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The article focuses on the theoretical and practical analysis of various levels of governance in higher education - at the systemic level, at the institutional level and at the level of public policy making in higher education system and universities. Both Poland and Ukraine are facing the common challenges of the urgent need to diminish bureaucracy at universities and to deregulate the system of higher education, which requires the necessary changes to the legal framework at the institutional and systemic levels. The article considers which tools in the process of transformation of higher education, both at the macro (governance in HES and public policy) and micro (governance and management in HEI) levels can be used in order to find effective solutions in the areas of management, governance and public policy in the higher education system.

The purpose of this article is to provide a detailed overview of the essential measures and regulations implemented by the European Union within the framework of its public policy on cybersecurity and make a comprehensive comparative analysis of the cybersecurity capabilities in E. U. Member States and their national strategies in this area. This article highlights multiple issues that should be the center of attention in regard to public policy on cybersecurity, which made it possible to evaluate the compliance of the existing 104 Zbigniew Chmielewski Studia z Polityki Publicznej regulations passed by the E. U. policy makers and the way it was approached. Based on the 2015 Software Alliance (BSA) survey and other available sources an analysis was made to evaluate the readiness of E. U. Member States to ensure security in cyberspace. Special attention was paid to "The Assumptions of Cybersecurity Strategy of the Republic of Poland", developed by the Ministry of Digitisation and published in February 2016.

The educational reform designed by Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (the Law and Justice political party) fits in a pattern of the previous Polish reforms, primarily due to the way they were introduced. The political rather than substantive factors determine their design, they are introduced too hastily, and the appointed experts are treated as an embellishment. This mode of operation is characteristic not only of Poland. The researchers cited in the text (J. Nelson, M. S. Archer, N. Luhmann) indicate its root causes and limited effectiveness. The state remains the most important player in shaping the educational system despite the attempts to reduce its influence on education under neo-liberal policies. However, the current analysis of its limited effectiveness should lay the foundations for a policy, which would take into account the need to reckon with the interests of other actors as well as to develop a long-term strategy.

The author describes and summarises the main theories relating to the specificity of the European Union structure as an internally complex organism which is being characterised by scientists as an international organisation as well as a confederation and a federation. Many researchers compare the process of the European Union formation to the nation-state formation, others compare the E.U. to the United States of America and many more indicate that the E.U. structure with its specific multi-level governance looks like a neo-medieval empire. What we can see in this empire is a network of overlapping systems of powers and areas of loyalty. The author points out that structurally the E.U. can be visualised as a model of multilevel governance and as such can be defined as a sui generis political system. So it is not analogous to the nation state but rather to a system of governance without a formal governing body. This notion is the result of a growing level of interdependence one can see in the international arena. In the second part of article, the author addresses the sovereignty issues which relate to the E.U. member states as well as the E.U. as a separate body. He reviews the theories which variously explain the process of European integration and its influence on internal policies within member states.

The creation of socio-economic policy is not, however, the main domain of the second chamber, especially in those systems, where the model of asymmetric bicameralism is implemented. The limitation of the process of creating economic policy is observable for example in the Czech Republic, where the Senate does not participate in passing of the budget act. Socio-economic policy of the state is not the main scope of interest of the Polish Senate either. The majority of legislative initiatives results in the creation of a new law and it does not raise the subject of socio-economic state policy directly. There are to be found, however, some initiatives that propose changes in the tax system, labour law, social care law or in the area of pensions and annuities. Owing to the legislative initiatives of the Senate accounting chambers and employers' associations were created. While analyzing the role of the Senate in socio-economic state policy the actions of Senate committees, especially of the Budget and Public Finance Committee, the National Economy Committee, the Family and Social Policy Committee, the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee are worth emphasizing. Those committees put forward amendments to the budget act, review the laws passed by the Sejm or international agreements concerning socio-economic policy. Some of the effects of the Polish Senate's committee work is, among many, proposing by the Budget and Public Finance Committee, on behalf of the Senate, a number of amendments to consequent budget acts. It should be stressed, however, that the Senate undermines its role in the field of socio-economic policy. It takes, so to say, additional measures to other activities. A lack of long-term and comprehensive programmes can be seen in those actions. The Senate uses the instruments of government, nevertheless, it does so in moderation.

The following publication elaborates on the notion of international tax competition and international tax avoidance in the light of cross-border public policy. In terms of intercommunity relations, tax competition may be defined as a phenomenon consisting in application of various tax instruments for the purpose of developing a state's economy and prosperity by means of increasing competitiveness of the domestic business activity or attracting foreign investments. Tax competition is a natural consequence of the processes of globalization since in the reality of growing business interrelations, tax considerations exert more and more influence over investment decisions of holding companies. It reveals the dissonance between the interests of the particular member states in the EU and the interest of the European Union as a whole. Usually it is difficult to mark the border between a harmful and an advantageous tax competition.

