The historian of liberty Lord Acton is not ordinarily viewed as a supporter of equality and democracy. There is a strong evidence, however, that his best practical regime is a participatory democracy, his constant philippics against equality and democracy notwithstanding. He always stressed that political power originates in the people and that mature liberty implies equality and universal franchise, even if in certain circumstances freedom can exist without them. Further, Acton is also the author of an original idea how to build participatory democracy without resorting to social engineering. He maintained that political freedom and citizenship begin with self-rule on a local level. If local communities create higher levels of authority, starting from a village and county and ending with the national government, we then deal with a grassroots democracy, in which citizens (not elites) run the country.

Constitutional Duty to Obey the Law vs Civil Disobedience

Article 83 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland states that “Everyone is obliged to obey the law of the Republic of Poland”. The obligation to obey the law cannot, however, imply absolute obedience to any law established by the state. That means that no state has the authority to violate human rights, because they are above the state law. Therefore, as the author stresses, in every modern constitution the right of sovereignty to defend values such as sovereignty, division of powers or human rights is guaranteed. The main thesis of the article indicates that a bad law may be the beginning of civil disobedience, understood as a symbolic, intentional manifestation of disobedience to the law carried out in the name of the conviction of its validity and superiority of other values and non-legal norms, including the possibility of incurring negative legal consequences – sanctions. Civil insubordination is therefore an instrument which, taking into account all its limitations, can be used in countries with democratic systems as a guarantee of protection of civil rights against the action of the authorities. Our constitution does not know the concept of civil disobedience or the older right of resistance. In Article 2 it is clearly emphasized that the Republic of Poland is a democratic legal state and the observance of the law should be understood as such conduct of citizens. and state bodies, which is in accordance with the binding regulations (Article 7 of the Constitution – the principle of legalism). Another issue raised in the article is the problem of justification of civil disobedience. The author does not share the view on the justification of civil disobedience. If the justification of civil insubordination entails the postulate of impunity, the concept of civil disobedience would become contradictory. At the same time he stresses that legalism cannot dictate absolute obedience to the existing law.

Citizen Initiated Referendum and Polish Referendum Law

The main aim of this study is to respond to the call to give citizens the power to initiate a referendum in a binding way. The key question in this context is whether such a postulate should not be treated as just a typical manifestation of political populism and thus rejected, or whether it should be supported by recognizing the institution of a referendum initiated by the citizens as a factor conducive to a more complete implementation of the idea of democratic rule, without threatening the destabilization and dysfunctionality of the political system. The analysis carried out in the article proves that this institution cannot be discredited because it should be seen as a necessary element of the process of exercising power in a democratic state. The proposed legal regulation may be conducive to achieving such a role in Polish political practice.

Niniejszy artykuł zawiera szeroką analizę problemu kryteriów zgłaszania kandydatów w wyborach w systemie ochrony praw Rady Europy ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem wyroku Europejskiego Trybunału Praw Człowieka w sprawie Tahirov przeciwko Azerbejdżanowi. Podstawowe badania obejmą przede wszystkim orzecznictwo organów międzynarodowych chroniących prawa jednostki, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem Europejskiego Trybunału i Komisji Praw Człowieka Rady Europy, oraz raporty misji obserwujących wybory OBWE.

Wzrost znaczenia Indonezji w regionie Azji i Pacyfiku jest zauważalny przynajmniej od 2004 r. Promowanie demokracji przez Indonezję uznaje się za jedną z ważniejszych ról, jakie ona odgrywa, zaś „demokratyczny zwrot” w polityce zagranicznej tego państwa jest szeroko analizowany. Celem tego artykułu jest zwrócenie uwagi na kolejny aspekt związany z tymi badaniami – spójności wizerunku promotora demokracji z działaniami w polityce zagranicznej z perspektywy strategicznej narracji. Pytanie badawcze brzmi: czy wizerunek Indonezji jako promotora demokracji jest spójny? W artykule weryfikowana jest hipoteza stanowiącą, że Indonezja nie tworzy spójnego wizerunku państwa promującego demokrację, choć z pewnymi wyjątkami.

