Celem artykułu jest porównawcza analiza wiedzy politycznej Polaków na tle społeczeństw w zbliżonym kontekście społeczno-politycznym i kulturowym. Kwestia wiedzy politycznej jest istotnym czynnikiem decydującym o jakości demokracji. Jest to także istotna zmienna wyjaśniająca w empirycznych badaniach politycznych postaw i zachowań. Zgodnie z teorią wiedza o polityce pozwala w oświecony sposób myśleć o wspólnocie i jej sprawach. Powinna ułatwiać obywatelom podejmowanie racjonalnych i roztropnych decyzji. Ma wpływ na postawy polityczne i zachowania, powinna uodparniać na populizm i ułatwiać występowanie w roli światłego obywatela. Nasze analizy pokazują relatywnie niski poziom wiedzy politycznej w Polsce, w porównaniu z krajami europejskimi o dłuższym trwaniu demokracji. Jednocześnie jednak Polska nie odbiega od innych krajów postkomunistycznych.

EEC/EU membership has been one of the thorniest issues in British politics over the last 45 years. The 1975 referendum confirmed the UK’s will to stay in the EEC, but it failed to put to rest the argument over Europe. The 2016 referendum took Britain into the opposite direction, but it also reinstated the issue of the EU to the prime slot in British politics, where it is going to stay for the many years needed to settle the new relationship with the EU. The main drivers behind both referenda were the power struggle between the main parties and the gradual entrenchment of Euroscepticism as the dominating standpoint in British right-wing politics. The substantive concerns with EEC/ EU membership were merely a backdrop to the partisan battles leading to both referenda, but the crucial differentiating factor in 2016 was the Conservative perception of the threat posed by UKIP. The Eurozone crisis and austerity policies at home added to the potent mix of disillusion among the voters, who became receptive to promises of return to past glories of the UK freed from the shackles of Brussels.

The article concerns the analysis of procedures connected with election petitions in Poland on the basis of the constituencies under the jurisdiction of the District Court in Toruń. It should be mentioned, however, that research is currently being conducted in other courts, which even at the preliminary stage appears to corroborate the results of the analysis presented in the article. The research focuses on the guarantees of the efficiency of the electoral petition in Poland. The election petition is the most important instrument which is available to verify the validity of elections. The Constitution does not regulate this matter, entrusting the legislator with this task. The possibility of submitting an election petition implements the principle of the external judicial review of the progress of an election or referendum, which can be initiated upon the request of a legal entity entitled to submit the petition. Considering the role of the petition proceedings as well as the values which remain protected within the procedure of settlement, the legislator should demonstrate the utmost care to increase their efficiency. However, the regulations concerning election petitions are scattered around the whole Electoral Code. Furthermore, for an election petition to be justified, there must be a cause-effect link between the law violation and the results of an election, with the burden of proof placed on the petitioner. The overall result is that in judicial practice only in few cases have grievances in election petitions been considered justified.

Niniejsze badanie ma na celu zbadanie związku między obecnością polityki w mediach społecznościowych a aktywnymi intencjami obywatelskimi w zakresie partycypacji politycznej. W tym badaniu obecność w mediach społecznościowych mierzy się za pomocą interaktywności i personalizacji, ponieważ wcześniejsze badania wprowadziły koncepcję obecności społecznej. W niniejszym badaniu zamiary aktywnego uczestnictwa w życiu politycznym zostały zdefiniowane jako zamiar głosowania, zamiar demonstracji oraz zamiar prowadzenia kampanii na rzecz polityka. Stworzono trzy hipotezy ze zmiennymi interaktywnością i personalizacją oraz połączonym efektem obu.

The aim of this paper is a comparative analysis of the new methods used to organise the 2020 general elections in Poland and the Czech Republic, which were held in the state of the SARS-19 virus pandemic. This paper analyses the voting methods introduced in connection with sanitary regulations in both countries and the scale of votes cast in this way in relation to the total. It discusses and compares the requirements introduced that voters and electoral commission members had to meet on voting day to minimise the risk of infection with the virus. The text shows a number of similarities in both countries in terms of the measures applied to prevent the spread of the virus associated with a personal visit to a polling station. An additional aspect of the comparative analysis of the covid-voting methods in the two countries was a discussion of voting rules for those infected or in quarantine on voting day. Analysis of the data showed that in both countries the alternative voting method, was not very popular.