Przegląd Politologiczny, 2011, nr 1
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Item Jak zmierzyć demokrację? Skale pomiaru demokracji politycznej stosowane w politologii porównawczej(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2011) Szewczak, WiktorThe author reviews and characterizes the most important scales for measuring the democracy of political systems, applied in Western, mainly Anglo-Saxon, comparative political science. He refers to his article published in a back issue of Przegl¹d Polityczny, where the fundamental theoretical and methodological issues of democracy measuring were presented, and tries to indicate how these issues are dealt with by various researchers whose scales and data bases are most common and most frequently referred to in research into political comparative studies. The paper describes S. Huntington’s analyses, the Freedom House scale, the IDEA assessment of the quality of democracy, the EIU democracy index, Bollen’s scale, the Political Regimes Project, the Polity Project, T. Vanhanen’s democracy index and the scale of polyarchy by Coppedge and Reinicke. As the author analyzes one scale and database after another, he tries to identify their strengths and weaknesses, determine the most characteristic properties of each proposal, and assess their applicability in comparative analyses, pointing to their potential benefits and the threats of using them. In conclusion, he recommends caution in the selection of a scale to become a foundation for potential analyses, while he acknowledges that this theoretical and methodological tool is highly useful.Item Prawo i Sprawiedliwość w polskim systemie partyjnym (przyczynek do dyskusji o systemotwórczej roli partii)(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2011) Antoszewski, AndrzejAmong the numerous functions of political parties, the role of creating the governance system is highly significant. It manifests itself in the ability of political parties to establish permanent relations with the other parties and in this way provides the essence of a party system. The purpose of the present paper is to demonstrate the role the Law and Justice party (PiS) plays in the creation of the governance system. Since 2005, PiS has been one of the two dominant political parties struggling to win the parliamentary and presidential elections. In order to determine the scope of this party’s influence on the shape of the party system, their achievements in elections, parliament and Cabinet activity need to be analyzed. Such a quantitative analysis allows us to grasp PiS’s development trends in political competition. The paper discusses the reasons for their electoral success in 2005 as well as their defeat in 2007 and the aftermath of both these elections for the party’s competition to the government. The achievements of PiS confirm that this party has won the status of a party that structures the political competition, a status that has not been lost irrespective of the five elections at different levels that the party has lost. PiS has successfully adopted the postulates of the Left in terms of the economy and social issues, whereas it has maintained the image of a right-wing party in terms of the shape of the state and its moral foundations. PiS has managed to form an electorate that differs from other parties’ electorates in terms of its social and demographic properties as well as its political attitudes, which reinforces the position of PiS in the electoral struggle. Yet PiS has failed to establish a permanent coalition government. The elimination of Self-Defence (Samoobrona) and the League of Polish Families (LPR) from the Sejm has practically deprived PiS of any coalition potential, or has at least significantly reduced this potential. This, coupled with a continuously growing negative electorate, may turn out to constitute the main obstacle to PiS regaining power.Item System rządów premierowskich jako nowy typ systemu rządów: casus Wielkiej Brytanii(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2011) Szymanek, JarosławThe paper attempts to address the question of whether the prime ministerial system has already emerged as a separate system of governance that differs from classical systems, and whether it can no longer be treated as a certain sub-class in an extensive range of parliamentary systems, but rather as a new type of system in its own right. The principal issue appears to be whether the inherent properties of the prime ministerial variety of governance are sufficiently distinct, significant and different from the parliamentary system, however broadly understood, to give the former a status of a separate governance system from the methodological point of view. It should be observed that the contemporary British system, which serves as a foundation for our deliberations on the prime ministerial form of governance, has deviated from the classical or typical parliamentary system far enough to actually take the direction of a separate system of governance, namely prime ministerial governance. Firstly, this is evidenced by the removal of the monarch from the political system and establishing executive power as a virtually one-element entity concentrated in the Cabinet, and embodied by its leader. Secondly, the figure of Prime Minister is highly emphasized as he is elected ‘under the guise of common elections’ and he successfully monopolizes the work of his entire Cabinet, becoming a certain ‘trademark’ of this Cabinet, which is well supported by the principle of joint accountability of all