Browsing by Author "Kosman, Marceli"
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Item Droga na Downing Street. Uwagi nad karierę polityczną Margaret Thatcher(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2012) Kosman, MarceliThe road of Margaret Thatcher (born in 1925) to her political career and winning the tell- ing nickname of the ‘Iron Lady’ has commonly been described as exceptional in the recent history of the Old Continent. The first woman to head a great European democracy, she served as Prime Minister three times, winning general elections and heading the government of Great Britain for eleven years (1979-1990). This was a record-breaking result in the history of the UK, which she managed, surrounded by a team of consummate coworkers whom she clearly dominated. Thatcher is included in a small circle of the most outstanding statespeople in her country, in particular compared to Winston Churchill. Despite not having aristocratic origins, she won the highest office in the government of Her Majesty Elizabeth II thanks to her talent, diligent work, ambition, and experience gath- ered in the positions she successively held. Her career in the Conservative Party lasted many years. Her vision of transformations in the political system of the state was based on her own experience and the advice of devoted workers, who she selected using her intuition. Her hus- band, Denis Thatcher, played an important role by her side, yet he always remained in the background, providing support and playing the role of a reasonable private advisor. The author emphasizes the high political culture of Margaret Thatcher and her circle, and he also underlines Polish elements in her policy. He pays a lot of attention to her excellent memoires as a source for politological studies, and to a review of the latest movie about the ‘Iron Lady’.Item Na tronie i obok tronu. O kobietach w życiu publicznym Polski przedrozbiorowej(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2011) Kosman, MarceliThe royal throne was a permanent element of feudal political culture, and the institution of the monarchy, albeit decidedly less significant, has survived until today, playing a primarily symbolic role in the democratic systems in Europe. The subject of the paper looks at the role of Polish rulers’ wives, as the majority of mon- archs started a family, and their offspring later took the throne. This was the case of both great dynasties – the Piasts, from the mid-10th century, i.e. from the baptism of Mieszko I, and the Jagiellons (until 1572). After these dynasties ended, the period of elective kings, who were crowned with their wives, started. Over the years, at the very least, the informal role of the queens was growing. This process paved the way to women’s liberation, and, as of the end of the 18th century, it also encom- passed the families of magnates and affluent gentry. A meaningful statement can be found in the poetry written by Bishop Ignacy Krasicki in the latter half of the same century, when he addressed men saying: “we rule the world, and women rule us”. The paper is only a sketch and promises a more in-depth monographic study.Item Stagnacja, ewolucja czy rewolucja. Ustrój Polski między 13 grudnia 1981 a 4 czerwca 1989 r. Mity i fakty(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2011) Kosman, MarceliThe paper concerns the syncretistic, evolutionary nature of political transformation in Po- land prior to the introduction of political plurality in mid-1989. The author refers to the studies published in his books: Wojciech Jaruzelski wobec wyzwañ swoich czasów [Wojciech Jaru- zelski and the challenges of his time] (2003) and Los genera3a [The General’s fate] (2008) where he confronts recorded facts with political propaganda. The evolution which eventually led to political plurality occurred in three stages. The first spanned the period ending when martial law was formally revoked after 586 days (on July 22, 1983), the second one was related to the office of Prime Minister that Wojciech Jaruzelski held (until September 25, 1985), and the third stage commenced when he gave up direct super- vision of the government and assumed the office of Head of State (which continued to be com- bined with the actual power he held as 1st secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party (KC PZPR)). The last stage was to continue for nearly four years, ex- cluding over 18 months of his presidency, held under completely different conditions. Yet these 18 months were significant for the evolutionary process of the handover of power. Jaruzelski took into consideration the international context, particularly the balance of power in the Kremlin. Real change took place there only after Mikhail Gorbachev assumed power on March 11, 1985. On May 29, 1985 the Polish parliament passed the law on the Constitutional Tribunal, an- nounced three years earlier in an amendment to the Constitution of March 1982. On July 15, 1987 the parliament passed the law on the Defense of Human Rights. The State Tribunal be- gan working at the same time. The first president of Poland after the transformation drew at- tention to these facts a few years later. The ex-President has become a skilful polemicist and political writer, documenting the peaceful political transformation in Poland after 1980.Item Stanisław Sławomir Nicieja, Kresowa Atlantyda. Historia i mitologia miast kresowych, t. X: Złoczów, Zadwórze, Kozaki, Gańczary, Łanowce, Zasmyki, Wydawnictwo MS, Opole 2017, ss. 288.(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2018) Kosman, Marceli