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The objective of this paper is to analyze the factors responsible for the delegitimization process of the Third Polish Republic, in particular in the period from 2001 to 2005, when power was in the hands of the coalition of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and the Polish People's Party (PSL). The analysis applies the concept of discursive structures of possibilities which identifies which properties of the political context made the delegitimization efforts of the right wing credible. The opposite mechanisms applied, and delegitimization messages sent by the SLD are the object of interest here as well, as are the results of these activities, that is the ideas which Civic Platform (PO) used to build and legitimize their own identity before the 2005 parliamentary elections. ; The objective of this paper is to analyze the factors responsible for the delegitimization process of the Third Polish Republic, in particular in the period from 2001 to 2005, when power was in the hands of the coalition of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and the Polish People's Party (PSL). The analysis applies the concept of discursive structures of possibilities which identifies which properties of the political context made the delegitimization efforts of the right wing credible. The opposite mechanisms applied, and delegitimization messages sent by the SLD are the object of interest here as well, as are the results of these activities, that is the ideas which Civic Platform (PO) used to build and legitimize their own identity before the 2005 parliamentary elections.

Switzerland is an example of a state that has adopted specific solutions as regards the election and execution of executive power, which has generated the common conviction that the Swiss Confederation is among the most solid democracies in the world. Recent years have shown, however, that political practice has brought about a significant evolution of Swiss solutions as the distribution of power in the parliament has resulted in the abolition of the 'magical formula' that guaranteed the great (and stable) government coalition, and the emergence of initiatives aiming at changing the principles along which executive power is elected in Switzerland. The purpose of considerations presented in this paper is to analyze the specific character of how the executive institutions function in the Swiss Confederation, answer the question of what directions the changes to the composition of the Federal Council are taking, as well as address the directions of evolutionary changes to the principles of electing the members of the Swiss government. ; Switzerland is an example of a state that has adopted specific solutions as regards the election and execution of executive power, which has generated the common conviction that the Swiss Confederation is among the most solid democracies in the world. Recent years have shown, however, that political practice has brought about a significant evolution of Swiss solutions as the distribution of power in the parliament has resulted in the abolition of the 'magical formula' that guaranteed the great (and stable) government coalition, and the emergence of initiatives aiming at changing the principles along which executive power is elected in Switzerland. The purpose of considerations presented in this paper is to analyze the specific character of how the executive institutions function in the Swiss Confederation, answer the question of what directions the changes to the composition of the Federal Council are taking, as well as address the directions of evolutionary changes to the principles of electing the members of the Swiss government.

The objective of this paper is to analyze the factors responsible for the delegitimization process of the Third Polish Republic, in particular in the period from 2001 to 2005, when power was in the hands of the coalition of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and the Polish People's Party (PSL). The analysis applies the concept of discursive structures of possibilities which identifies which properties of the political context made the delegitimization efforts of the right wing credible. The opposite mechanisms applied, and delegitimization messages sent by the SLD are the object of interest here as well, as are the results of these activities, that is the ideas which Civic Platform (PO) used to build and legitimize their own identity before the 2005 parliamentary elections.

Among the numerous functions of political parties, the role of creating the governance system is highly significant. It manifests itself in the ability of political parties to establish permanent relations with the other parties and in this way provides the essence of a party system. The purpose of the present paper is to demonstrate the role the Law and Justice party (PiS) plays in the creation of the governance system. Since 2005, PiS has been one of the two dominant political parties struggling to win the parliamentary and presidential elections. In order to determine the scope of this party's influence on the shape of the party system, their achievements in elections, parliament and Cabinet activity need to be analyzed. Such a quantitative analysis allows us to grasp PiS's development trends in political competition. The paper discusses the reasons for their electoral success in 2005 as well as their defeat in 2007 and the aftermath of both these elections for the party's competition to the government. The achievements of PiS confirm that this party has won the status of a party that structures the political competition, a status that has not been lost irrespective of the five elections at different levels that the party has lost. PiS has successfully adopted the postulates of the Left in terms of the economy and social issues, whereas it has maintained the image of a right-wing party in terms of the shape of the state and its moral foundations. PiS has managed to form an electorate that differs from other parties' electorates in terms of its social and demographic properties as well as its political attitudes, which reinforces the position of PiS in the electoral struggle. Yet PiS has failed to establish a permanent coalition government. The elimination of Self-Defence (Samoobrona) and the League of Polish Families (LPR) from the Sejm has practically deprived PiS of any coalition potential, or has at least significantly reduced this potential. This, coupled with a continuously growing negative electorate, may turn out to constitute the main obstacle to PiS regaining power.

