The objective of this article is to present a critical analysis of selected elements of Nazi legacy in the Federal Republic of Germany (Deutsche Bundesrepublik, BRD). The remnants of the Nazi system have been tolerated, and even sheltered by the authorities of West Germany in almost all aspects of life. A question arises, then, about the effectiveness of the denazification after the Second World War and about a change in mentality in German society, as it should be noted that some elements of Nazi legacy were abandoned only in the 21st century, and therefore the Federal Republic of Germany has not managed to fully make reparations to the victims of Nazism. This article also discusses the fact that in a post-totalitarian state it is extremely difficult to find ‘pristine’ biographies, considering the number of former members of NSDAP who filled important offices in the BRD.

SOCIO-TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF PERSONALIZATION OF POLITICS

An issue of interest is the process of personalization of politics. I am going to examine it from the point of view of social engineering. There is no doubt that we can find many things in common between social engineering and personalization. Personalization is a broader syndrome of traits that can be reduced to a change in the nature of leadership in democracy, especially in campaign. As one might expect cause of this state of affairs, on the one hand it is still a growing number of those who serve as prime minister on the basis of “presidential style of administration”, on the other hand – the actual (institutional) changes in parliamentary systems.

Looming crisis, public discontent with privatization, and widening inequalities are factors which have historically set the electorate in favour of social democratic welfare policies. Today, however, these concerns rather appear to support new right-wing populist countermovements, even in the traditionally progressive Nordic countries. This article asks why there is not more explicit support of progressive policies, despite the presence of socio-economic factors which would normally favour such a policy shift , at least not just yet. In response to this query, the article first analyses the comparisons between the present crisis and the crisis of the 1930s with regard to alleged political inertia. It then reinterprets the contemporary political consequences of crisis by revisiting three classical social theorists who took pains at analysing the political responses to the economic crisis of the 1930s: Karl Popper, Gunnar Myrdal, and Karl Polanyi. On the basis of this revisitation of these three classics, the article argues that the combined effects of distrust in politics and the persistence of admittedly rolled-back welfare systems mutes the progressive reform potential of the present crisis.

The aim of the article is to demonstrate the nature of the relationship between negative emotions and the creation of hostility in the practice of social engineering and propaganda activities. The hypothesis adopted is the recognition that there is a mutually significant relationship between the creation of hostile status entities and the use of negative emotions. Negative emotions help build enmity and hostility entities stimulate negative emotions. Hostility and negative emotions are very useful tools of political influence. They make it possible to discredit external and internal enemies, to mobilise and integrate supporters and build the desired image of a political leader. The empirical study and media content analysis revealed examples of the widespread use of hostility and negative emotions as tools of political influence in Poland.