The present study to shows:

1) since the beginning of its existence this institution met with approval of wide social circles and the criticism of intellectuals, paying attention to the impossibility of its realization according to the ideological vocation and with assumptions;

2) from the time of the French Revolution 1789–1799 democratic ideas are closely connected with populism. Politicians and ruling use tchem as fulfilling the will of the majority of society, and as a tool solving all sociopolitical problems;

3) political pragmatism, and included performance of the public life, cause that the idea of the democracy is replaced by the challenge of building the civil society which is commonly accepted as sociopolitical reality.

The paper stresses the need to reform the European Central Bank with the aim to strengthen the democratic legitimation of this institution within the particular EU governance system. Indeed, the study argues for more accountability of the ECB before the citizens without giving up independence. The analysis (also conducted from a comparative-law point of view) shows that the objective can be assured fostering a stronger involvement of the Parliament firstly in the procedure for the appointment of the Members of the ECB’s Executive Committee, within a wider reform of the whole EU institutional setup and of the Eurozone’s organization in particular.

Outline of constructive critique of „Glorious Third Power’s” apology

The problem of the position of judicature in the structures of state power and justiciary’s identity is important. Judicial power generally is less inclined for changes than the rest of state’s machinery. In the effect it’s possible the appearance of impression of its axiologic and historiozofic preponderance over more connected with Time’s Spirit legislative and executive. So arises the temptation for strengthening of Third Power as more resistant for errors and distortions. However, it is probably an illusion, because justiciary is too strongly connected with statehood, so the hope for resistance of many good ancient values in the corp of judiciary is deceptive.

Media and democracy in Poland

Nowadays, it is more and more often that the decisions of individuals are shaped by the media, and for the permanent dialogue of power and citizens it becomes necessary to apply new information and telecommunications techniques, including the Internet. For a society to be fully called civil society: citizens should be well informed, should be interested in politics, should have equal rights of expression and participation in decision making, all decisions should be subject to public debate. At first glance, it can be seen that virtually none of the points is implemented in practice, but rather are marginalized. And the media has become the leading discussion forum on public and state issues. The author reflects on the influence of democracy and mass media on the course of the election campaign and on the image of the candidate in the election. The media are also presented as so-called the fourth authority (after three forms of power: executive, legislative and judiciary), which controls other authorities and informs the public about possible failures. The role of the fourth power assigned to them seems to be insufficient for the media, more and more often we observe many cases in which the media interfere in the constitutional order. The author notes that it often happens that mass media activities do not serve the good of society and the democratic system. So instead of favorably influencing the development of democracy and social awareness, they limit and deform it.

Nation-wide referendum in the Republic of Belarus

The aim of the article is to present the issue of the nation-wide referendum in contemporary Belarus, country called ‘the last European dictatorship’. The paper is first study devoted to this issue in Polish literature. The author, basing on Belarus’ constitution and other legal acts investigates theoretical and practical aspects of the referendum. The author also describes all cases of implementation of the nation-wide referendum in Belarus after 1991 and discuses their role in the process of shaping contemporary political system of this country. He concludes that referendum in Belarus is rather a tool of political mobilization of the society under authoritarian regime than a form of exercising citizens’ voting rights.

The challenges of globalization and the modern electoral system

The article focuses on one of the most essential problems of contemporary science of politics which is the issue of participation of citizens in elections and referenda and factors which stimulate and determinate this participation. It has been proved that the attendance at elections in Poland is one of the lowest in Europe and therefore ways of making Polish electoral system more citizen-friendly seem to be necessary. The state ought to stimulate the increase of political culture and create pro-civic attitudes among citizens. What may also be implemented is the reform of the electoral system which would allow citizens to vote by pro- xy, mail, the Internet, or even by sending a text message. Introduction of actions shown above seems to be inevitable and is not only linked with the fact that Polish society is aging, but also with simplifying the process of electoral decision- making for Polish migrants.

Impact of Council of Europe on the shaping and popularizing of the standards of the rule of law

The subject of the article is the issue of the Council of Europe’s impact on shaping and popularizing of the standards of a principle of the rule of law. The rule of law is one of the three basic values on which the Council’s activities is based. The Council’s care of maintaining the rule of law standards by the member states is manifested in two main areas. First of all, the Council undertakes activities aimed at defining and creating a uniform, universal way of understanding the principle of the rule of law by individual states. Secondly, the Council’s legal system states a few specific mechanisms to enforce the implementation by the member states of the principle. However, as practice shows, not all of them are sufficiently effective.

