EXPERT AND BUREAUCRATIC POWER IN SHAPING POLISH SELF-GOVERNMENT SYSTEM. THE CASE OF THREE CO-AUTHORS

Michał Kulesza, Jerzy Regulski, and Jerzy Stępień are three co-authors of polish self-government reform (1990 – 1998). The author of the article searches their roles as experts as well as politicians in shaping self-government system. Final conclusion is as follows: although they were “scientific owners” of the problem, their important part in resolving it was more political (bureaucratic) than professional. The matter of their professional role was generally out of question. Practically, the most difficult task was not the shape of future self-government system but the implementation of it. Key in resolving this problem was the political position of aforementioned co-authors, their participation in bureaucratic power, and openness for lobbying. It is a meaningful lesson for the future reformers, each and every one of them.

THE POLITICS OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS IN THE ELECTIONS OF COMMUNE COUNCILS

In this article, I will focus on the evolution of the systems of elections to the commune councils in Poland. Between 1990 – 2014, seven elections to the commune councils were organized in Poland, conducted on the basis of four different voting systems. The most important alterations in the ordinations between 1990 and 2011 included: changing the category of entities qualifying for majority election system, modification of the dimension of the constituencies, changing the mode of distribution of seats, introducing electoral threshold, diminishing the number of councilors, implementing the procedure of “grouping list”. Analysis of changes in the electoral regulations leads to the conclusion that the elections to municipal councils have been politicized.

The article analyses the Polish political thought after 1989 concerning the local self-government. Attention was drawn to various currents of the Polish political thought, such as liberalism, conservatism, the teaching of the Church, social democracy or nationalism. Particular attention was paid to the role of the self-government in building civil society and to the forms of citizen participation. According to the main hypothesis, the activity of the local self-government is generally accepted. The self-government is an important element of political projects and is considered an important element of civil security and plays an important role in building the civil society. The thought of Charles Taylor “the atrophy of the self-government constitutes a danger for the stability of the liberal society and in the consequence for the freedom protected by it” suited undoubtedly the liberals and the representatives of other political trends

Discussion whether to formalize participatory budgeting or not has been solved. Again, this time it has happened without scholars’ engagement. Given this situation, can we say that whoever is satisfied? The amendment of the act that introduced legal form of participatory budgeting as a new tool of public consultation does not meet anyone expectations. The reason to think so is that there is no new and compulsory form of public engagement in financial decisions. Moreover, organizational framework and the huge variety of using participatory budgeting have been turned to uniform pattern. Equally, it is hard to agree that implemented solutions, previously though as a way to increase citizens’ involvement in functioning and scrutiny part of public bodies, have been met.

The Use of Censuses in Elections to Constitutive Bodies of Local Government Units

The basic issue when determining the principle of universal suffrage is to indicate the group of people who shall have the right to vote. However, it may be restricted by suffrage censuses. The 21st century brought the significant challenges in determining entities that can benefit from the electoral rights, also in the elections to constitutive entities of local government units. It should be remembered that the world is still subject to the numerous processes of change. Therefore, the electoral law cannot be indifferent to it but should be adjusted by the legislator to the changing conditions in which given individuals function. The author of this study has analyzed existing legal solutions and is trying to answer the question of whether current regulations can be considered optimal, or whether there is a need for a new definition of constraints on electoral law, in the context of globalization processes that result in much more frequent and easier movement of people, and associated with this mixing of citizens of individual countries, or residents of the local government units of territorial units.

Development strategies of cities with poviat rights

The article presents the results of research on development strategies of cities with poviat rights. The reason for undertaking the research was the addition of provisions on such development plans to the Act on Self-Government in 2020, and its aim was to determine, in quantitative terms, what number of cities have such plans and whether their adoption is related to the size and number of citizens of the cities. The research was also qualitative in scope and concerned the form and content of development strategies, with the aim of identifying their most important features.

The People’s Courts of the nomadic population of tsarist Turkestan – an important element of the “local” authorities’ structure (based on archives, legal documents and other materials)

The article considers the status and the role of “native” judicial power in the system of common local self-government bodies among the nomadic population in the pre-revolutionary Central Asia.

Financial Autonomy of Local Government Units in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland – Selected Problems

The scope of this article is to show selected problems concerning constitutional regulations of financial autonomy of self-government units in Poland, in the light of the legislator’s freedom to determine their incomes by bills. It appears that in the light of the current regulations, the freedom of the parliament is too great, which significantly limits the financial independence of local government units. The article will present proposals for changes to Polish constitutional regulations in this area in order to increase the self-government financial autonomy, with reference to the solutions in force in selected European countries. It is necessary to increase the influence of self-government about bills concerning their incomes and expenses, so it should be a constitutional obligation to consult such projects on the forum of the Joint Government and Self-Government Commission. The postulate of transforming the Senate into a Self-Government Chamber is also worth considering.

Self-Government And Decentralisation In The Political Thought Of Hans-Hermann Hoppe

The aim of this article is to reconstruct and analyse the ideas of self-government and decentralisation present in the thought of a leading representative of anarcho-capitalist libertarianism, Hans-Hermann Hoppe. In the previous research on the history of political thought concerning local government, there is no study that would concern the attitude of libertarianism to local communities. In the study of libertarianism, in turn, as well as in libertarian thought itself, the issues of self-government, decentralisation or local government are rather a side issue, absent in the course of the main considerations. The counter-intuitive nature of libertarianism as a doctrine that advocates an anarcho-capitalist order, which excludes the existence of state institutions, also argues in favour of addressing the title topic. Contrasting the anarcho-capitalist view of self-government and decentralisation with the contemporary dominant understanding of local government may contribute to enriching the discussion within normative local government theory with new conclusions and perspectives. This article, due to the limited scope of the research, is only a contribution to further studies on the problem of self-government and decentralisation in libertarian thought.