Search results

The purpose of the article is to analyse the role of the public prosecutor's office as an institution that is specifically embedded in between certain elements of the political system, particularly between the executive and judiciary powers. For this reason, the public prosecutor's office can be regarded, together with courts, as an institution that aims to be actively involved in administering justice and an instrument of the executive power to guarantee internal security and to execute internal functions of the state. The public prosecutor's office, given its specific operation area, is expected to prosecute crimes effectively as well as safeguard the rule of law, which may be threatened by the infringing actions of not only individuals and criminal groups but also of officials and state institutions. Hence, with respect to the accountability of the public prosecutor's office, it should be more independent of the executive power which is subject to political rules. It appears, however, that separating it officially from the executive power does not have to lead automatically to the public prosecutor's office independence of political influence when other direct (the Prime Minister's and the Minister of Justice's authority over the Attorney General) and indirect mechanisms of prosecutors' political dependency (clientelism, politicisation and political bonds of prosecutors with politicians) exist.

The ethical analysis of The Theory of Moral Sentiments as well as 'n Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations presents A. Smith's (1723-1790) works in a completely new light than it is conventionally presented in the neoliberal interpretation. One of the most important issues appears to be the classification of moral sentiments. He divides them into social, neutral, and antisocial. The neutral sentiment - the so-called 'self love' forms the basis of acting in the best interests of oneself and as such it constitutes the foundations of the development of entrepreneurship. This can be transferred into an antisocial sentiment, i.e. selfishness. In such a case it has a devastating influence on economic activity, social life as well as public life. For this reason A. Smith shows the importance of the social emotion of sympathy understood as empathy and the acceptance of the behaviours that are acknowledged as proper. As the findings of his analysis clearly show, selfishness was the characteristic trait of the businessmen at that time, i.e. merchants and the owners of manufacturing plants. With reference to the works of A. Smith we should therefore identify and then describe all the psychological as well as economic mechanisms that in effect postpone or minimise the chances of the transformation of self love into selfishness, i.e. the activities based on rational economic grounds into the ones that are driven by mere greed. The interpretation of the issue presented in the article questions the conventional neoliberal interpretation. The latter reiterates that in the works of A. Smith the most important ones are the sentences taken out of the context that define the state as a night watchman and the market that is controlled by the invisible hand. The ethical analysis holds that in the opinion of A. Smith alone, one of the most fundamental problems of capitalism lies in the fact that self love should be realised within the boundaries set by the community. The Theory of Moral Sentiments is so vital then, in which he analysed sympathy, social sentiment, and selfishness, i.e. an antisocial emotion, along with 'n Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, in which he addressed the issue of collective selfishness.

Stanisław Szukalski był z jednym z z najgłośniejszych i najbardziej kontrowersyjnych polskich artystów. Znany w Polsce międzywojennej, został zupełnie zapomniany po II wojnie światowej, kontynuował swoją pracę artystyczną w Stanach Zjednoczonych Ameryki, gdzie zmarł w latach 90. Szukalski zafascynowany był słowiańszczyzną, pradawną przeszłością i tradycją Słowian, szczególnie na ziemiach polskich. W tych wątkach historii znajdował inspiracje dla swojej twórczości i koncepcji politycznych. Wzbudzając tradycje inne niż katolickie i łącząc je z myślą polityczną współczesnych sobie Polaków, stał się niezwykłym nie tylko artystą ale i politykiem. Niniejszy artykuł to próba odnalezienia prawdziwych źródeł inspiracji doktryny politycznej i sztuki Stanisława Szukalskiego w oparciu o kontekst historyczny, społeczny i kulturowy epoki.

The authors analyze the essence of the problem of financialization of economy in the national and global perspectives, at the same time pointing out that this process also refers to the sphere of politics. The example of the 2007+ financial and banking crisis indicates the negative features of this process in reference to economy but also to the financial security of the states and their citizens. In the sphere of politics financialization in the external aspect is reflected in transferring public funds to private economic entities, mainly financial corporations, by virtue of political decisions. In the internal aspects financialization means an increasing role of financial instruments and resources in establishing public authorities, including parliaments and presidential offices. This tendency is considered by the authors to be an immanent feature of contemporary capitalism and a threat to democracy.

This article provides an overview of some of the most prevalent topics in post-Yugoslav memory politics as well as on some of the scholars working on these issues, focusing on the commemorative practices of the Second World War and the wars of the 1990s. Thirty years after the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's disintegration, the discourse of post-war memory politics continues to dominate nearly all of the successor states, even though two of them have seemingly left the past behind to join the European Union. While the wars of the 1990s created an entirely new memoryscape in the region, they also radically transformed the way in which each country commemorated the Second World War. Although the article examines in-depth the collective remembrance of sites of memory, such as Jasenovac, Bleiburg, and Knin, trends across the broader region are also addressed. The work of young scholars, as well as experienced researchers, who have introduced innovative approaches in memory studies in the former Yugoslavia, is highlighted to show how new studies focus on the cultural reproduction of dominant narratives in addition to top-down political discourse.