The Polish model of the executive power presupposes the existence of two pillars of the executive. The Council of Ministers is strong by the virtue of its constitutionally granted competences, whereas the strength of the President is in the direct universal election. This situation creates a zone of conflicts between the supreme organs of the state. The author presents contemporary model solutions of the system of goverment and on this background he argues for a change in the Polish Constitution and the introduction of the model solutions of the chancellor government.

The subject of the article is to identify factors and conditions that determined the system of government of the IInd Republic of Poland under the Small Constitution of 1919. This act served as a temporary constitution until the March Constitution of 1921 came into force, which happened completely only at the end of 1922. Under the Small Constitution there has been made an attempt to introduce the system of supremacy of the parliament. It turned out to be impossible because of high authority of the head of state – Józef Piłsudski, who also served as the Commander-in-Chief. Therefore, the system of balance between the Legislative Sejm and the Chief of State was shaped in the political practice.

Everything has already been done, i.e. the heritage of the Polish parliamentarism of the 20th century

The Article is an attempt to evaluate the experiences of Polish parliamentarism in the twentieth century. The author analyzes Polish constitutional regulations and parliamentary practice, with a particular focus on the solutions adopted in the years 1919–1935, as well the impact of these regulations on the evolution of Polish parliamentarism after the Second World War, also taking into account the current political experiences. The analysis leads the author to the conclusion, that the contemporary defects of the system of parliamentary government are to a large extent the result of the historical experiences of Polish parliamentarism.

Dual Tenure of Executive in Municipalities – Restriction of Civil Rights or Reduction of Pathological Phenomena?

The phenomenon of multiterm mayors has become widespread in Poland, especially after introducing the direct election of the executive in municipalities in 2002. The direct election has given the mayors the dominant position in local politics. The way to limit it has seemed to be the limitation of number of terms in office of the municipal executive bodies to two. In the presented paper the arguments of opponents and supporters of this solution were analyzed. The analysis was made from the perspective of two levels: institutional- legal and socio-political. The aim of the analysis is to show the positives and negatives of the implemented change and the projected effects. The legal basis, its compliance with the constitution and the implications for the active and passive suffrage were analyzed. Also the results for local political systems and for local communities were examined, and it was confronted with the issue of political culture.

The real system of government in Poland after the country’s accession to the European Union

The subject of research presented in the article is the system of government in Poland. The considerations concern the relationship between the normative solutions defined in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997 and the influence of the EU on the modification of political solutions in Poland. It was hypothesized that after Poland’s accession to the EU, the system of government in Poland changed in terms of political practice. It has been shown that functioning in the EU resulted in a departure from the characteristic rationalization of the system of government and bringing it closer to the parliamentary model. The prediction presents possible further directions of modification of the system of governance depending on the evolution of the EU. The research was based on the following methods: institutional-legal, systemic and comparative.

The System of Government in the Tunisian Constitution of July 25, 2022 Against the Background of the Autocratization Process during the Presidency of Kaïs Saïed

The paper deals with the system of government that was established in the Constitution of Tunisia of July 25, 2022. The author points out that both this legal act and the accompanying constitution-making process should be seen as the result of the rapid departure from democratic mechanisms and standards. The autocratization process was launched during the presidency of Kaïs Saïed, although negative tendencies in this field had already occurred earlier. This led to the 2022 Constitution guaranteeing presidential dominance over the government and parliament, as the position of the head of state was significantly strengthened compared to the previous basic law (it was adopted in 2014, in the aftermath of the Arab Spring). The author argues that due to the imbalance of power, the constitutional system of government in Tunisia corresponds more to the assumptions of undemocratic hyper-presidentialism than the typical presidential model.

The „Shadow Cabinet” in the Westminster System of Government

The „shadow cabinet” appointed by the largest opposition party in the House of Commons is an integral part of the Westminster system of government. The practice of its creation originated in the UK in the second half of the 19th century, where it underwent a significant evolution linked to the coordination of the opposition’s strategy enabling it to become a government cabinet, as well as to the official recognition of the position of opposition party leader, who since 1937 has received a fixed salary. The modern and at the same time permanent appointment of shadow ministers who are at the same time spokespersons of the opposition on specific ministerial issues dates back to the long Conservative Party governments (1951–1964) against which the Labour Party formulated an official „shadow cabinet”. The aim of this article was to show the genesis of the „shadow cabinet”, to define its tasks and functions in the Westminster model of parliamentary-cabinet government.

The subject of research presented in the article is the system of government in Poland. The considerations concern the relationship between the normative solutions defined in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997 and the influence of the EU on the modification of political solutions in Poland. It was hypothesized that after Poland’s accession to the EU, the system of government in Poland changed in terms of political practice. It has been shown that functioning in the EU resulted in a departure from the characteristic rationalization of the system of government and brought it closer to the parliamentary model. The research was based on the following methods: institutional-law, systemic and comparative.