Przegląd Politologiczny, 2010, nr 1

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    Autorytaryzm XXI wieku czy nam grozi?
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2010) Górna-Kubacka, Anna
    Democratic systems are neither perfect nor satisfactory, therefore theoreticians offer different models of democracy. Consequently, democracy is understood in different ways, which are presented in this paper. The most interesting ones are proposed by R. Dahl, A. Lijphart and J. Schumpeter. The latter calls into question the notion of the ‘common good’ and an individual’s rationality in political life. The paper discusses different models of democracy: representative, consensual and polyarchic. A democratic system is based on principles and abounds in great advantages, the most desirable of which include peace (democratic states have not waged wars) and the fact that the market economy is more efficient. In order to maintain polyarchic institutions a state needs to meet certain conditions which cannot be maintained everywhere. If these conditions are not fulfilled, the system can be deemed to be nondemocratic. If only some conditions are present, the system will be highly unstable. This instability leads the research on authoritarianism to develop dynamically. Authoritarian systems are political systems of limited political plurality that are free from the accountability of society, yet authoritarianism is also a certain type of mentality and personality. The research Adorno and his colleagues conducted in the mid-twentieth century introduced the notion of an authoritarian personality; The Polish research also demonstrates an interesting correlation between authoritarian features, which are presented in the paper.
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    Demokracja bezpośrednia w Polsce – fikcja czy rzeczywistość?
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2010) Rachwał, Marcin
    It is virtually impossible for a modern democracy to properly function without civic society. Direct democracy involves citizens in public life, thus facilitating the emergence of civic society. Voting in referenda and taking advantage of other forms of direct execution of power provides an opportunity to create a society that cooperates with the authorities in solving numerous public issues. A question can be asked in this context: How are the opportunities generated by exercising direct democracy being utilized in Poland? The research has corroborated the sad pattern that all authorities, which are the nation’s representation after all, are not inclined to vest decision-making directly with this nation. The mechanisms of direct democracy in Poland, in practice, do not give the people (the sovereign in Poland) an opportunity to actually exercise their power. Legal provisions concerning referenda and people’s initiative at a national level allow the political elite to completely control the application of these mechanisms.
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    Demokracja i federalizm
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2010) Machelski, Zbigniew
    In terms of law, federation is a complex political, economic, administrative and social system, whose individual components enjoy a significant level of independence. Political authority is organized so as to protect the identity of national, ethnic, linguistic and cultural minorities living in the territory of this multidimensional federal structure. From the constitutional point of view, federalism has two principal functions. Firstly, it unifies a state that was once disintegrated, thus allowing for the establishment of a political union and of some form of authority, which is a prerequisite of forming a somewhat broader identity; alternatively, it unifies various states. This function consists of the unification of what used to be separated and disintegrated. The other function concerns the task of maintaining the unity of those who underline the legitimacy of the authorities and reject their governance, because they feel harmed and oppressed by the political regime, or they believe that their interests are not guaranteed in the framework of a constitutionally determined autonomy. This is usually connected with their striving to become separated. In this case, federalism is a reaction to the threat of the state’s disintegration, when different identities emerge in its internal structure, although they are not mutually excluded, and they do not exclude one another from this state yet. Then, federalism becomes a form of identification of various subjects with the federal state in a broader than local perspective. The second function of federalism refers us to the issue of a state comprising numerous nations, languages, cultures and religions. Modern democracy is both a political ideology and a political system. It generates increasing dissatisfaction with the way it operates on a practical level. The choice between a unitary and a federal approach does not mean a choice between a democratic or nondemocratic system, yet, from the long-term historical perspective, it appears that a federal system cannot operate without democracy, despite the obvious tensions between a democratic ideal and political reality.
