Authors in this article present the findings of the research project on the leadership and the ethnopolitics in Tatarstan. They are making an attempt to conceptualise the ethnocratic leadership, they characterise the existing model of leadership through the ethnopolitics and Russian regionalism. The research leads to the conclusion that as a result of the Tatarisation of the political regime an ethnocratic model of leadership has been formed in the republic. The model shows some hybrid characteristics and constitutes peculiar synthesis of ethno-politics, authoritarianism and clannishness with the elements of the facade democracy. This model of leadership is manifested in different forms and shapes depending on the specific environment, as well as political and situational contexts. Much attention was paid to the genesis and evolution of this model of leadership and its links with the republican elite which recruitment, circulation and legitimacy is strongly connected with the ethnicization of politics.

Niniejszy artykuł poświęcony jest Republice Kabardo-Bałkarii – jednemu z podmiotów Federacji Rosyjskiej, w którym dwie grupy etniczne mają status narodowości tytularnych. Punkt wyjścia do dalszych rozważań stanowi analiza zjawiska dwutytularności w kontekście specyfiki ustroju Związku Socjalistycznych Republik Radzieckich i Federacji Rosyjskiej. Dalsza część studium poświęcona jest samej Kabardo-Bałkarii, zamieszkiwanej przez dwie zupełnie odmienne w aspekcie kulturowym i językowym grupy etniczne – Kabardyjczyków (należących do superetnosu abchazo-adygejskiego czy też czerkieskiego) oraz tureckich Bałkarów. Przedmiotem rozważań jest wpływ modelu dwutytularnego na charakter reżimu politycznego, relacje międzyetniczne oraz stabilność sytuacji w regionie.

The article presents the goals, tasks, organization and major stages of implementation of the international programme of research on transformation in the countries Central Asia. The research has been conducted since 1997 by a team of political scientists from the University of Warsaw in cooperation with representatives of other Polish and foreign universities.

Russia is a state with a multi-ethnic federal structure inherited from the USSR. Implementing an ethnic policy that would unite and integrate its citizens is one of its most important goals. Among Russia’s federal subjects are also national republics pursuing their own ethno-political concepts, either conciliatory or conflictual. Tatarstan and Chechnya are examples of such republics. With the use of the comparative method, the article is an attempt at demonstrating many factors that have an impact on the shaping and implementing of the ethnic policy through such criteria as the status of the republics, the concept of the nation, and ethnocentrism, historical memory, the role of Islam and its politicization, and the language policy. The article also outlines their consequences and possible future scenarios.

Upper Silesia as a research problem in political science: in search of a synthesis

The growing body of scholarly literature on Silesians and Upper Silesia requires researchers to make first attempts to systematize the issue. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that in Upper Silesia we can observe unique, distinct political phenomena. The study was carried out as a structured review of scholarly literature which covers research in the field of political science, related to Silesians and Upper Silesia, treated as a specific object of analysis. The study included 25 scientific articles indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection database. The analysis has shown that many political phenomena occurring in Upper Silesia are of a unique character, not encountered in other regions of Poland. It also indicated a number of research problems that still need to be investigated and the problem of lack of data triangulation present in the literature.