Artykuł podejmuje kwestię przyczyn zmian przywódców w polskich partiach politycznych. Pod uwagę wzięto dwa główne czynniki, które – zgodnie z przyjętymi w środowisku naukowym poglądom – w sposób decydujący warunkują czas trwania na stanowisku. Po pierwsze, przeprowadzono analizę formalnych procedur związanych z odwoływaniem liderów partii politycznych zawartych w statutach partyjnych. Po drugie, przedstawiono wpływ wyniku wyborczego (uzyskane głosy i fakt zawiązania bądź nie koalicji gabinetowej) na zdolność liderów do utrzymania się na stanowisku. Analiza objęła partie polityczne, które uzyskały mandaty w wyborach do Sejmu przeprowadzonych w 2011 r., a więc Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, Platformę Obywatelską, Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe , Ruch Palikota oraz Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej. Artykuł podejmuje zmianę przywódców od momentu powstania wymienionych partii. Analiza ujawniła silny wpływ uzyskanego wyniku wyborczego i rozwiązań statutowych na czas trwania liderów na stanowisku. Fakt zawiązania lub nie koalicji gabinetowej nie wpływa zasadniczo na utrzymanie przywództwa w partii. ; The paper deals with the issue of the reasons for the replacement of the leaders of political parties in Poland. It takes into consideration the two main factors that have been agreed by academic circles to be decisive for the duration of a leader's staying in his/her post. Firstly, an analysis of the formal procedures regulating the dismissal of the leaders of political parties provided by the party statutes is conducted. Secondly, the paper presents the influence election results (the number of votes won and the fact of establishing a government coalition or failing to do so) have on the leaders' ability to keep their post. The analysis encompasses the political parties that won a mandate in the 2011 parliamentary elections, that is Law and Justice (PiS), Civic Platform (PO), Polish People's Party (PSL), Palikot's Movement (RP) and the Democratic Left Alliance (LSD). The paper discusses the topic of the replacement of the leaders since the beginnings of these parties. The analysis reveals a strong influence of election results and statutory provisions on the duration of respective leaders' terms. The fact of entering into a government coalition, or failing to do so, does not have a significant influence on the leaders' maintaining their position.