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    Demokracja w granicach ryzyka
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2010) Kłusak, Miron
    As a permanently imperfect system, democracy requires continuous improvement of its deficient structures and responses to its imbalanced developmental dynamics. Freedom ensures its permanent dynamics as people, who constantly make various choices, arrive at different results, which permanently differentiates their interests. Freedom is a compromise, and the whole strategy of development is also a strategy of compromise. The definition of justice developed by Kant provides for a model of society whose freedom brings about justice. A permanently dynamic system that is bound to develop has to bear a constant risk, as everybody needs to keep analyzing their situation in order to make adequate and optimum decisions. This constantly produces new situations that require new ideas. The shortage of new ideas poses a permanent obstacle on the path to development and requires constant improvement in order to take advantage of one’s reason and experience; this necessitates incessant learning and risk taking. Opportunity always exists, yet success only comes to the one able to take risks and face liability. We need to beware of illusion and populism that lead us directly to collectivism, which poses a permanent and most serious threat.
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    Instytucja prawyborów w Polsce. Prawybory parlamentarne (1993–2007)
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2010) Adamczyk, Anita
    The paper concerns parliamentary pre-elections in Poland. The institution of pre-elections stems from the United States of America. At the beginning of the paper, the author indicates the differences in how pre-elections are used in the American and Polish political realities. Next, she analyzes the preliminary polls from 1993 to 2007. She compares the results of pre-elections with the results of political parties during the elections proper. She demonstrates the methods employed to win votes, applied in the period prior to the pre-elections. Apart from the pre-elections to the national parliament, the paper also scrutinizes the first pre-elections preceding the elections for the European Parliament in 2004.
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    Kultura narodowa w dobie globalizacji
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2010) Dudziak, Anna
    National culture is usually defined by indicating the material and spiritual elements handed over from generation to generation. This research, which has been conducted for many years, has produced numerous definitions of the notion of culture as well as a classification of cultures. The typology of cultures, developed on the basis of certain criteria, is a valuable source of knowledge about the diversity of nations. The changes that are currently occurring raise the question of the future of national cultures. The consequences of ubiquitous globalization can be observed in every field. The cultural dimension is not indifferent towards the globalization process, either. Such factors as symbols, customs, religions, and stereotypes, which testify to the multicultural nature of the modern world, can remain unchanged by the predominating tendencies, but it is likely that they will gradually become marginalized or even eliminated. In the light of the above doubts, various concepts and visions have emerged, concerning the path modern societies are walking nowadays. While they are a valuable object of reflection, the nearest future will bring the final answer to the question of whether we are witnessing the birth of a global culture, or rather the strengthening of national cultural distinctiveness and identity.
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    Nadzieja w polskim społeczeństwie obywatelskim
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2010) Korcz, Iwona
    This paper concerns the current issue of hope and its close connection with civic society at the time of globalization. The paper comprises three parts. The first explains the essence of hope, discusses its four basic types and outlines the society of hope, which is composed of homo esperans (the hoping man). The second one refers to the ideas of civic society and model approaches outlined in the literature of the subject; it concentrates on the key problems this society faces under the circumstances of globalization and its development opportunities in this context, given the significant support offered by the potential of hope. The third part presents the results of the research on hope measurements, taken among the students of the University of Zielona Góra, and it indicates a relatively low level of this resource (hope), whereas mature civic societies are characterized by a high level of hope, and especially its active form.
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    Polska polityka gospodarcza w działalności Rady Ministrów w latach 2005–2006
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2010) Kamola-Cieślik, Małgorzata
    After the Law and Justice Party (PiS) had won parliamentary elections, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz was appointed Prime Minister in September 2005. Economic policy was one of the elements of his Government’s policy. The Government tried to achieve its goals by creating new jobs and increasing the level of investment in Poland. This was to be supported by the liberalization of laws regulating business activity. With respect to economic policy, the Council of Ministers intended to reform public finance and implement a council housing project. The Cabinet of Prime Minister Marcinkiewicz was not able to implement all the principles of the Solidarity State platform within the 9 months of its work. However, the Government did manage to persuade the EU to allocate EUR 90 bn from the EU 2007–2013 budget to Poland. The Government also succeeded in aligning Poland’s 2006 budget with a new legal act limiting the state deficit to a maximum level of PLN 30 bn. Additionally, the Government drew up economic plans aimed at improving the condition of the Polish economy. However, it failed to implement the reforms of public finance, council housing, free economic activity and the diversification of natural gas supplies.
