Problemy wiary i religii państwa świeckiego, ich wzajemnych relacji są w czasach chwiejącego się świata1 bardzo istotne i nie do przecenienia.
Należy szukać odpowiedzi jak pogodzić renesans religijności ze wzmożonym sekularyzmem w różnych krajach. Mówimy również o postsekularyzmie. Te ważkie zagadnienia determinują podziały polityczne w Polsce. Bez wspólnego dialogu, dążenia do konsensusu, odrzucenia fundamentalności możemy jako wspólnota polska przestać istnieć.
Grozi nam przejście od utopii do dystopii. Wszystko zależy od tego jak reagować na te wyzwania będą państwo i Kościół katolicki. Należy również odrzucić wszelkie fobie i nacjonalizm z szowinizmem narodowym.

Reflections on the nation and the state in the Polish political thought

The paper provides an overview of mostly nineteenth-century concepts of nation and state, juxtaposed with sociological theories. It begins with the definitions of the basic concepts and their relations, along with the change in their meaning over time. The author presents also the origins, development of the Polish nation and state, comparing the description with sociological theories. Next, the Enlightenment, Romantic and positivist concepts of nation and state were presented together with views prevailing in particular currents of the Polish socio-political thought. According to the author, the idea of nation and state gradually crystallised in the Polish political thought, to take on suggestibility and become an essential component of social life, albeit this process occurred in a variety of ideological milieux, with its culminating phase at different points in history. The author emphasised the polymorphism of the idea of nation and state as well as a variety of contexts in which they may occur.

Niniejszy artykuł traktuje na temat społeczeństwa obywatelskiego jako potencjalnego instrumentu mogącego wpłynąć na podniesienie jakości demokratycznego systemu politycznego. Ukazanie źródeł sfery obywatelskiej oraz wskazanie na czynniki ją sankcjonujące, poprzez wykorzystanie koncepcji kapitału społecznego, umożliwia pogłębioną analizę relacji społecznych w wymiarze społecznym, jak i politycznym. W tym celu należy odwołać się do szerokiego dorobku badaczy z zakresu nauk społecznych, których efektem będzie modelowa analiza zjawiska tworzenia się społeczeństwa obywatelskiego oraz jego potencjalnych efektów dla całego systemu politycznego.

The legal situation of the Catholic Church in the Third Republic of Poland allows the Church to operate in a public space on specific principles and within accepted boundaries, determined by developing a conciliatory position of all interested communities. It is important, however, to point out that, due to the continuous evolution of mutual relations between the secular and ecclesiastical authorities – caused by a number of social and political factors – doubts arise periodically about both the nature and the shape of mutual relations. One of the periods with the greatest significance for this type of reflection is the election campaign. The following article contains information on relations between the state and the Catholic Church in the aspect of the relations of communities, supplemented with an analysis of the provisions of secular and canon law regarding the possibilities of clerics’ activity in the sphere of broadly understood political activity on the territory of the Third Republic of Poland.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the specific character of the so-called Islamic State. For the purposes of the study it is based on two assumptions. Firstly, the rise of the so-called Islamic State was determined by a number of regional and international conditions, in particular the destabilization of the Middle Eastern order, the events of the Arab Spring, operations of the United States in the region, globalization processes, and technological development. Secondly, the specific nature of the so-called Islamic State, reflected in the use of violence and intimidation, noncompliance with the principles of international law, and challenging the international order exclude the possibility of the entity in question being considered as a person of international law. To begin, with view to attain the research objective stated above and under consideration of the research hypotheses adopted herein, this paper examines the root causes behind the rise of the so-called Islamic State at the regional and international level. Subsequently, it defines the specific nature of the entity in question, taking into account its territory, internal structure, principles of operation, and personality.

The article analyzes the election programmes of the two largest political parties in Poland, namely, Law and Justice and the Civic Platform (Civic Coalition) from the 2019 parliamentary elections, referring to the proposals of these parties to change the functioning of the state, in particular the scope of legislative, executive and judicial power. The conclusion summarizes the presented programme proposals, considering whether their implementation would be possible under the current political conditions.

Nowadays, international disputes appear in the public space, which results, for example, from the fact that the needs are unlimited and the goods are limited. Due to its specific nature, the international environment requires a compromise between the entities operating in it. A desirable direction in case of conflicts between international entities is to resolve them by peaceful means. In the international environment, one of the largest international organizations - the United Nations - is of great significance, especially in the field of maintaining international order and peace. In turn, according to the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, it is possible to resolve international disputes by peaceful means, and among the characteristic methods used in this type of proceedings is the mediation method, the effectiveness of which allows, in the long term, to maintain the desired state of peace, strengthening the legal security of the state.

Model of relations between the state and religious organizations in Ukraine – legal aspect

The purpose of the publication is to characterize the model of relations between the state and religious organizations in Ukraine. After Ukraine gained independence in 1991, it was necessary to regulate issues related to the functioning of religious organizations in accordance with democratic standards. The model of separation adopted in the Constitution of Ukraine is the culmination of political changes. However, the Constitution of Ukraine provides for guarantees of freedom of conscience and religion, based on international standards arising from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950. Pursuant to Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine, everyone has the right to ideological freedom and to choose a religion. This right includes: freedom to profess any religion or not profess religion, freely cultivate religious or ritual cults individually or collectively, and conduct religious activities. This right may be restricted only if it is in the interest of protecting public order, health and morality of the population, or protecting the rights and freedoms of others. It should be noted that the law in question correlates with the constitutional provisions regarding the “ideological diversity” of social life in Ukraine, where the state cannot make any ideology compulsory – Art. 15 of the Constitution. Nevertheless, there is traditionally a significant influence of religious institutions on social relations, political events, which is explained by the historical significance of churches and religious organizations in the life of Slavic peoples and the specificity of the national mentality, the main component of which is religious spirituality. The author in this publication analyzes the legal system. The article also discusses selected problems related to the practical application of legal provisions.