Cabinet members, a principle that is exceptionally strictly and consistently implemented in the British system. The ongoing politological processes that tend to presidentialize and personalize politics are only accelerating these changes and making them even more apparent. The consequence in Britain is that it is the Prime Minister who accrues the power to govern and he by no means falls under the principle of classical parliamentary systems, where the government leader is only “the first among equals”. Thirdly, the House of Commons has practically lost its controlling power over the Cabinet, as primarily evidenced in the absence of a vote of no confidence, which would serve as a tool of political accountability of executive power before the legislative, the essence of any form of parliamentary governance. Fourthly, in a highly specific, deeply endemic party system which entails that various links between government and parliament typical of the parliamentary style of democracy are de facto transferred onto the internal party stage, this to an extent also explains the relevance of the division between government and opposition, a division which is neither as clear, nor as far-reaching as in the case of other parliamentary systems. All this allows us to conclude that the British system is sufficiently different to be deemed new in comparison to a typical or classical parliamentary system. The transformations that have taken place there have gone far beyond the proper, or classical, model of parliamentary governance thus forming not only a sub-class, but a separate type (or model) of governance.Item Globalizacja i jej przeciwnicy(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2011) Rewizorski, MarekOne of the results of the accelerated economic and social development over the last thirty years involves the emergence of social movements that are opposed to globalization. The objective of this paper is to present the main demands of the opponents of globalization, in particular in the context of the asymmetrical development of the parties in international relations. Anti-globalists and alter-globalists oppose the increasing importance of transnational corporations and the gradual shift of the point of gravity in the global economy from sovereign states to institutions of a regional, supraregional or global character. Anti-globalists note the progressing global crisis of legitimization of the democratic system of governance and the threat that it will be replaced by highly institutionalized technocratic structures (WTO, IMF, World Bank, European Commission). The role of anti-globalist and alter-globalist movements is of profound significance at present as they provide opposition to neoliberalism as the binding doctrine in global economy. Calling for the establishment of mechanisms that would provide for fair distribution of goods between the ‘North’ and the ‘South’ they contribute to the internationalization of the idea of collaboration between states thus ensuring that order be maintained in the global economy. Therefore, these movements support the ‘weaker party’ in international business relations – the developing countries. However, there is a negative aspect of their activity, namely they perceive globalization as a process of subordinating the weak by the strong, or – in other words – they refer to the idea of class struggle in the global economic system.Item Czynnik kulturowy w relacjach francusko-amerykańskich(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2011) Lakomy, MironFrench-American relations certainly are among the most complex and at the same time most controversial in French foreign policy. The main factors that determine the nature of relations between France and the US include culture. A few features can be pointed out here to demonstrate their unique nature. Firstly, the importance of anti-American sentiments and Francophobia (anti-French sentiments) should be emphasized. The roots of these broadly shared attitudes may be sought both in the past (the experiences ofWWIand WWII) as well as in the present political relations between the two countries. The French nation is generally critical of American foreign policy, the US social and economic system. In the USA, in turn, we come across a similar attitude of Francophobia. This mainly stems from the commonly shared image of France as a difficult, chaotic and unpredictable ally. While anti-American sentiments and Francophobia do not translate into political decisions made either in Washington or Paris, they still influence the atmosphere of mutual relations, as became apparent when American restaurant owners boycotted French wines during the Iraqi crisis. At the same time, though, both nations recognize each other’s achievements in such fields as culture, art or human rights. Secondly, the “conflict of universalism” described by Stanley Hoffman is worth noting. As both countries deem themselves to be the cradle of such universal values as liberty, equality, justice and human rights, they both assign themselves with a unique status among other countries. It is true that the repertoire of values France and the US represent is nearly identical, yet they are frequently understood differently on both sides of the Atlantic. Thirdly, the French-American relations are also profoundly influenced by the common French belief in France being an exceptional and powerful country. The national perspective and the manifestation of France’s privileged position in the international arena are to a significant degree present in their