The text deals with the topic of civic political competence (civic competence) as an additional criterion of the quality of the democracy. It shows both theoretical aspects of this issue, identifying some specific elements of competence and the methodological problems of the research on civic competence. The article also includes reflections on the implementation of civic competence in the processes of deliberation.

The Third Polish Conference of Chairs and Departments of Political Systems was held in the Palace in Ostromecko near Bydgoszcz on April 3 – 4. This time this event was organized by the Chair of the Political System of the Republic of Poland of the Faculty of Political Sciences and International Studies at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń in cooperation with The Fund for International Cooperation Support n.a. Professor Czesław Mojsiewicz, Adam Marszałek Publishing House, and Eastern Studies Center. The event was held under the scientific patronage of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and Polish Political Science Association, while PiK Radio provided media patronage. Prof. Danuta Plecka (NCU) acted head of science, while Zuzanna Osmólska, MA, Katarzyna Miętkiewicz, MA and Paweł Jaroniak, MA were secretaries during the conference. The organizers suggested “Citizen and His Role in Shaping the Political System” as main theme of this year’s meeting. The plan of the conference included two lectures of valued experts on political systems theory and discussions. Among the speakers were the outstanding experts on the subject matter: Prof. Andrzej Antoszewski from the University of Wrocław and Prof. Tadeusz Godlewski from the Nicolaus Copernicus University. However, among participants were representatives of almost all university centres in Poland dealing with political systems. Amongst nearly fifty guests were scientists from the University of Warsaw, the University of Gdańsk, the University of Wrocław, the University of Silesia in Katowice, the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, the University of Łódź, the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, the University of Rzeszów, the University of Zielona Góra, the Kazimierz Wielki University, the University of Szczecin, the Pedagogical University of Cracow, the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, and, of course, the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.

Digital government became synonymous with modern, innovative state structures in which information and communications technologies play a key role – both in the realm of public and commercial services. However, the process of digitization is not free of disturbances. Oftentimes, the source of the latter is the so-called human factor. That is why, what is vital is the social research diagnosing how e-services are received, with the research assessing the level of knowledge on the dangers connected therewith or else, describing the expectations towards the services provided online. Neglecting such research usually leads up to the misallocation of public resources. This paper presents the results of the research conducted among the inhabitants of Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, with the research testing their attitudes towards public e-services.

According to the Polish constitutional tradition, regulations concerning the duties of man and citizen can be found in chapter II of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland devoted to the rights and freedoms of the Polish Constitution, specifically in Articles 82-86 inclusive. The Constitution devotes relatively little space to its duties, and the catalog indicated therein is not extensive. The purpose of articulating obligations in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland is primarily to emphasize the most important ones from the point of view of the state, society and individual. In each country, some constitutional obligations are addressed only to citizens, while others are imposed on all who are subject to the authority of a given country. The Constitution of the Republic of Poland also does so. Indicated in art. 86 the obligation to care for the state of the environment and responsibility for its deterioration is in the group of universal obligations in terms of subject, which are imposed on every person who is within the jurisdiction of the Republic of Poland. This study is an analysis of the concept of environment, care for the state of the environment and the provisions of the constitution on this subject.

This text is an attempt to subjectively consider of the issue of equality, on the topic of which Ryszard Borowicz in 1988 wrote a monograph entitled “Równość i sprawiedliwość społeczna” [Equality and Social Justice]. The author, referring to a historical and legal overview of the notion of the citizen, tries to suggest that it is the political system that determines the status of its citizens. What is more, it also determines not only their legal situation but also the scope of their subjective rights, freedoms and obligations. The general principles enshrined in the constitution are the means that the legislator uses to show the citizens which values he considers the most important and which are intended to guide social change. The main goal of the authors’ deliberations is to signal the need to continue research on equality, especially given that the notion of equality should be considered from a wider perspective, for example taking into account the change of the political and legal system.

Act of March 11, 2022. on defense of the Homeland is a classic example of an “executive act” for the constitutional regulation of issues related to state security, including military security. The Homeland Defence Act contains the so far missing specification of the normative solutions contained in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2, 1997. They concern in particular the development of regulations concerning the following constitutional issues: the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland, the duty of a Polish citizen to defend the Homeland, the President of the Republic as the supreme commander of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland and the Council of Ministers as the body that ensures the external security of the state and exercises general management in the field of national defense. The main goal of the legislator is to replace the archaic and incompatible with the current needs and tasks of the Polish state and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland regulations contained in the Act of November 21, 1967. on the general duty to defend the Republic of Poland.