Interest groups in the Polish political system

There is an inextricable link between interest groups and the Polish state. Their origins can be traced back to the emergence of collective interests. As the state developed, interest groups advanced their organizational forms and secured more prominent influence on public policy. In the beginnings, interest groups played similar role as political parties. Eventually, their activities diverged and differences became apparent. The term „interest group” began to reflect an organized group of people pursuing particular interests of their members. That allowed to draw a demarcation line between political party and interest group based on the type of affairs they are engaging in, i.e. public versus particular, respectively. The importance of interest groups in democracy cannot be underestimated. It is argued that their participation in policy making improves the quality of law, as they are able to supply legislators with relevant data and analyses concerning particular social issues. However, in some instances, activities of interest groups are far from desirable in a democratic society. The most obvious threat stems from ability to corrupt government representatives vested with powers in policy making. Moreover, this particular characteristic is responsible for a negative image of different interest groups in society.

What proves to be characteristic of the democratic system is the fact that it constantly witnesses various tensions between authorities, opposition, citizens, diverse legal subjects, advocacy groups, etc. Their disputes concern changing or upholding the existing legal environment, which is unavoidable in this case. This situation is not surprising or improper as lobbying understood in this way is an immanent, often useful part of the system. However, what may be puzzling is the fact that democratic political systems are characterized by the variety of attitudes adopted by authorities toward the practice - from pretending it does not exist (and thus requires no regulations) to implementing regulations of a highly general nature. Poland experiences both the practice itself and the attempts to legally regulate it. The aim of the article is to critically analyze the existing situation.

Pressure of the Law Associations in the Process of Law-Making on the Rules of Access to Legal Services in Poland in 2014-2020

The article attempts to assess the lobbying activity of the Polish law associations. The study sought to identify the scale and method of their possible impact on the legislation. The convergence of the public and private interests was assessed in the field of law on legal services and legal aid as enacted in 2014-2020. It was assumed that these interests would be contradictory, which turned out to be false in half of the cases examined. On the other hand, the assumption about the influence of the law associations on the new legislation on legal services was positively verified. The hypothesis stating that their influence is considerable was refuted, as most of the analyzed acts were in line primarily with the common good, and less so with the interests of lawyers. The involvement in the lobbying of the law associations, as well as its effectiveness, turned out to be moderate. In half of the cases, wider access to legal services was associated with a reduction in the privileges of lawyers.

A Good Start, but Still Far from the Podium. About the First Statutory Lobbying Regulations in Germany at the Federal and National Level

On January 1, 2022, two German laws on the regulation of lobbying entered into force. While the Bavarian law is the third regulation of this type adopted in the Länder, the German-wide statutory lobbying regulation is a novelty. The aim of this article is – apart from presenting the latest German lobbying regulations, which have not been described so far in the Polish scientific literature – to answer the question about their assessment against the background of the standards developed in the legislative and scientific achievements in the world. Do the latest German lobbying regulations meet these standards or, on the contrary, do they duplicate the errors repeatedly described in the literature? Or maybe these regulations also contain innovative solutions that should be copied in the lobbying regulations of other countries? Finally, do Länder laws differ from federal laws and how? The assessment of the German lobbying laws is ambiguous. On the one hand, it looks like their authors got acquainted with the literature on the subject, in which the model of optimal regulation was formulated, and German laws contain even innovative solutions. On the other – the shortcomings of the regulation outweigh its advantages – which was already signaled at the stage of legislative works. The laws deserve revision, but are a good start on the way to effectively regulate and scrutinize lobbying activities in Germany.

The process of consultations with civil society is important as it contributes to a transparent legislative process and a good balance of interests in the legislative proposals. In the European Union works on the consultations with stakeholders have accelerated with the publication of the White Paper on European Governance in 2001. In Poland, we have been observing a number of initiatives concerning public consultations and dialogue with civil society in recent years, both on the side of the central administration and the non-governmental organisations. In this context, the analysis of the European consultation standards is even more important. It seems that the European experience in that area constitutes a good reference for the national solutions. This article analyses the EU standards concerning the process of consultations with interested parties. Having in mind effectiveness of EU lobbying groups as well as certain weak points of the Commission consultation process, this article seeks, in particular, to evaluate the Commission new “Stakeholder Consultation Guidelines”. The article concludes also with some reflections on how the EU standards could apply for the Polish consultation practices in the legislative works.