relations with the US. Ezra Suleiman, among others, observed that the French political elite were allergic to any forms of political, economic or cultural domination. Other issues that influence the state of French-American relations concern differences in the economic or social system, or the role of religion in the life of the state.Item O potrzebie rekonstrukcji przestrzeni badawczej w nauce o stosunkach międzynarodowych. Refleksje natury polityczno-normatywnej, systemowej i metaforycznej(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2011) Łoś-Nowak, TeresaThe world of the 21st century provides an intriguing space for academic reflection, offering new challenges and stimulating new concepts of international relations. In this context there emerges the significant question of the essence and direction of these concepts. They may entail deconstruction followed by a reconstruction of the research space in this field. Astrategy of resetting cannot be excluded here, either. Assuming that reconstruction is the appropriate solution there are significant issues of its scope and direction. If a total reset is considered rational we need to address the issue of what it should involve. This is a difficult question for researchers into international relations because it would mean that the hitherto achievements of this subject are being questioned. The post-positivist approach of numerous researchers, which manifests their response to the positivist methodology in the field of international relations, has not so far produced a unified methodological formula or a relatively coherent theory of international relations. Questions concerning the function of science, the nature of the social world (ontology) and the relationship between knowledge and the world (epistemology) remain open. Therefore, it may be worth going back to M. Wight’s provocative thesis that it is impossible to construct a reasonable theory of international relations, mainly owing to the dichotomy of the two fields of research that – in his opinion – cannot be overcome, namely the dichotomy of the ‘international’ (the realm of external affairs of states) and ‘internal’ (the realm of internal affairs within state), which are mutually exclusive because of their specificity; and once again ask the questions of how sensible the thesis of the dichotomy of both these environments is in a world that is strongly conditioned by the cross-border actors, interdependence and globalization. While the separateness of the ‘internal’ and ‘external’ state environments was, for Wight, an important obstacle, making it impossible to construct an academic theory explaining international relations, at the same time the current theory regarding their exclusivity in the context of the internalization of international affairs and the externalization of conditions inside states seems unsustainable. This phenomenon currently allows us to explain the imperative for combining these two environments, overlapping them …breaking down the old, established orders as a result of the now clearly visible phenomena and processes of the ‘internal state’ merging into the ‘international environment’ and vice versa, the disappearance of the traditional functions of borders, the weakening of old institutions and structures for steering the international environment as well as replacing them with entirely new institutions and structures.Item Politologii polskiej meandry(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2011) Janowski, Karol B.The paper contains the author’s attempt to review the history of Polish political science from World War II to the present day, its condition and characteristics. The progress political science has made in Poland has been crowned by its achieving the status of a rightful science, recognized by the representatives of numerous renowned fields of study. However, the factors that have contributed to the present status quo have also been administrative, even political. Yet these have neither determined the place of political science nor are they decisive in terms of its status in academia now. The stage of demonstrating its scientific status is already behind political science which, firstly, has demonstrated a clearly defined range of research issues, secondly, has undertaken significant research and arrived at valuable conclusions, and thirdly, has attracted competent, increasingly more versatile and thoroughly educated professionals. At present, political science is facing the challenges reminiscent of those faced by the remaining social sciences. In these terms, political science has not reached the limits of its transformation or capacity.Item Dyskursywne (re)konstruowanie charyzmy. Przypadek Lecha Wałęsy(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2011) Lipiński, ArturThe paper analyzes the discursive reconstruction of L. Wa3êsa’s charisma by the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper in response to S. Cenckiewicz and P. Gontarczyk’s book entitled SB a Lech Wa3êsa. Przyczynek do biografii [The secret police and Lech Wa3êsa. Addendum to a biography]. The paper uses the methodology of interpretative research which emphasizes the role of meaning for the social and political construction of reality. Inspired by the theoreti- cal and methodological proposals of discourse analysis it examines the mechanisms used to reconstruct Lech Wa3êsa’s charismatic identity in response to a book that undermines his so- cial image. These attempts also involve the construction of individual identity, in the case un- der