Some methodological difficulties in studying and analysing China

The study presents various factors which obstacles adequate description and analysis of Chinese realities in Western scholarly literature. The first factor presented in the article is the psychological mechanism of a “mirror”. As Lynn T. White suggested, since the 17th century, that Westerners look at China not through a ‘window’ but through a ‘mirror’, in which their own fears or most treasured ideals are refl ected, not China itself. Hence their descriptions of China refl ect first of all their state of mind. Peter Hays Gries and Stanley Rosen add to this metaphor another one, that of a procrustean bed. According to these authors, contemporary Western scholars procede like ancient Procrustes who made his captives fit his bed cutting their too long limbs or stretching these too short, in order to adapt Chinese realities to the Western schemes. Sebastian Heilmann and Matthias Stepan in order to explain Western mistaken views of China and expectations presented six wrong assumptions concerning developments in China. Their list is controversial, but it is true that on the Western side there are numerous wrong assumptions concerning China and other Asian states. Thus the Chinese realities are described in a wrong way, and the predictions of future developments are also false.
The Author put an emphasis on scientific categories and terms elaborated in Europe and the States and considered “universal”, which, however, are not adequate to the Chinese realities. Hence their use results in falsification of descriptions and makes previsions based on them – groundless. He distinguishes two essential kinds of categories and terms borrowed from the West but inadequate to the Chinese realities. The first constitutes the terms which significance does not fit to the Chinese realities, as “language”, “religion”, historical epochs such as “antiquity”, “,Middle Ages”, etc. The second constitutes the terms which meanings involve cultural values. Many of them are difficult to translate into Chinese and they acquire different meanings in the context of Confucian heritage. The Author analyses from this perspective: “human rights”, “democracy” and “freedom”.
Western scholars are also often mislead by Chinese sources. The study indicates another factor, which facilitates great misunderstandings. According to the cultural norm of the Confucian civilisation there is a “proper façade” presented in public, behind which there are hidden “internal realities”. Of course, such differences could be detected in each culture, but in highly ritualistic Confucian civilisation this distinction is essential, and both parts constitute “complex realities”, whereas Westerners presume that the façade constitutes a whole and complete reality. The Author presents as an example centralised, unitary Leninist state in Chin that is – in his opinion merely a false “public image”, whereas in reality there operate more or less innumerable quite autonomous units, which in fact are not subordinate. Under such circumstances all decisions must be consulted and negotiated among them, like in a federal system, although it does not operate formally. The Westerners also misleads themselves considering their peculiar civilisation as “universal”, whereas there are various civilisations, which will not amalgamate during the modernisation processes. Hence various societies function and change in their own ways, different from the western schemes and expectations.
The study indicates that the West still predominates and presents its civilisation as universal. However, its predomination faces growing resistance and numerous scholars recognise the existence of numerous civilisations, which will also develop in the future. The author enumerates the most significant concepts such as “dialogue among civilisations and cultures” adopted by the United Nations in 1989, Huntington’s warning against imposing western norms on other civilisations, which may result in their ‘clashes’, the concept of the Axial Age, of Multiple Modernities, and so on. The road to an equal status of all civilisations is long and tortuous. The elaboration of universal scientific categories and principles is even more difficult, and it is, perhaps, a task for future generations of Asian scholars.

Roman Franciszek Rybarski (1887-1942) należał do wybitnych teoretyków i działaczy Narodowej Demokracji. Pozostawił szereg prac z zakresu ekonomii, prawa i polityki. Wśród tych ostatnich szczególne miejsce zajmują Naród, jednostka i klasa oraz Siła i prawo. Był prezesem Klubu Narodowego w Sejmie w latach 1928-1935 oraz przywódcą frakcji liberalnej zwanej grupą „starych” lub „profesorską” w Stronnictwie Narodowym. W artykule przedstawiono jego poglądy dotyczące problematyki ustrojowej. W pierwszym okresie istnienia niepodległej Rzeczypospolitej do 1922 r. Rybarski zdecydowanie opowiada się za ustrojem demokracji parlamentarnej i ideą państwa narodowego. Wybory 1922 r. i porażka w Zgromadzeniu Narodowym przy wyborze prezydenta Gabriela Narutowicza oraz tragiczne skutki jego śmierci powodują, że Rybarski, jak i inni działacze endeccy, dostrzegają że do niedawna tak bliski im parlamentaryzm staje się zgubny dla Polski. Rozpoczyna się jego krytyka, Rybarski podkreślał, że konstytucja doprowadza do krańcowości i absurdu zasadę rządów parlamentarnych. Niezadowolenie przeniosło się na wszystkie klasy i warstwy. Domagano się zmian, które stawały się koniecznością chwili.

