Financial Autonomy of Local Government Units in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland – Selected Problems

The scope of this article is to show selected problems concerning constitutional regulations of financial autonomy of self-government units in Poland, in the light of the legislator’s freedom to determine their incomes by bills. It appears that in the light of the current regulations, the freedom of the parliament is too great, which significantly limits the financial independence of local government units. The article will present proposals for changes to Polish constitutional regulations in this area in order to increase the self-government financial autonomy, with reference to the solutions in force in selected European countries. It is necessary to increase the influence of self-government about bills concerning their incomes and expenses, so it should be a constitutional obligation to consult such projects on the forum of the Joint Government and Self-Government Commission. The postulate of transforming the Senate into a Self-Government Chamber is also worth considering.

The Second Chamber of the Polish Parliament in the Concepts of the Polish People’s Movement

The objective of the article “The second chamber of the Polish parliament in the concepts of the Polish people’s movement” is to analyze the issue of the Second Chamber of the Polish Parliament in the political thought of the People’s movement. The People’s Party supported a unicameral parliament. The Second Chamber reappeared in the 1930s as a Chamber of Commerce or Local Government (similarly in the Third Polish Republic). However, in practice, they voted for the adoption of subsequent constitutions, in which the Senate was present. This was not the expression of their political thought, but of their ability to make compromises and put the interests of the state above party particularism.