Artykuł podejmuje kwestię przyczyn zmian przywódców w polskich partiach politycznych. Pod uwagę wzięto dwa główne czynniki, które – zgodnie z przyjętymi w środowisku naukowym poglądami – w sposób decydujący warunkują czas trwania na stanowisku. Po pierwsze, przeprowadzono analizę formalnych procedur związanych z odwoływaniem liderów partii politycznych zawartych w statutach partyjnych. Po drugie, przedstawiono wpływ wyniku wyborczego (uzyskane głosy i fakt zawiązania bądź nie koalicji gabinetowej) na zdolność liderów do utrzymania się na stanowisku. Analiza objęła partie polityczne, które uzyskały mandaty w wyborach do Sejmu przeprowadzonychw2011 r., a więc Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, Platformę Obywatelską, Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, Ruch Palikota oraz Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej. Artykuł podejmuje zmianę przywódców od momentu powstania wymienionych partii. Analiza ujawniła silny wpływ uzyskanego wyniku wyborczego i rozwiązań statutowych na czas trwania liderów na stanowisku. Fakt zawiązania lub nie koalicji gabinetowej nie wpływa zasadniczo na utrzymanie przywództwa w partii. ; The paper deals with the issue of the reasons for the replacement of the leaders of political parties in Poland. It takes into consideration the two main factors that have been agreed by academic circles to be decisive for the duration of a leader's staying in his/her post. Firstly, an analysis of the formal procedures regulating the dismissal of the leaders of political parties provided by the party statutes is conducted. Secondly, the paper presents the influence election results (the number of votes won and the fact of establishing a government coalition or failing to do so) have on the leaders' ability to keep their post. The analysis encompasses the political parties that won a mandate in the 2011 parliamentary elections, that is Law and Justice (PiS), Civic Platform (PO), Polish People's Party (PSL), Palikot's Movement (RP) and the Democratic Left Alliance (LSD). The paper discusses the topic of the replacement of the leaders since the beginnings of these parties. The analysis reveals a strong influence of election results and statutory provisions on the duration of respective leaders' terms. The fact of entering into a government coalition, or failing to do so, does not have a significant influence on the leaders' maintaining their position.

Among the numerous functions of political parties, the role of creating the governance system is highly significant. It manifests itself in the ability of political parties to establish permanent relations with the other parties and in this way provides the essence of a party system. The purpose of the present paper is to demonstrate the role the Law and Justice party (PiS) plays in the creation of the governance system. Since 2005, PiS has been one of the two dominant political parties struggling to win the parliamentary and presidential elections. In order to determine the scope of this party's influence on the shape of the party system, their achievements in elections, parliament and Cabinet activity need to be analyzed. Such a quantitative analysis allows us to grasp PiS's development trends in political competition. The paper discusses the reasons for their electoral success in 2005 as well as their defeat in 2007 and the aftermath of both these elections for the party's competition to the government. The achievements of PiS confirm that this party has won the status of a party that structures the political competition, a status that has not been lost irrespective of the five elections at different levels that the party has lost. PiS has successfully adopted the postulates of the Left in terms of the economy and social issues, whereas it has maintained the image of a right-wing party in terms of the shape of the state and its moral foundations. PiS has managed to form an electorate that differs from other parties' electorates in terms of its social and demographic properties as well as its political attitudes, which reinforces the position of PiS in the electoral struggle. Yet PiS has failed to establish a permanent coalition government. The elimination of Self-Defence (Samoobrona) and the League of Polish Families (LPR) from the Sejm has practically deprived PiS of any coalition potential, or has at least significantly reduced this potential. This, coupled with a continuously growing negative electorate, may turn out to constitute the main obstacle to PiS regaining power.

Although the Solidarity Election Action (AWS) had been the first impressive attempt to unite right-wing groupings after 1989 which was effected in practice, it failed to develop a united, coherent image for the purpose of contacts with the media throughout the whole period it was in power. Reality showed that right-wing politicians failed to take advantage of the assets of the new grouping. Incompetence of its leaders and absence of a coherent policy quickly overshadowed the success of the Solidarity Election Action. As a consequence, Solidarity Election Action has wasted an enormous chance and failed to become a united group of the Polish right wing. Leaders of individual organizations composing the AWS did not give up their leaders' ambitions, which became particularly significant towards the end of theAWS-UW(Solidarity Election Action – Liberty Union) coalition, when the right-wing block was eroding rapidly.

Although the Solidarity Election Action (AWS) had been the first impressive attempt to unite right-wing groupings after 1989 which was effected in practice, it failed to develop a united, coherent image for the purpose of contacts with the media throughout the whole period it was in power. Reality showed that right-wing politi- cians failed to take advantage of the assets of the new grouping. Incompetence of its leaders and absence of a coherent policy quickly overshadowed the success of the Soli- darity Election Action. As a consequence, Solidarity Election Action has wasted an enormous chance and failed to become a united group of the Polish right wing. Leaders of individual organizations composing the AWS did not give up their leaders' ambitions, which became particularly significant towards the end of the AWS-UW (Solidarity Election Action – Liberty Union) coalition, when the right-wing block was eroding rapidly.

