Social Dangers of European Integration

Integracja europejska jako proces społeczny pozostaje pod wpływem licznych zagrożeń, które w różnym zakresie mogą na nią oddziaływać. Przynajmniej częściowo występują one na płaszczyźnie politycznej - stając się konsekwencją zachodzących procesów ekonomicznych czy psychologicznych. Ewolucja postaw społecznych jednostek może mieć negatywne znaczenie dla europejskich społeczeństw. W niniejszym artykule szczególną uwagę autorzy poświęcają zagrożeniom płynącym z atomizacji, anomii oraz społecznej alienacji. Odniesieniem dla ich oddziaływania jest sfera społeczno-polityczna. Atomizacja może wpływać na poziom uczestnictwa politycznego i doprowadzić do upadku moralnych i społecznych zasad demokracji. Anomia wiąże się z reakcjami adaptacyjnymi, które mogą powodować wycofanie się z istniejących norm i wartości społecznych. Dodatkowo anomia i atomizacja mogą oddziaływać w ramach megatrendów sprawiając, że trudniej adaptować procesy demokratyzacyjne. Mając na uwadze znaczenie aspektu psychologicznego funkcjonowania jednostki w środowisku społecznym, analizie został poddany także problem alienacji społecznej, który w określonych wymiarach może stanowić istotne zagrożenie dla procesów integracji europejskiej.European integration as a social process is endangered by phenomena which can reduce, stop and downgrade this process. They occur, at least partly, out of political intentions. They become a conseąuence of existing processes in the political, industrial and psychosocial spheres. The evolution of social attitudes of an individual can take the wrong direction, and this can result in a negative influence on social systems. In this paper, special attention is placed on a few of them: atomisation, anomie and social alienation, linked to political and social problems. Atomisation can effect political participation and can lead to morał decay of the social rules of democracy. Anomie leads to adaptation reactions, which can cause withdrawal from existing values and social norms. Additionally, stratification of anomie and atomisation in terms of megatrends makes it harder to counteract their results, because the character of these phenomena leads to an indirect relationship with integration. Bearing in mind the importance of psychological functioning of individuals in a changing social environment, the issue of social alienation that at certain levels of intensity can pose a threat to European integration was also analysed

Political Parties' Electoral Strategies in the Context of Political Uncertainty

Taking part in an election, political parties implement their planned strategic activities, which involve making choices regarding competitive goals and maximizing the usefulness of the resources they have. A significant context of party strategies is political uncertainty. The paper discusses the importance of political uncertainty in three areas. First, political uncertainty is an instrument affecting the character of political competition. In the second area, the article presents its role as a factor of competition in the process of campaigning for votes. It also points out that political uncertainty may be a mechanism of institutionalizing new political parties. Some of the implemented party strategies, influencing the level of political uncertainty, assume possible electoral manipulations

Parliamentary elections in Poland 1989-2011

Parliamentary elections, which are shaping the sphere of political competition and the structure of the party system, have been held in Poland since 1989. The article shows the evolution of the system of elections to the parliament and its impact on the institutionalization of the party system. The current shape of the election system proves that the party system is stable both in terms of the sustainability of party entities and the standards of political competition in the election arena. Elections are also a factor which consolidates party leadership in the case of the major political groups. This is particularly visible after Poland’s accession to the European Union. The evolution of the process of gaining political relevance by new political parties is also observed. Following 2001, only one new political party was able to win parliamentary representation

Congruent Representation: Election Cycle in Poland 2009-2011

The article presents the results of research on the congruence of the political representation formed in elections held in the years 2009-2011 in Poland. The election cycle included the European Parliamentary elections in 2009, the Polish presidential election, elections to local government in 2010, and the parliamentary elections in 2011. 'lhe median citizen, median voter, and their positions on the left-right scale were used as tools for examining congruence. Studies have proven that in Poland, the median citizen and the median voter are positioned on the right side of the left-right scale. 'lhe legislature and executive authorities chosen in the elections are located left of the median citizen and the median voter. Studies have not demonstrated the existence of any impact of the electoral system on the positioning of the median citizen and the median voter

