Analysis of Inaugural Presidential Addresses in Croatia and Slovenia from 1997 to 2014

Sa？etak Inaugural addresses are important tools in political communication because, unlike other presidential addresses, inaugural addresses are given at the beginning of the term and are considered programmatic. Since their secession from Yugoslavia, Croatia and Slovenia have followed different paths of democratic consolidation. The purpose of this paper is to compare the topics emphasized in recent Croatian and Slovenian presidential inaugural addresses to gain a better perspective of the events and topics considered most relevant by the main political leaders in these countries. Using an inductive qualitative approach, this paper determined that presidents of both countries referred mostly to the economy, domestic policy, democracy, regional relations, national history, national elements, international relations, the European Union and NATO. Furthermore, the qualitative content analysis showed that, due to the countries’ different socio-political situations, the presidents referred to each topic differently, with different foci and notions