It is not without reason that we reflect more and more on the causes of the current state of political thinking in Polish society. Indeed, in modern times, difficult and uncertain, and turbulent times of great transformation, human thought is clearly not keeping pace. Given the rapidly changing external circumstances we have become increasingly confused and inept. We do not really know how to deal with the emerging threats and challenges of modern times, described by the eminent sociologist and philosopher Zygmunt Bauman as the era of “liquid modernity”. It is noticeable that our perception and image of social reality and our role in it, including its political dimension, is quite imperfect and restricted, and that our ideological life is in deep crisis or has perhaps even disappeared.

Political thought of polish underground national movement during World War II

Nationalists were one of the numerous Polish political movements during World War II. Actively engaging in the fight against the occupying forces, they suffered heavy losses, but does not prevent them in the creation of significant heritage in the field of political thought. The aim of the article is to present the political thought of Polish national movement during the Second World War. Historical, qualitative and comparative methods were used. The whole has been divided into several parts,, in which author examines the with issues of political thought as: Polish war aims, vision of state borders, ratio to national minorities, vision of the political system, economic vision, vision of national security, education and upbringing. The whole article has to show how rich the heritage of those generations.

W prezentowanym artykule omówiona została ewolucja ideowo-polityczna Stowarzyszenia PAX w pierwszych miesiącach tzw. „festiwalu Solidarności” (sierpień–grudzień 1980). Przedstawiono podstawowe założenia ideologii i programu ruchu katolików postępowych w okresie, gdy kierował nim nieprzerwanie do zakończenia II wojny światowej Bolesław Piasecki, i ich rewizję po jego śmierci. Skoncentrowano się zwłaszcza na lansowanych przez stowarzyszenie koncepcjach „socjalizmu całego narodu”, samorządności, demokratyzacji, poszerzenia „bazy rządzenia”, wypracowania płaszczyzn do porozumienia narodowego (od Ruchu Porozumienia Narodowego do Wielkiej Koalicji). Analizie poddano również relacje pomiędzy PAX a niezależnymi związkami zawodowymi (NSZZ „Solidarność) oraz aparatem partyjno-rządowym. W programie PAX „Solidarność” nie była typowym związkiem zawodowym, ale społecznym (ogólnonarodowym) ruchem rewindykacji praw obywatelskich, dlatego przewidywano, że powinien on uczestniczyć jako podmiot w podejmowaniu decyzji państwowych, tworząc nową „oś pionową” struktur państwowych. W okresie „festiwali Solidarności” z niezależnymi związkami zawodowymi związało się wielu członków PAX. Stowarzyszenie włączyło się czynnie w pomoc przy zakładaniu struktur związkowych.

The concept of raison d’état (reason of state) is very popular in Poland, and it will apparently remain relevant as long as the Polish state exists. The idea is commonly used in official statements by politicians, political journalism, and in various government documents. Raison d’état is an ambiguous concept, which results from simplified and often popular opinions on what is and what is not the raison d’état. Conceptual chaos, intuitive judgments and notions appear to be the reason why political scientists are discouraged from systematized and in-depth studies on this political category. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part discusses definitions of raison d’état and the accompanying problems. The second one deals with the theoretical aspect covering the subjective, objective, temporal and spatial scopes of the concept. Two new definitions of raison d’état were mentioned which diminish the importance of the nation-state at the expense of international organizations. The third part presents methodological approaches in studies on raison d’état understood in two ways: as a system of vital interests of the state and as a category of political thought.

The insignificant trends of political thought. Contradictions and understatements

The main issue of this article are the insignificant trends of political thought and their contradictions and understatements. The article describes the following trends of political thought: anarchism, communism, nationalism, monarchism, transhumanism, primitivism, ruralism and also National anarchism, National Bolshevism and Slavophilism. These trends of political thought are characterized by internal contradictions and opposition to democracy.

