analysis of their contents and structure, it is concluded that these special constitutional principles of the Serbian constitution should not have been separated from "basic" or initial principles. In doing so, the author substantiates the thesis on an insufficiently clear concept under which the principles of the constitution differ from the provisions (norms) of the constitution that are not formally marked as constitutional principles. Based on comparative analysis, it suggests that this kind of "disorientation" is not just a flaw in our current constitution. It can also be recognized in some legal systems that are traditionally cited in theory and practice as an example of constitutional-legal continuity and stability. Thus, in the work, the author referred to the constitutional principles of the US Constitution and the German Basic Law, which structurally, not contentally, differ significantly by approach to constitutional principles.
In this paper, we displayed the analysis of the existing constitutional state in Republic of Serbia and we gave the perception of upcoming phase of constitutional development. Widely announced and expected constitutional revision in Serbia would probably affect various segments of constitutional matter, and the authors especially distinguish and point out the attractiveness of potential changes of constitutional solution of institution of president of Republic. This question belongs to the circle of challenging subjects, which would be put on the table of discussions about constitutional changes. The potential change of the manner for election the chief of state would leave the constitutional consequences on the existing relation within the institutions of executive power and also on the whole system of government. The methodological framework ranges from dogmatic-normative analysis of existing constitutional solutions, along with the use of historical method when it comes to the previous period of constitutional development of Serbia. The use of political approach during conducted research is in the function of highlighting additional argumentation, which would be used for justifying attitudes and suggestions.
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