Wyborcza selekcja elit politycznych w Polsce

Free and fair elections are the method used to select from among the people who have hold specified elective position or public office. In this context, elections are a way of implementing the selection process of the political elite, allowing procedural participation of citizens in shaping political representation. As a result of their execution decisions are made about the distribution of power, which depends on the direction in the act of voting revealed political preferences resulting from translating the achievements of individual votes mandated. Selection of the representatives of the society and subjectivity attributing their decision-making assumes that voters will be able to choose from among themselves those who possess the desired skills, and those who are elected, they will make decisions in the interest of the whole community. The article treats the selection of political elites as a basic function of elections, acting on the issues of creating the political leadership in the parliamentary election, the President of Poland, local governments and the European Parliament

Changes in the party system in the context of deconsolidation of democracy in Poland

The party system and the parties within it were ones of the relevant elements of system transformation in Poland. We can identify several significant determinants of the process with regard to this area. The first of them is formal standards and their influence on the course of political competition. The second is the functions attributed to political parties in the political and party system. The third one is connected with the significance of social structure’s specificity and its influence on voting behaviors. The fourth determinant is the models of competition at the cabinet level. The paper presents these four determinants of development of political parties and the party system in Poland in the perspective of democratization processes

Functions of elections in democratic systems

Elections are a procedure typical for democratic systems, but also systems which do not respect the principles of democracy often employ them. However, due to their different functional positioning, they fulfill various functions. The presented text is an attempt to present the most important functions performed by the elections in democratic systems. The adopted model of generalization has allowed for separation of seven basic functions, present in all elections: delegation of political representation; selection of the political elite; legitimisation of those in power; control over authorities; political accountability; creation of political programmes; recreation of public opinion image. The presented typology allows for its use both in different types of elections (parliamentary, presidential, local, regional and European Parliament) as well as in relation to different electoral systems. The general nature of the described types of functions allows the separation of specific categories within its framework, but the objective of the present study has determined that the focus remains on the description and analysis of the presented types

Determinanty zmiany systemu wyborczego

Elections are a tool for the competing entities to achieve political goals. Therefore, electoral procedures are a significant element affecting their political perspectives. A change in the electoral system depends on balance of power in the parliament. In practice, two models of electoral reforms are possible. In the first of them, political parties collaborate to reform the system. Thus, they protect the interests of as many parties as possible. In the second one, the majority can force others to accept the solutions that are beneficial for them. The majority promote the institutional patterns and procedures that give them a chance to consolidate or increase the relative power of influence of elections. The presented paper includes the analysis of social preferences concerning a reform of the electoral system in Poland. The study revealed the preference for the cooperative model of changing the electoral system. Only the respondents who identified themselves as having right-wing inclinations approved of the competitive model

Polski wyborca w perspektywie modelu głosowania retrospektywnego

The idea o f retrospective voting refers to voting decisions that are based on an evaluation of how the government has managed the economy. Research on economic voting in Poland have been carried out from the beginning of the democratic transformation, focusing on isolating and testing of the transition model specific to the countries of Central Europe. Its differentiating feature is a novel way of simultaneouslyjoining the retrospective and prospective motivations in the behaviour of voters, compared to the conventional model present in consolidated democracies. The retrospective voting model is defined as deciding whether to reward or punish the incumbent party on the basis o f past policy performance. Based on analysis and own research, the presented paper evidences that the validity o f applying the transitional model in the study of economic voting in Poland has been exhausted, as the retrospective motivation is nowadays predominant in the decisions of voters

Społeczne postrzeganie korupcji politycznej w perspektywie oceny uczciwości władz politycznych

Political corruption is a multidimensional phenomenon, concerning political authorities at all possible levels. It is defined as the abuse of power by political entities in order to obtain personal benefits in the form of greater power or wealth. It shows that the subject of political corruption is not only material benefits but also the mechanisms of increasing the influence or special treatment. The character of political corruption results in the public interest in it, enhanced by the public character of the individuals it refers to. It is also influenced by the processual character of the phenomenon itself, but first of all by the specific attractive nature of corruption in social awareness. The article presents the findings of research concerning opinions on political corruption. Its goal is to study the relationships between the respondents' opinions on political authorities' honesty and the determinants of corrupt phenomena. The main research question is: Is there any relationship between the person's opinion on political authorities' honesty and the person's perception of political corruption? The hypothesis related to the question assumes there is a connection between the perception of political authorities' honesty and the evaluation of components of political corruption. The research is part of a research project carried out by the IPSO ORDO Academic Foundation on the perception of the corruption phenomenon in the public domain