Political Elites and Their Role in Society in the Context of Constitutional Civic Values

In the general consciousness, political elites make a significant contribution to both shaping civic attitudes and consolidating democracy. Hence it is very important source of their recruitment, the authority enjoyed by (or not) in society, and finally determined the directions of its development, the principles of the political system and the measures taken to civic and political participation. The quality of the elite, their condition, on the one hand, is a reflection of the state of society, but on the other hand, it is a source of best practices for citizens. One can risk the thesis that political elites are a signpost of political behavior, whose source lies in civic values defined not only in the political culture of Poles, but also in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2, 1997.

Influence of the Institution of the Electoral Quota on the Phenomenon of Female Rookie MPs in the Polish Parliament

This article presents the legal conditions for parity on electoral lists to the Polish Sejm and statistical data on „female rookie MPs” in the 21st century, in order to show whether the emergence of a statutory quota is a factor determining the increase in the percentage of female rookie MPs in the Sejm. Starting with a legal analysis, through to theoretically define „rookie MPs”, the authors shows a statistical analysis of election results, pointing to factors determining the scale of the phenomenon of new female MPs. The authors pose the following research questions: (1) Did the introduction of the statutory quota increase the proportion of female debutant MPs in successive terms of office? (2) Has the situation of female MPs on electoral lists changed over the statutory quota? The analysis carried out in this way made it possible to identify the factors determining the percentage of female MPs making their debut in the Sejm of subsequent terms, which are (1) the introduction of a statutory quota on electoral lists and (2) continuous, gradual improvement of the situation of debutant female MPs on electoral lists.