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

Views of the National Party (1928-1939) merit special attention, given both the Party’s prominent role in the political life of interwar Poland and the interesting combination of various elements derived from diverse ideological trends within the Party’s programme. The ideological legacy of the National Party reflected, to a large extent, the key constituents of the National Democracy’s political thought, such as nationalism, representation of all social classes, national integrity and the concept of the nation-state. The National Party underwent major evolution and was subject to internal divisions which makes the image of its political thought much more complex. Based on an analysis of the National Party’s political thought, several conclusions can be formulated. The National Party developed its own views regarding political systems. These were, to a large extent, determined by their own system of values based on the national idea. The National Party’s political system projections were mainly inspired by (1) the successes of the “new type” states; (2) pressure from totalitarian systems; and (3) the influence of the economic and spiritual crisis. The National Party leaders wanted to make the political system more efficient. Nonetheless, views in favor of directly imitating any foreign political systems could hardly be found in the Party’s political thought. The National Party’s ideologists and journalists invariably stated that there was no pre-defined political system, but its form had to be adjusted to the specificity and unique character of a given national body. Although inspiration was drawn from external political systems, the Party’s political thought did not lose its independence.

Reflections on the nation and the state in the Polish political thought

The paper provides an overview of mostly nineteenth-century concepts of nation and state, juxtaposed with sociological theories. It begins with the definitions of the basic concepts and their relations, along with the change in their meaning over time. The author presents also the origins, development of the Polish nation and state, comparing the description with sociological theories. Next, the Enlightenment, Romantic and positivist concepts of nation and state were presented together with views prevailing in particular currents of the Polish socio-political thought. According to the author, the idea of nation and state gradually crystallised in the Polish political thought, to take on suggestibility and become an essential component of social life, albeit this process occurred in a variety of ideological milieux, with its culminating phase at different points in history. The author emphasised the polymorphism of the idea of nation and state as well as a variety of contexts in which they may occur.

Kazimierz Dagnan: Polish National Socialist

Kazimierz Dagnan (1891-1986) was an extraordinary, but practically forgotten today, figure. The activist of the independence conspiracy before the World War I, and the Piłsudski’s legionnaire had an almost archetypal biography for a generation of fighters for independence. In independent Poland, he found himself in the government administration, but he did not limit himself to an administrative career. He followed his own path, faithful to your ideals connecting the cause of Polish independence with the idea of the emancipation of the working class. He was active on the pro-Piłsudski wing of the National Workers’ Party (NWP), and after the coup d’etat in 1926 he became involved in the splinter pro-regime NWP-Leftgroup. He was an ideologist of the national workers’ movement, stubbornly trying to radicalize him. Making a synthesis of nationalism, democracy and reformist socialism, he created the original Polish national-socialist ideology. This ideology assumed the construction of a „People’s Poland of Labour” as a democratic state in which grassroots socialization of the means of production and exchange would gradually proceed. The priority for Dagnan still was the sovereignty of the Polish state and the primacy of the Polish (ethnic) nation in this state. The political expression of this ideology was the Party of National Socialists created in 1933, which, however, did not succeed and vegetated on the margins of political life. During World War II, Dagnan returned to his native Nowy Sącz. In People’s Poland, he began a second life there - as an artist and social activist valued in the local community.

“Republic of Managers” or “Primitive Taylorism”? Economic Concepts of Aleksander Bocheński in 1980s

An important element of Aleksander Bocheński’s political reflection was the analysis of economic phenomena. It was also always intertwined with the geopolitical reflection retained in the mainstream of political realism, which was the key to his concept. Bocheński affirmed the People’s Poland as a form of Polish statehood not only in the international but also in the economic aspect. He postwar than pre-war economic achievements, seeing the Second Republic primarily through the prism of the economic crisis and the weakness of industry. Over time, he became an honest supporter of the command and distribution system, raising the importance of labor discipline and high production rates. The emergence of Solidarity, martial law and the policy of Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski’s team considered not only in terms of the threat of Soviet intervention and internal destabilization, but also the economic crisis. He wanted a deep reform of the economic system, which nevertheless did not violate the general principle of economic control by the state. In place of the „dictatorship of bureaucrats,” he proposed the „dictatorship of managers”, combined with an appropriate system of incentive motivators. This led to his criticism of the idea of introducing competition mechanisms into the PRL economy. Treating the economic system as a great conglomerate, which every employee should feel obliged to work efficiently and reliably in the name of higher goals, he seemed to create a Polish variant of Taylorism. On the other hand, despite the large anachronism of his reflection, he appreciated the importance of computerization and economic relief for private entrepreneurs. In the turn of 1989, he referred with reserve to the actions of Deputy Prime Minister Balcerowicz, raising the social costs of shock therapy and its negative effects on Polish industry. At the end of his life, he was much better at assessing the economic policies of communists than the governments of the Third Polish Republic. He did not believe in the „invisible hand of the market”, but in the decisive role of adequately managed capital, that is, an efficient state apparatus. The pre-war and post-war advocate of etatism also remained faithful to the belief that the international position of the state determined to a decisive extent its economic potential.