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    Problem niskiej frekwencji w wyborach do Parlamentu Europejskiego – przyczyny i sposoby jej zwiększenia
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2010) Rulka, Marcin
    The low and constantly decreasing voter turnout in the European Parliamentary elections has recently become a significant concern for both the EU and national authorities. The reasons for this state of affairs, however, to a large extent should be sought in the ‘statistical’ effect of the EU enlargement by the new member states, where the turnout tends to be low in all types of elections. It should be observed that after the third elections, the turnout in the ‘old’ EU has stabilized at the level of 52–53%, and the claims that it has decreased dramatically are erroneous. The situation is quite different in the new member states, where the turnout has actually decreased by several percent since the 2004 elections. It can be claimed then that the low turnout is not a result of the member states’ citizens’ decreasing interest in EU matters, but rather of a general aversion towards politics and politicians. Comparing the turnout in the elections to the European Parliament, and national parliaments, one can observe that the difference is similar in all the countries, and amounts to approx. 30%. This difference follows from the fact that EU citizens treat the European Parliamentary elections as ‘second-division elections’ (of secondary significance) that in their opinion do not have a significant influence. Therefore, it appears that one should look for the reasons why general turnover has fallen, rather than exclusively at that in EP elections. What will be the remedy for this low turnout? Firstly, the voters need to be informed about the significance of the decisions taken by the EP to their everyday life. Advantageous outcomes could also be provided by the reforms of election law, such as the changed time of the polls or the introduction of preferential voting in all the states. It is also important to continue and develop the campaign which promotes voting, conducted by NGOs, as well as by the EU institutions.
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    Przemiany demokratyczne i europeizacja Hiszpanii
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2010) Górski, Eugeniusz
    The problems in Spain’s relations with Europe have emerged in the complicated history of this country on numerous occasions. As the country peacefully moved from dictatorship to democracy in the late 1970s, a new stage of Europeization began there. A triumphant accession to the European Community, as early as in the mid-1980s, significantly accelerated the economic development and modernization in many spheres of life in the formerly isolated country. This process has been significantly contributed to by both Socialists and moderate Conservatives, who together have consolidated Spanish democracy. Spanish politicians and citizens are much more active in their pro-European creativity than Poles, whether internally, or in the EU, and other international organizations. Yet Spain has faced some problems with maintaining the national and territorial unity of the country for the future. The formerly ruling People’s Party tried to apply a return to the re-nationalization of Spain as a remedy, to no avail. The currently ruling Socialist Party is looking for the solution in the spirit of liberal, yet supervised federalism, and in the new ideas of an increasingly tolerant, civic, egalitarian and secular European project, wide open to the globalized world.
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    Stanowisko paryskiej „Kultury” wobec europejskich procesów zjednoczeniowych w latach 1947–1957
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2010) Barabasz, Adam
    The paper deals with the analysis of the attitudes presented on the pages of the Paris-based Kultura periodical, in the period of 1947–1957, towards the projects of European unification. After 1947, Polish émigré circles in Paris perceived the post-war projects to unite Europe as an opportunity to liberate Poland from the influence of the Soviet Union, and reconstruct Poland after the wartime demolition. At the same time, while these circles promoted the political unification of Europe, divided by the Iron Curtain since 1945, economic integration was of less interest to them. The objective of this paper is to present the universal nature of journalism in the Paris circles, which were mainly striving to politically integrate the whole of Europe, unlike the émigré circles in London, or the socialist authorities in Poland.
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    Zasady finansowania partii politycznych we Włoszech
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2010) Urbaniak, Monika
    The Italian political stage is composed of numerous political parties, and it is deeply divided. The issue of the financing of political parties in Italy is very complex, owing to the fact that the principles of political parties’ financing are governed by frequently changing regulations. On account of a series of scandals involving the illegal financing of Italian parties, the 1974 Law, called ‘the Piccolo Act,’ established a system of public financing of political parties. Further laws, enacted in 1981 and 1982, changed its regulations. A principle was established that political parties have the right to obtain financial means from the state to reimburse the expenses borne by the regional council during election campaigns. The next law to regulate this issue was the 1993 Act, which determined the criteria for dividing the election funds to cover the expenses borne by individual political parties, and defined how the election campaigns for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic should be conducted. Another regulation was the 1997 Act on the financing of political parties that solved the matter of voluntary contributions made to political parties or movements.