Przegląd Politologiczny, 2016, nr 2

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    The problem of mounting income inequalities in the world vis-a-vis the phenomenon of harmful tax competition. The ICIJ tracking down the greatest financial scandals of the 21st century
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2016) Walkowski, Maciej
    In May 2016, over 350 economists from thirty states signed a letter to global political leaders and the G-7 in particular, warning that tax havens are socially unfair and have no economic justification whatsoever. The author of the best selling Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty, Professor of Columbia University, the adviser to the UN Secretary General Jeffrey Sachs and Professor of Princeton University and Nobel Winner, Angus Deaton, alongside many renowned academics, called to make the global tax system more transparent and to introduce regulations that would curb the activities of Offshore Financial Centers (OFCs). An NGO Oxfam International, which coordinated the writing of the letter, called upon global leaders to develop a joint standpoint to abandon the secrecy of business operations in tax havens and reveal what harms they bring. According to the analysts from Oxfam, Credit Suisse and UNCTAD, what is called tax optimization actually contributes to greater global income disparities, which are treated as the gravest global issue in the 21st century. The author refers to academic analyses and the results of the journalistic investigations of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in an attempt to diagnose and examine those mutual dependencies and to present the various harms the procedure brings to economies and societies, and presents his own assessment and forecasts for the future.
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    Reasons behind the success of the “Islamic State”
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2016) Wojciechowski, Sebastian
    Terrorism today entails a wide range of diverse threats. Currently, the most dangerous such threats are posed by ‘the “Islamic State” (IS). The aim of this paper is to identify the key factors for the dramatic rise of the “Islamic State” to power and significance. Its success has been the sum total of a number of diverse and mutually linked factors. Those fall into the two categories of endogenic reasons associated with the activities undertaken by the “Islamic State” and the exogenic factors, which apply to various developments and processes which have also contributed to IS advancement. Despite the “Islamic State” s loss of influence and resources, it is bound to continue to destabilize the international scene and pose a security threat for years to come. One should therefore give priority to learning about the reasons behind its success as such knowledge may help not only defeat IS but also prevent other Islamic and terrorist organizations from rising to power in the future.
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    Normative media theories: the media in the new democracies
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2016) Piontek, Dorota
    The political changes which occurred in Central and Eastern Europe in the last decade of the 20th century resulted in introducing democratic systems to replace authoritarian regimes. The political transformation in the region affected also freedom of speech and leeway for the media. The transformation was of an evolutionary nature, preceded by discussions and disputes over the future form of the media. At the initial stage of the changes, strict state control was required, as the government was responsible for the success of the democratic changes. Following the overthrow of the authoritarian regimes, a need emerged for sorting out the legal and institutional basis of a free media intended to be established on the basis of state-owned media, fully controlled by the political authorities and in fact assuming a single role, namely that of a propaganda machine. Normative theories of the media have become the starting point, as a collection of ideas and postulates stating that the media’s mode of operation should facilitate socially desirable values. Discussions of the legal, institutional, functional as well as personal solutions related to the mass media in the new democracies referred to observations and agreements among researchers who came from systems with long democratic traditions. This paper revolves around the relation between the media and democracy, and argues that the theory of the media’s social responsibility and the democratic-participant theory were the major source of inspiration for the participants of the debates about the future form of the mass media in the emerging democracies. It is worth noticing that these theories represent not only slightly different opinions on the role of the media in a democracy but they also reflect the differences in understanding the essence of democracy.
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    European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation as an element invigorating integration processes at the local and regional levels in the European Union
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2016) Jańczak, Jarosław
    In the context of the mounting crisis of the European integration project, cross-border cooperation appears to be one of the dynamically developing exceptions. This in particular concerns the instrument of the European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC). Recent years have seen a considerable increase in the number of groupings established and initiatives aimed at establishing new ones. A more inquisitive approach to the development of EGTCs can produce different conclusions, however. On the one hand, EGTCs can exemplify the institutional pragmatism of local authorities, on the other – the implementation of EU member states’ national policies. The purpose of this paper is to take a critical look at EGTCs as an element invigorating integration processes at the local and regional levels of the European Union. The author explores the different motivations and spatial differentiation of EGTCs that is emerging in the European Union. The premise of this paper is that in different parts of Europe, actors commit to establishing EGTCs for different reasons, which translates into the varying ‘density’ of EGTCs in specific EU macroregions. The analysis is conducted taking into account the main theories of integration in the field of European Union studies and the processes of international integration. The conclusion is that France and Hungary are the main European players with respect to EGTCs, although each state is stimulated by different factors.
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    Poland towards the migration crisis of 2015–2016
    (Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2016) Potyrała, Anna
    The migratory pressures brought to bear on the European Union member states since the early 2015 have deepened differences of approach to addressing the migration crisis, especially as regards the quota system adopted in September 2015. The paper presents Poland’s position on the escalating crisis, its arguments for abandoning the open door policy on immigration as well as the political and legal measures undertaken by Poland.