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”.

Celem analizy jest stwierdzenie czy zmiany, które zostały wymuszone regulacjami ustawowymi, rekomendacjami skierowanymi do partii politycznych lub zmianami świadomości społecznej, polegające na zwiększeniu liczby kobiet w parlamentach, wpłynęły na wzrost liczby żeńskiej części społeczeństwa w innych sferach reprezentacji politycznej. Czy przekładają się na zwiększenie liczby pań nie tylko w parlamencie, lecz i na wiodących stanowiskach, takich jak funkcja prezydent, premier czy ministerialna? Przegląd piśmiennictwa, raportów i danych z wybranych państw Europy dowodzą, że wprowadzenie przymusu czy zachęt ze strony państwa skierowanych w stronę podmiotów polityki zaowocowało co prawda zwiększeniem reprezentacji kobiet w polityce, lecz nie wpłynęło w równie dużym stopniu na powierzanie paniom stanowisk kierowniczych w resortach. Dociekania czy i dlaczego kobiety są rzadziej zatrudniane na eksponowanych stanowiskach wydają się być istotne. Choćby z uwagi na fakt, że od wprowadzenia przepisów czy wytycznych dotyczących zasad wyrównywania szans płci w wielu państwach minęło sporo lat, a ich oddziaływanie nadal wzbudza kontrowersje.

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.

The Right to Participate. Introduction to the Analysis of Constitutional Solutions in the Third Polish Republic in the Context of the Concept of Open Democracy

One of the basic elements that distinguish open democracy is civic participation, understood quite broadly, as it covers all civic activities, including non-election activities. Such a wide range of participatory rights was also included in the 1997 Constitution of the Republic of Poland. However, while in the case of open democracy, there were postulates referring to participation as an obligation of citizens towards the community, in the basic law it is limited to civil rights. The aim of the article is to present the characteristics of the phenomenon on both planes.

The article analyzes how personality determines the civic activity of young voters in Poland. To check this, empirical research combining Big Five traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, intellect) and, unlike other studies, four types of civic activity (social commitment, political participation, electoral participation, individual political activity) was conducted. The OLS regression analysis revealed a significant effect of extraversion on most manifestations of civic activity. Those who score higher on this trait were more likely to involve in individual political activity, social commitment, and political participation. Moreover, intellect was associated with individual political activity, while emotional stability had no significant impact on civic activity. The study also discovered some dependencies with the other Big Five traits. Agreeableness positively influenced social commitment and electoral participation, while conscientiousness increased political participation.