In recent years the euro area has been characterised by a very low rate of economic growth (in some years there was even a real reduction in the volume of production). This has launched a debate among economists about the instruments to be applied in public policy to bolster the economy. In this article the author analysed the possible effects of fiscal and monetary policy on economic growth when economic stagnation in the euro area is accompanied by a high level of public debt as a percentage of GDP and a very low level of the interest rates set by the central bank as well as market interest rates. On the basis of economic theory the author considers whether expansionary fiscal policy will contribute to the growth of real output, or merely enlarge the public debt and increase the risk of sovereign debt default and currency crisis. The author also introduced the concept of quantitative easing as an instrument of expansionary monetary policy.

The first part of the article is dedicated to the classic approach to security in three areas: the security of the individual, the state and on the international stage. Then the author conducts an analysis of the interdisciplinary approach to security. He characterised the behavioural as well as sociological and economic theories. The author analyses the government policies pertaining to internal security in the last fifteen years. He explained the legal and constitutional rules of the government administration in Poland and then characterised the system of institutions responsible for security within the country involving a critical analysis of internal security policy, i.a. its effectiveness and efficiency. The author formulates the thesis which holds that within the last fifteen years the governments have failed to design an effective policy of internal security, so far. The postulated concepts and governmental proposals have been designed as temporary measures and under political pressure without much consideration for systemic solutions. The policy of internal security lacks the systemic approach deriving from the theory of organisation.

Genetic modifications of organisms arouse a lot of controversy. Some people consider them to be beneficial for the future of the world, others, on the contrary, see them as a series of threats. For this reason, the function of the State is important, through creating specific regulations, controls the flow of GMO products on its territory. There are doubts, whether the regulations sufficiently protect the domestic market against uncontrolled flow of genetically modified products. Also the question remains if the scope of norms is sufficient, and the use of GMOs is appropriate for the safety of the environment.

This article is an attempt of trying to determine the role and place of the Internet as a medium in the contemporary world. Authors describe Internet Addiction Disorder which can bring plenty of unexpected and unwanted health symptoms. They say about creating temporary identities in Internet by using different nicknames. They describe a lot of addictions and threats such as cyber porn, hacking or aggression that seem to be more and more popular in cyberspace. Moreover, authors want to find an answer if Internet is only the source of threats or it can be perceived as an educational place. Furthermore, they write about beginnings of the Internet and try to realize that it is an example of medium used in the technological revolution.

In June 2015 the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy announced an amendment to the Labour Code, which is the reaction to the prevalence of employment based on-fixed term contracts in Poland. The scale of this phenomenon is not observed in any other E. U. state. New regulations may result in a decrease in the share of fixed-term employees of the total number of employees to be observed in the last few years. The Ministry intends to replace the limit of the renewals of a job contract concluded with an employee (currently the second renewal of the contract results in the conclusion of a permanent job contract) with another restriction: the total duration of such contracts should not exceed 33 months. The problem of an excessive share of flexible forms of employment has been widely analysed in the literature in recent years. It has become the subject of studies in the area of economy and sociology as well as an issue addressed by labour law experts. The expansion of flexibility has also received criticism from the trade unions, which influenced the mass media discourse - it is enough to mention the popularity of the term 'junk contracts' since 2012. The author attempts to comprehensively analyse the problem of flexible forms of employment, which include such issues as: the reasons for their popularity among employers, the scale of the use of particular forms based on the available statistical data, the construction of protective regulations of domestic labour law in the light of the requirements resulting from the E. U. and the I. L. O. membership, as well as social and economic consequences of the use of flexible forms of employment.

The article presents the influence of globalisation on identity and the question of individualisation. Globalisation implies multiple processes that are not uniform, as they occur at different times and in different places. Globalisation impacts the youth, families and cultural systems. The processes of globalisation may contribute to the loss of cultural identity. The diverse nature of globalisation has given rise to new identities. Identity is defined as a process of internal and external adjustment. Concurrently, the challenges posed by globalisation are presented, for instance: identity and freedom of individualisation versus community and belonging. The author explores some of the new challenges and trends, presenting them from selected theoretical perspectives.

Progress in medical sciences, biomedical engineering and medical robotics provided rehabilitation robots – novel solution regarded as more effective than traditional forms of rehabilitation. Use of rehabilitation robots, despite they are at the beginning of their development, is wide discussed from medical, social, economical and ethical points of view. Paper aims at analysis the extent to which current possibilities in this area are exploited, including chances and threats.