Poland „towards Russia” in 1941. Unknown memorial of Ksawery Pruszyński as a press attaché of the Polish embassy in the Soviet Union)

Ksawery Pruszyński, one of the most talented Polish writers and publicists of the first half of the 20th century, underwent significant political evolution in his short life. His first articles unequivocally testified that he was an anti-communist, fiercely fighting all sympathy for Soviet policy, and at the same time an apologist of Józef Piłsudski and a spokesman for the Promethean concept. Pruszyński, a conservative, having respect for the Polish traditions of this movement, but seeking his new formula adequate to the requirements of modern times, and a spokesman for „superpower Poland” was at the same time a socially sensitive creator and reluctant to any dictatorship. This quarreled with his colleagues from the editorial staff of „Youth Rebellion” and led to the ranks of cautious apologists of the republican side fighting in the Spanish Civil War. However, he formulated the concept of the Polish-Soviet alliance against Germany, for which the price could be Polish eastern lands, and the prize - German eastern lands, only after the outbreak of the German-Soviet war. In 1941–1942 Pruszyński was a press attaché at the Polish embassy of the USSR. At that time he prepared the presented memorial, probably directed at the hands of Prime Minister General Sikorski, in which he wrote about the need to recognize the importance of the Russian factor in Polish politics. The text anticipated the article Towards Russia, published in 1942, in which the author has already ambiguously suggested the necessity of the assignment of Polish eastern territories in the name of correct relations. This caused a wave of criticism of the publicist, but he was more and more consistent in his views. This led him to return to Poland in 1945 and to accept the post-Yalta reality. He was not an ardent admirer, but he considered her the result of geopolitical realities. This, too, seems to have been the main reason for changing his views on the Soviet Union and communism – adopting hard policy rules as unchanging, perhaps colored by some social spell on Marxist radicalism. At the end of his life, Pruszyński held diplomatic functions. He died tragically in 1950 in a car accident, leaving unfinished texts and questions about the further fate of his views in the changing post-war conditions.

The image of peasant culture in the political thought of selected people’s parties of the Second Polish Republic

Culture formed a significant element of political thought of every major political movement, both during the final years of partition of Poland, and after it regained its independence. The scope of interest of people’s parties covered almost everything that had a rural context, relating to the many millions of peasants. The present article analyzes the program assumptions of the Polish People’s Party “Piast” [Pol. Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe “Piast”], Polish People’s Party “Wyzwolenie” [Pol. Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe “Wyzwolenie”], Peasant’s Party [Pol. Stronnictwo Chłopskie] and the People’s Party [Pol. Stronnictwo Ludowe] relating to the aforesaid category of political sciences. These parties played a significant role in the history of people’s movement, influencing the shape of the recreated Polish state during the interwar bi-decade. The political thought of people’s parties aimed at bestowing the peasant’s culture with both autonomous, and nationwide value. These ideological assumptions were included in the political programs of people’s parties.

The author analyses the political thought of Polish monarchists in the Third Republic concerning the reconstruction of the Kingdom of Poland. The article focuses on such issues as the advantages of monarchy, the features of the monarchist system, the ways of achieving the goal, the king’s competences in the new system, and the possibility of rebuilding the monarchy. According to the author, for 30 years, Polish monarchists have been working comprehensively to win supporters for the idea of rebuilding the monarchy and are preparing for the moment when the political transformation will be possible.