Activity of the Venice Commission to improve democratic standards in the legislation of Montenegro in 2011–2014

This paper is an attempt to show the activity of the Venice Commission regarding Montenegro in 2011–2014. The Commission for Democracy through Law focuses its activity primarily on constitutional law, analyzing not only draft amendments to fundamental law, but also all amendments to the constitution and other legal acts related to the fundamental system order. The actions of the Commission described in the text refer to Montenegro, which is a parliamentary democracy, the political system of which is governed by the 2007 Constitution. The state is applying for membership in the European Union, which began accession negotiations in June 2012. However, there are still many issues in terms of compatibility to European standards, which require significant attention to reach the desired state, in line with the standards functioning in the West of Europe.
The first part of the text is an introduction to the subject of the Venice Commission’s activities. The second part deals with the Commission’s activities in matters of legal aid and its mission to improve democratic standards and the protection of human rights. The third part of the text is an attempt to present the influence of the Venice Commission, through its opinions and recommendations, on the legislative process of Montenegro. It focused on the Commission’s activities and its possible impact on improving the observance of democratic standards in Montenegro. The final thought is in turn an attempt to draw conclusions from the analyzed material.

Constitutional forms of the nation’s activity in exercise of public authority

Constitutional forms of the nation’s activity in the process of executing public authority The aim of the paper is to present a complete and consistent classification of forms of activity of the nation as the collective subject of sovereign authority in the process of exercising public authority stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2nd April 1997. The proposed typology of these forms is based on the uniform criterion – the legal effect of the formulated will of the community. Using this criterion leads to isolating two main dimensions of the above-mentioned activity of the nation. In the first of them, the nation acts as the actual sovereign and consequently, their acts of will have an absolutely decisive character. This occurs when – in accordance with Article 4 section 2 of the Constitution – the nation „exercises such power directly or through their representatives”, which means within the framework of so-called representative democracy (particularly electing their representatives and calling the previous mandataries to account for their achievements in the finishing term of office by means of the next election, and in the case of territorial selfgovernment bodies, also by means of the institution of revocability), or „directly” (by way of a referendum). All the other forms of social activity provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and otherwise involve the cooperation of citizens and groups of citizens in executing power by public authority bodies, both representative and non-representative ones. Due to their consultative power or merely inspirational character, they can be collectively referred to as „expressing opinions and providing inspiration in the matter of exercising public authority”.

Democracy and its Deficit in the European Union

Searching for a way to eliminate a „deficit in democracy” in the European Union is at the same time searching for the final political shape of the EU (finalité politique) and also for a way to legitimize the EU itself and its institutions as well. However, all action must be taken after some consideration and its is worth to follow the „Monnet method”, which advocates evolutionary change, rather than a revolutionary one. Democracy in the EU must be multilevel and must mirror the EU itself in that respect; it and needs to incorporate both direct participation of the EU citizens, as well as an active role of the bodies formed in general elections: the European Parliament and the national parliaments of the Member States. There is a vital need for a compromise that shall allocate the appropriate places for all of the participants in the „European game”.

W niniejszym artykule autor przedstawia problem kryzysu legitymizacyjnego współczesnej demokracji. Dane empiryczne wskazują, że obywatele wielu skonsolidowanych demokracji stają się dzisiaj coraz bardziej nieufni (cyniczni) wobec wartości, jaką jest demokratyczny system polityczny. Okazuje się, że problem ten dotyczy dzisiaj młodszych pokoleń obywateli. Autor próbuje odpowiedzieć na pytanie o to, jak młodzi ludzie (studenci) postrzegają i oceniają system polityczny w Polsce, także stara się przedstawić szerszy społeczny kontekst legitymizacji demokracji. Dlatego też analizuje związek pomiędzy preferowanym modelem władzy a poglądami na skali przekonań autorytarnych/demokratycznych.

The main aim of the article is to try to analyze the functioning of Victor Orbán’s regime in Hungary in the period from 2010. Analyses oscillate between considering issues such as the development of democracy in Hungary after 1990, history and background of functioning of the Fidesz party, and the course of Orbán’s exercise of power. In the paper, the reasons behind the taking of power by Fidesz party were analyzed by taking into account the specifics of Hungarian democratic experience after 1989, processes of state’s reforms and economic crises. The article ends with the analysis of five pillars of Victor Orbán’s policies.

