A large number of authors, both academics and novelists, contend that there is an affinity between the Polish April Constitution of 1935 and that of the Fifth Republic of France. In their view, such an affinity results from the dominant political position of the president, his powers and general consolidation of the executive power2. Another reason for such an assertion is a similar model of leadership adopted by Piłsudski and de Gaulle. Some authors even assert that “Polish Constitution was an inspiration for the constitutional thought of general de Gaulle”3. Special attention should be paid to the different axiology of the two constitutions, including rigidity of the April Constitution provisions, designed exclusively for the presidential system, and distrust of the Polish constitutional thought in direct democracy. Different leadership models adopted by Piłsudski and de Gaulle also contributed to the general disparities between Polish and French fundamental statutes discussed in this paper.

The purpose of the article is to demonstrate that ideas can be treated as a factor explaining political stability and change. Based on the completed analytical tasks, it has been found that ideas have their own dynamics and therefore they deliver unique effects, influencing change or stability of policies. The article demonstrates that the impact ideas have on the political process depends on the understanding of human behaviour in the field of politics. The article reviews the ideational dimension with reference to behaviours covered by the rational choice theory, by historical, sociological and discoursive institutionalism and constructivism. As a result of the analytic tasks, certain differences have been revealed between the above mentioned approaches in terms of understanding the impact of ideas. What the approaches have in common is a close link between ideas and political actors. The article covers theoretical issues without considering methodology aspects. It is based on the outcomes of study projects carried out by authors recognized in the so-called school of ideas, formed in political science following the “ideational shift” during the 1990s and reflecting until the present day on the ideational dimension of politics.