The article focuses on the political and ideological evolution of Andrzej Micewski, with a particular study of the years 1945–1956. This journalist, initially associated with Tygodnik warszawski and Stronnictwo Pracy, made a connection with the group „Today and Tomorrow” after the fall of the independent Christian Democratic trend. Initially, he was a spokesman for the Catholic „third Road” there, but with time he became one of the most ardent supporters of „Catholic socialism” and ideologist of the „PAX” Association. His journalism fully supported the mainstream of official propaganda, expressing his enchantment with the system, incl. in assessing the internal and international situation, as well as in the context of the relationship between the state and the Church, in which he clearly stood on the side of the authorities repressing independent clergy. In 1956, however, he left PAX, founding the weekly magazine “For and Against” and co-creating the concept of a “non-partisan democratic left”. Its defeat probably caused him to believe that there were no prospects for ideological public activity. With time, his activities became more and more machiavellian, also he establishing cooperation with state security agencies. He was active in the “Znak” movement, trying unsuccessfully to build his own faction in it, and in the 1980s he collaborated with the Polish Episcopate and “Solidarity”. In the Third Polish Republic there was deputy to the Sejm, however, already expressing disappointment with political activity. His fascination with Prince Talleyrand was symbolic - it meant that he covered his opportunistic game with great ideas. Thus, he turned from an idealist, a believer in socialism, into a cynical official. He treated politics only as a zero-sum game, despite his excellent understanding of the arcana of politics, which he proved in his extensive historical journalism.

In contemporary political thought there are currents that have references to the term ‘anarchism’ in their names. These are: anarcho-primitivism, anarcho-transhumanism, and crypto-anarchism. The author formulated a hypothesis according to which the mentioned currents of political thought are currents of anarchism in so far as the idea of freedom is a primary value in them, and they are not currents of anarchism if freedom is treated in them as a consequence of the primordiality of other values or as a consequence of the processes of transformations taking place in the modern world and in the past. In order to verify this hypothesis, the author used the analysis of source texts, which made it possible to identify the analysed currents of political thought in the context of validity, superiority or inferiority of the idea of freedom in them, as well as the premises of its presence in these currents.

The Case of KLD. A History of a Community

The article is an attempt to scratch environmental portrait „of Gdansk liberals” who founded the Congress of the Liberal-Democratic. KLD came from Gdansk Social Economic „Congress Liberals”, an informal organization set up two years earlier, a grouping of opposition from environmental Donald Tusk, Janusz Lewandowski and Jan Krzysztof Bielecki – the creators of the magazine „Political Review”. National conference founder held on 29 and 30 June 1990, the group formally registered on October 9 of the same year. His program KLD described as „pragmatic liberalism”. He preached the need for privatization and extension of the scope of the free market. He advocated the Polish integration with Western structures, carefully carried decommunization and the ideological neutrality of the state.

Professor Roman Wapinski’s reflections on the role and tasks of historical biography of historical biography 

In the scientific work of Professor Roman Wapiński (1931–2008), a prominent place was occupied by historical biography. This stream of his writing includes among others biographies of three important figures of the Polish political scene in the first half of the twentieth century: Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski, Roman Dmowski, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, numerous biographical notes published in the Polish Biographical Dictionary, monographs devoted to political awareness and generational groups in the Second Polish Republic, politicians of the Polish political scene in the twentieth century. The analysis of the content of the following article boils down to the statement, which takes the form of the main research thesis (Roman Wapiński identifies with it), that the cognitive values of this genre of historical writing require further scientific research, and go hand in hand with the recognition of: “its citizenship, together with the recognition of the usefulness of some of its varieties for studying the behaviour and fates of larger communities […], besides, it is probably not so rare that this is the only way to more widespread historical education”. The article is based on selected literature on the subject. The specificity of the issue in question and the articulation of the research problem naturally influenced the selection and nature of the research methods applied. The text uses elements of discourse analysis, text analysis, historical and diachronic methods. From among the applied research techniques, the most useful turned out to be the analysis of the testimonies of political thought, the essence of which is to draw conclusions on the basis of source materials collected and relating to the undertaken research problem.