Elections are nowadays treated as a symbol of a democratic order. However, this view is not true. The institution of elections also occurs in states that are far from being a democracy. However, their course and functions significantly differ from the elections carried out in democratic countries. As it has been shown in the article, the analysis of the title issue becomes particularly important due to the growing group of countries referred to as hybrid regimes.

The rule of law is one of the founding values of the EU, as indicated in Art. 2 TEU. This provision recognizes that the rule of law is a core value, inherent to liberal democracy, and one which characterized the Union and its Member States. Taking into account this context, as well as the deficiencies of the EU mechanism to enforce the rule of law within the Member States, European Parliament called on the Commission to establish a new tool to address rule of law backsliding in Member States. In October 2016, Parliament addressed recommendations to the Commission on the establishment of EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental rights (EU pact for DRF) in the form of an international agreement. The new mechanism should integrate and complement the existing mechanism, should be evidence-based, objective, addressing the Member States and EU. The author analyzes this initiative and tries to answer why it was not fully realized. Additionally, he presents a reaction to that initiative of the Council of Europe. There is no doubt, that realization of the EU Pact for DRF would inf luence the Council of Europe and weaken its role as a main European mechanism in the area of protection of democracy, rule of law, and human rights.

The subject of this article is political culture and its relationship with democracy. The article is focused mainly on Turkish political culture and democratic practices. It is clear that the political system is directly connected with the political culture of society. But how could we distinguish political culture from other things or do we even have to? The purpose of this article is to present and evaluate the main role of political culture, which affects levels of tolerance, interpersonal trust, etc., as well as the adaption of democratic institutions to the current system. The main problems of Turkish political life are discussed in the article with the perspective of the relationship between political culture and democracy. The aim of this article is to present concepts of cultural orientations, the reflection of economic and political factors, social structures, as well as complex and unclear relations between them, which are simultaneously linked to a stable democracy. Therefore, it can be observed that stable democracy is not a coincidence but a result of all mentioned factors.

Since the first quarter of 2020, the whole world has been struggling with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. More and more governments are introducing restrictions and bans for security reasons, with the aim of limiting the transmission of the virus and reducing health risks for citizens. The scale of the problem is best illustrated by the rising numbers of infections and deaths. In addition to the epidemic threat worldwide, the pandemic has brought to light many other problems and challenges. One of them is growing crisis of democracy around the world. Using a systemic approach, the article sets out to analyse the state and problems of contemporary Lithuanian democracy under pandemic conditions, focusing also on indicators of democracy and public opinion polls. It evaluates, inter alia, the state of Lithuanian democracy, the political system and its openness to citizens.

This paper provides an assessment of the possibility of maintaining the democratic quality of the electoral process held under extraordinary conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is part of the considerations on the quality of democracy and its resistance to crisis conditions. The study was conducted using Andreas Schedler’s Chain of Democratic Choice. It covers both a general perspective and a case study of the election of the President of Poland, lasting from March to May 2020 and finally and effectively interrupted only on May 6 – 4 days before the vote. The adopted perspective makes it possible to identify and assess the potential and actual threats to maintaining the democratic nature of the election process at all its stages. Possible technical solutions that may counteract the reduction of the democratic level of the election process at individual stages have also been indicated.

Bulgaria is a partially consolidated democracy. Between the financial crisis of 2008 and the coronavirus pandemic, it began to take on characteristics of authoritarian regimes. However, its case is not a classically understood militant democracy, but quasi-militant democracy. This article aims to present main changes the Bulgarian system faced in 2008– 2019 and its transition from neo-consolidated democracy to quasi-militant democracy. The research questions are: is Bulgaria still a neo-militant democracy? If not, what factors determine and facilitate a departure from a neo-militant democracy?