Artykuł jest analizą roli budżetu partycypacyjnego w procesie partycypacji społecznej. Przedstawione trzy modele jego funkcjonowania prezentują różny ich wpływ na jakość kapitału społecznego, czyli cechy społeczeństwa objawiające się wysokim poziomem zaufania, współpracy oraz więzi społecznych między obywatelami. W celu przeprowadzenia analizy zostanie zastosowana koncepcja kapitału społecznego i wspólnot obywatelskich Roberta Putnama.

Zarówno w wyborach do Bundestagu, jak i parlamentów krajów związkowych, frekwencja na wschodzie Niemiec jest niższa niż na zachodzie. Jest to jedna z pochodnych innego rozwoju tej części państwa (obszar byłej NRD), a zarazem dowód na „niedokończone zjednoczenie”. W artykule porównano frekwencję wyborczą w obu częściach RFN, próbując nakreślić przyczyny rozbieżności.
Mimo upływu lat różnice w poziomie frekwencji są widoczne. Należy to wiązać z innym wzorem zachowań politycznych na obszarze byłej NRD, innym postrzeganiem roli państwa w demokracji, demograficznymi następstwami zjednoczenia, jak i wyższym poziomem bezrobocia. Z kolei rozbieżności nie są zauważalne w wyborach do Parlamentu Europejskiego, co należy tłumaczyć mniejszym zainteresowaniem wyborców dla tego rodzaju elekcji.

The vast majority of the papers on populism describe this political phenomenon as one which is very difficult to explain and to analyze due to its discursive versatility and behavioural chameleonism. Furthermore, I would argue that the term populism covers more political and social realities than one single term would normally concentrate from a semantic point of view. I focus more over the psychological roots of populism which can be observed in the political symbolic field. In that manner, I consider that political symbolic, as part of the behavioural theory, can be a better tool for unveiling the populist discourse than the usual techniques of political analysis.

The main aim of the article is to try to analyze the functioning of Victor Orbán’s regime in Hungary in the period from 2010. Analyses oscillate between considering issues such as the development of democracy in Hungary after 1990, history and background of functioning of the Fidesz party, and the course of Orbán’s exercise of power. In the paper, the reasons behind the taking of power by Fidesz party were analyzed by taking into account the specifics of Hungarian democratic experience after 1989, processes of state’s reforms and economic crises. The article ends with the analysis of five pillars of Victor Orban’s policies.

The future by the past: The role of history in the concept of constitutional patriotism of Jürgen Habermas

The definition of patriotism is usually restricted to the conclusion that its aim is mere cultivation of the historical memory. However, patriotism has two distinct faces: one pointed at the past and the other focused on the present. What is more, in the opinion of many scholars, patriotism doesn’t need to be closely related to one nation or culture. An interesting concept of constitutional patriotism was developed by German historians and philosophers during the debate on national identity after World War II. Jürgen Habermas has been one of the founders of this project. According to the German philosopher, constitutional patriotism doesn’t mean just positivist constitutional acts, but some abstract forms, interpretations of a particular community. Such universal principles may be, for instance, procedures of sovereignty and liberal rights. The following article conveys arguments indicating that the role of history is very important in the concept of constitutional patriotism by Jürgen Habermas.

Barries for consolidaton of local democracy: presentism and recentivism

Constructing collective identity is one of the most crucial challenge for political power which seek legitimization. Pursuing such aim political actors choose different tools due to theirs ideological affiliation and political roots. One may observe in local Poland that depoliticization process play its role. This have a great impact on local communities. That is why local political elites make barriers for disputing history by using two techniques: presentism (is the view that neither the future nor the past exist – past times must meet present political requirements) and recentivism (only present time exist). Such practice of political power makes barriers for consolidation of democracy.

Uznaje się, że polityka jest częścią życia społecznego, dlatego jest również częścią kultury. W drugiej połowie XX w. kultura polityczna stała się obiektem analiz politologów w świecie oraz w Polsce. W związku z tym zaczęto postrzegać kulturę polityczną, jako komponent kultury w dosłownym znaczeniu przez pryzmat ogółu materialnych i niematerialnych wytworów życia społecznego. Stało się to asumptem do rozszerzenia się definicji kultury politycznej o takie składniki, jak instytucje polityczne oraz system socjalizacji oraz edukacji politycznej. Celem tego było wzmocnienie demokratycznego systemu politycznego poprzez przesunięcie z elementów indywidualnych na ogólnospołeczne.

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.