Human rights in the constitutions of selected European countries

Nowadays human rights are an essential part of constitutional regulations in the European countries. The very first universal regulation based on the rights of every citizen, was The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen set in 1789. Analysed constitutions of France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Latvia, Bohemia, Slovakia and Poland point to the developments of rights of individuals through expanding these rights from the rights of the citizens to the rights of every person on the territory of a particular country. Obviously, the rights concerning exclusively the citizens of a particular country, like for example the right to vote, have still been maintained. A modern catalogue of rights and freedoms of individuals is abundant and expanded by, for example, the right to the constitutional complaint or the right to a clear environment. Nowadays the human rights standards are widely recognised though not always respected. This results from the legal and political practise, in which the scope of the rights of individuals is still being narrowed. One of the reasons are ideological and political changes in particular countries, which are being enforced with the development of civilisation and technology.

Organisation of the Polish State and Society in the Piast Era in the Academic Work of Aleksander Gieysztor and Gerard Labuda

The main theses of the authors concerned the mutual relation between social changes and the formation of state organisation, the militarisation of the Early Piast State (G. Labuda) and the question of the native, pre-foundation beginnings of urban life in Poland. In their research, A. Gieysztor and G. Labuda often used the methods of retrogression and comparison; in addition, G. Labuda appreciated the importance of archaeological findings.

Constitutional right of an individual to the protection of freedom and human rights and shaping individual safety – interdisciplinary approach to the problem

The obligations of the state towards people and citizens are included in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, those concerning security in Art. 5. However, this document does not clearly define the essence of this concept. The aim of the article is to show the need to include it in the basic law. The analysis of legal acts, literature in the field of security, state and law, and own research shows that society needs an unambiguous definition of terms. Of course, it was emphasized that the clarification of the definition of security in the Polish Constitution is not a simple challenge, as it cannot be formulated in absolute terms. However, an attempt can be made to analyze the subjective and objective approach to the problem. The need to look at individual security through the prism of development and the use of individual opportunities in the light of the common good protected by law has been demonstrated.

The Constitutional Dimension of the Protection of the Rights of National Minorities in Austria

The article indicates such research problems as the features of the Austrian constitutional order, the history of Austrian constitutionalism and the main legal acts of a constitutional nature. The aim of the analysis was to determine: a) what is the level of protection of national minorities in Austria, resulting from the constitutional order?, b) can we speak of continuity of protection?, and c) what is the balance between legal regulations and practice? The article indicates that the level of protection of national minorities in Austria resulting from the constitutional order should be assessed as high. The minority status has been defined in a number of constitutional legal acts. We are dealing with the continuity of legal protection, and any problems do not concern strictly the law itself, but its practical application.

EU member states: a new paradigm of sovereignty? An outline of the issue

Political and economic integration of countries taking place within the European Union leads to the modification of certain traditional features of the state’s sovereignty, such as, for example, exclusive judiciary competence within the state’s territory or independent financial, budget and fiscal policy. This calls for the analysis whether, and if so, to what extent, being the EU member state influences the country’s sovereignty. There are two contrasting views regarding this matter: some theoreticians claim that this integration limits or even eliminates the country’s sovereignty, while others argue that countries retain their sovereignty, and integration is the manifestation of sovereignty. The aim of the article is to reflect on these theories in the context of a new paradigm of EU member states’s sovereignty, which takes into account new relations between such agents as an individual, society, nation, or state.

Relations between the Third Republic of Poland and the Catholic Church remain one of the aspects of contemporary political rivalry. Political parties have specific postulates regarding this aspect of contemporary social reality, which, as a rule, are part of the relevant program documents. The proposals of individual political circles, apart from substantive issues, differ in terms of scope, degree of detail and possibility of implementation due to the non-compliance of possible changes with the relevant provisions of the Constitution of April 2, 1997, the Concordat between the Third Republic of Poland and the Holy See, statutory regulations concerning the matter of mutual relations between the state and the church, or various non-legal circumstances related primarily to specific social moods.

Al-Mawardi’s theory of the caliphate and its connection to the contemporary Islamism

The article presents the concept of the caliphate of theologian and jurist at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries, Al-Mawardi, based on his work Al-Ahkam as-sultaniyya and the socio-political nature of the period of the Abbasid dynasty, which was the context of its creation. Based on a detailed analysis of Al-Mawardi’s views on political power in Islam (traditional caliphate), the author’s aim was to show the connection of this theory with selected elements of the contemporary ideology of Islamism, and thus attempt to answer the question about the continuity of Muslim political thought. Considering the changes of the caliphate in times of Al-Mawardi, but also in later periods, including the ones that occurred in the Islamic world after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the author argues that views on power in Islam were conditioned by a complex socio-political context, which was influenced by factors internal and external to the world of Islam. Discussed theory of Al-Mawardi’s caliphate constitutes the basis for the search for analogies in the political doctrine of contemporary Islamic reformers and the ideology of Islamism, which in turn allows Al-Mawardi’s views to be considered appropriate also for the contemporary concept of power in Islam.