Constitutional Reform in Kyrgyzstan. Challenges and Threats to Democracy and the Rule of Law

The collapse of the USSR in 1991 led to the emergence of five independent states in Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. Four of them established an authoritarian form of government, while Kyrgyzstan became the only democratic state in the region. This may change after the referendum on constitutional reform, which is scheduled for 2021. The amendments to the Constitution provide for the extension of the president’s powers, which, according to many Kyrgyz researchers, may lead to the transformation of Kyrgyzstan into an authoritarian state. This article presents the results of the analysis of the draft amendment to the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic initiated by the new president of the country, Sadyr Japarov.

Pandemic Challenges Versus Changes in the Law and System Practice Selected European Countries

The article presents the changes that have taken place in the laws and systemic practice of states as a result of counteracting the crisis related to the Covid-19 pandemic. The author, pointing to pandemic challenges as well as actions taken by governments of states belonging to the Council of Europe, pointed out that the peculiar bluntness of changes could be most noticed in the construction and implementation of regulations on states of emergency. On the other hand, the issue of modifying the constitution was approached more carefully.

Digital crowd – characteristics of the phenomenon

The purpose of this article is to describe the phenomenon of the digital crowd, which is a phenomenon specific to the functioning of political debate on the Internet (with particular emphasis on social media). Referring to the concept of Le Bon and Girard, it presents the behavior of the digital crowd and its importance for the development of public debate in the area of mass communication such as the Internet.

Shuttling to and From. The Polish Experience of Democracy

In many European countries, a crisis of the democratic model of exercising power is noticeable today. This phenomenon is also noticeable in Poland. In the article, the author presents the Polish road to democratic shaping of one’s own, referring to historical experiences from the times of the II RP and PRL. It also draws attention to the moment of a specific breakthrough, which took place in 2015. Since then, the rulers have taken steps to overcome the constitutional mechanisms that inhibit the arbitrariness of exercising power and are striving to centralize governments within one political camp.

Drone War as the Permanent State of Emergency

In 2001 began the so-called war on terror which gave rise to numerous and so far unknown strategies and technologies. One of the most important of them are military drones. Initially used for reconnaissance and looking for targets, they quickly became deadly weapons that change the course of war. Death in military conflicts, once inflicted directly by humans, today is inflicted indirectly by advanced technologies. Automated, mathematical algorithms make decisions whether an individual should live or be eliminated in the name of public security. In this article I prove that inflicting death through military drones is not just another war tactic but a new paradigm which may lead to the transformation of legal and political regime of Western countries. I analyze this paradigm in the light of Carl Schmitt’s category of the “state of exception”. I characterize the new methods of controlling law and governing population by Giorgio Agamben’s concept of “inclusive exclusion”.

Changes in Social and Political Order and Their Impact on the Democracy

This article analyzes the rise and diffusion of the radical changes in the fields of international relations and social security that pose a challenge for capitalist representative democracy. This concept reflects the simple idea that the era characterized by strong global economic influences, worldwide aging population, longevity and longer life expectancy, changing labor markets, migration, technological and communications developments, mobility and transportation gives no reason to believe in representative democracy as the future of the world. This article suggests a new point of view on the discussion of the factors that mostly influence social order, social security, labor markets and democracy.

Charles Wright Mills’ elite theory in the perspective of contemporary processes of democratic regression

The aim of the article is to present the works of Charles Wright Mills, primarily his trilogy that criticizes contemporary American society and elites: The New Men in Power, White Collar: The American Middle Classes, and The Power Elite. Although more than half a century has passed since the first publication of these works, the conclusions made by Mills seem to be still valid for us. In his works Mills described the negative aspects resulting from the development of modern society: mass society, disappearance of the public sphere, bureaucratization and concentration of corporate power in the hands of the “power elite”. All this means that Mills’ thought is still relevant. The article attempts to indicate the universal nature of Mills’ elite theory and use it to explain the causes of contemporary processes of democratic regression.