In search of the political concept of “Today and Tomorrow”. Witold Bienkowski’s letter to Bolesław Piasecki in 1947

Witold Bieńkowski (1906–1965) was a Polish Catholic activist, entangled in the dilemmas of the era in which he lived. Before the war, he was associated with Catholic youth movements, during the war, he was an activist of the Front for the Rebirth of Poland. Ge devotedly worked to save Jews in the Council to Aid Jews „Żegota” and in the Jewish section of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Government Delegation for Poland. However, as early as 1944 he was accused of the murder of Ludwik Widerszal and Jerzy Makowiecki, officials from the Information and Propaganda Bureau of the Home Army Headquarters. On the eve of the Warsaw Uprising, he found himself in territories occupied by the Soviet army, where he attempted to act as a government representative for the lands free from Germany. He then made contact with Bolesław Piasecki, but soon he was arrested by the Soviets, with whom he probably held secret political talks. Released by the underground branch in May 1945, at the turn of summer and autumn 1945 legalized thanks to Piasecki, soon assuming the position of editor-in-chief of the „Today and Tomorrow” magazine, and two years later he was appointed a member of the Legislative Sejm. He was a spokesman for the recognition of People’s Poland not only for geopolitical but also ideological reasons, proclaiming the need for radical socio-economic transformations, encouraging Catholics to support them. To gain the authority of this concept, he demanded that the communists should represent Catholics politically, but not in the form of a traditional Christian Democrat party, but with time he came to the conclusion that an informal political environment, even the most influential, meant less than a legal party. Therefore, he became a spokesman for the radical left-wing Catholic party, and when this vision failed, he persuaded Piasecki to formalize their movement ideologically and politically. This is documented by the quoted letter from Bieńkowski to the leader of „Today and Tomorrow” of December 1947, in which he noted that the environment may disintegrate if it is not bound by a specific form serving to implement the program. Bieńkowski quarreled with Piasecki in 1948, later becoming the press clerk of Primate Stefan Wyszyński, and briefly associated with the Christian Social Association. He died, forgotten in 1965, charged with suspicions of the murder of BIP officials. Regardless of this, Piasecki largely took up his concept, creating the „PAX” Association, grading, as Bieńkowski wanted, his leadership and giving it a clear, ambitious program of „overcoming the winner” through „multi-worldview socialism.”

Integration of nations and agrarian parties in Central and Eastern Europe in the political thought of the Polish peasant movement in the ultimate period of the partitions and in the interwar period

The question of European integration in the political thought of the peasant movement in Central and Eastern Europe appeared many times since the second half of the 19th century. In the period of partitions, people searched for paths to freedom and independence. The ideas of creating multinational political organisms were to be means for obtaining a certain degree of subjectivity. Poles saw development opportunities in the federation within the Habsburg monarchy. On the other hand, the union of the peoples of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, mainly Lithuanians, Belarusians and Ukrainians – there was an apparent chance joint struggle with the Russian invader. The geopolitics of the region, constructed in the result of the First World War, meant that the newly created Central European states found themselves between Germany and Russia – both of which were states with imperialist traditions. The question of the union of states, or mainly peasant parties in the political thought of the Polish and European peasant movements appeared several times, but in the 1930s it was rather an addition to the programs of these parties. Initially, the Poles sought an agreement mainly with neighbours facing similar threats. When the implementation of these plans failed, their programs contented with peaceful international cooperation based on the League of Nations.

The representatives of the Austrian School versus importance and the role of the individual and the social cooperation in the development of the civilization

This article is an attempt to analyze and interpretation of position of the representatives of the Austrian School versus importance and the role of the individual and the social cooperation in the development of the civilization. The aim of this article is examined, according to the representatives of the Austrian School, that the individuals and the social cooperation have influence on the development of the wealth of the society and increase of human liberty and also guarantee of peaceful cooperation between humans. Author focus on political thought of the representatives of the Austrian School in the persons like Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Butler Shaffer or Thomas DiLorenzo. Article show that in opinions of the representatives of the Austrian School social institutions like property rights, personal freedom, social cooperation or free market are products of Western Civilization. In the text discuss will be belief that bad ideas are main causes of destructions of civilizations. Author used an interpretative approach and context analysis.