analysis, the identity of historians and authors of the book who are responsible for undermining this image. Therefore, the paper also attempts to analyze media representations of S. Cenckiewicz and P. Gontarczyk. Attention is primarily focused on the key actors, on the features attributed to them and related argumentative strategies understood as a more or less intentional plan of discursive practices adopted in order to achieve defined social, political, linguistic or psychological purposes.Item Seksualność w socjotechnice dyscyplinowania(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2011) Pawełczyk, PiotrThe paper ponders the subject of utilizing human sexuality in the process of social disci- pline. The author perceives this process as a modern form to subjugate an individual primarily on the basis of symbolic coercion. Making reference to the classical works of Michel Foucault the author emphasizes the factors that allow sexuality to be used for social programming. Foucault was critical of the idea that we experience the repression of a natural sexual drive, at least in its traditional meaning. In his opinion, multiplied knowledge of sex should be noted in Western societies, which leads to the hyper-development of sexual discourse, theory and the science of sexuality. He questioned the stereotypical understanding of sexual repressiveness, which determines a way of thinking in terms of a simple retaliation taken for inappropriate sexual behavior. He suggested that less observable programming control be introduced in- stead, based on disciplining. The limits of discourse are established by the admissible sexual relations. Whatever goes beyond this discourse, whatever is not contained within it, becomes abnormal and, potentially, repressed. The objectives of programming control and the limits of discipline are decided not only by the church and state, but also by business and media con- cerns, which fill the discourse with certain subjects thus deciding what dimensions of sexual- ity are permissible. Confessions that used to be confined to confessionals and psychoanalysts’ surgeries have become media commodities used not only marginally by pornography, but for- matted to excite, fill voyeuristic needs and experience vicarious sensations. Discourse is be- coming an area of apparent freedom, whereas in fact it is a means to discipline society. This seeming expansion of discourse limits to a lesser degree concerns the realm of problems and to a greater degree – accessibility. What used to be an object of communicative interest re- served for the elite has been included in mass discourse because this is the requirement of modern democracy and a liberal economy.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 Współczesne media lokalne jako przedmiot refleksji medioznawczej(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2011) Kowalczyk, RyszardThe paper concerns considerations on the areas of operation of modern local media in Po- land from the point of view of the paradigm of media studies. It outlines the evolution of the status of local media after 1989. It emphasizes the importance of the Round Table and the re- sulting political transformation in the process of restitution and development of local media in Poland. The paper also describes this segment of the media in terms of freedom and account- ability, market, economy and idea as well as social communication.Item W krzywym zwierciadle: propagandowa funkcja biuletynów samorządowych(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2011) Adamczyk, WojciechThe author points out the propagandist function as the main function of local self-government bulletins. These periodicals, published by local self-governments or their budgetary subordinates, frequently provide the main or even the only source of information about community matters, but they have transformed into a local elite’s propaganda tool. Con- sequently, this has led to an obvious limitation in two-way social communication in smaller administrative divisions and to the development of misinformation. As attention has become focused on propagandist activity, the principal objectives of a new social system and com- munication between the authorities and citizens that were set twenty years ago have been neglected. The paper also discusses the attempts at imposing legal limitations on local self-government publications and initiatives undertaken in this respect.Item Organizacje pozarządowe we współczesnym społeczeństwie obywatelskim(Wydział Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa UAM, 2011) Babiak, JerzyNon-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are one of the indicators in the assessment of whether the state operates on the principles of a civic society. NGOs are also a crucial element of public life as they cover an extensive area of activity. At the level of local communities they effectively promote their development as organizations that are close to the citizens. In the European Union they are an expression of public opinion. After WWII both the political and legal circumstances in Poland did not favor their development. An observable improvement began during the transition period at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. The number of NGOs considerably increased at that time. Although the number of newly registered NGOs has been consistently decreasing since 2003, as has Poles’ interest in voluntary work, Polish NGOs are in quite good condition compared to their counterparts in other states of Central and Eastern Europe.