Switzerland is an example of a state that has adopted specific solutions as regards the election and execution of executive power, which has generated the common conviction that the Swiss Confederation is among the most solid democracies in the world. Recent years have shown, however, that political practice has brought about a significant evolution of Swiss solutions as the distribution of power in the parliament has resulted in the abolition of the 'magical formula' that guaranteed the great (and stable) government coalition, and the emergence of initiatives aiming at changing the principles along which executive power is elected in Switzerland. The purpose of considerations presented in this paper is to analyze the specific character of how the executive institutions function in the Swiss Confederation, answer the question of what directions the changes to the composition of the Federal Council are taking, as well as address the directions of evolutionary changes to the principles of electing the members of the Swiss government.

The unusual activity of the Federal Republic of Germany during all integration processes in Europe was questioned after Gerhard Schröder's victory in the 1998 election. The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD – Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands), which for many years had been pushed into opposition, did not have a clear vision of its European policy, which gave rise to concerns from European partners.In addition, the coalition government of the SPD-Union 90/The Greens emphasized German interests in European politics more strongly than Christian Democratic governments.With a persistence that had never been seen before, they demanded that the financial burdens of the Federal Republic of Germany towards the EU budget be reduced and the Common Agricultural Policy be reformed, thereby giving up the "checkbook policy". One of the focal points became the reform of the European Union's institutional system and decision-making process. Joschka Fischer's "From a union of states to a federation" speech, related to the reform of the EU, delivered in May 2000, marked a breakthrough and started an international debate on the political form of the Union.The author of this paper presents German ideas on European integration and visions of the form of the European Union from 1998–2005. ; The unusual activity of the Federal Republic of Germany during all integration processes in Europe was questioned after Gerhard Schröder's victory in the 1998 election. The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD – Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands), which for many years had been pushed into opposition, did not have a clear vision of its European policy, which gave rise to concerns from European partners.In addition, the coalition government of the SPD-Union 90/The Greens emphasized German interests in European politics more strongly than Christian Democratic governments.With a persistence that had never been seen before, they demanded that the financial burdens of the Federal Republic of Germany towards the EU budget be reduced and the Common Agricultural Policy be reformed, thereby giving up the "checkbook policy". One of the focal points became the reform of the European Union's institutional system and decision-making process. Joschka Fischer's "From a union of states to a federation" speech, related to the reform of the EU, delivered in May 2000, marked a breakthrough and started an international debate on the political form of the Union.The author of this paper presents German ideas on European integration and visions of the form of the European Union from 1998–2005.

The aim of the article is to define the attitude of Polish parliamentary political parties towards the method of energy production, as well as to present the social perception of changes in the energy sector. The structural connections between parties, based on their energy concepts, were presented by the so called "affiliation networks". Discourse Network Analysis, used in the study, also allowed to identify the most frequently co-occurring concepts expressed by different parties over the past fifteen years (coal, natural gas and renewable energy sources). As a result of the analysis, differences in the parties` approach to the energy issues were determined (among others: division between Law and Justice and Civic Platform since 2011; support for the exclusion of coal as an energy source made by Left and Civic Coalition in the year 2019). In order to present social attitudes towards the energy transformation data created by the Public Opinion Research Centre were used. According to the data, the main concern revealed by Poles regarding the energy transformation process is the possible rising cost of the energy.

General elections to the European Parliament (EP) should be the best opportunity to devote more space in the public debate in the Member States of the European Union (EU) to matters strictly concerning the functioning and future of the EU. The aim of the study is to check whether Polish political parties have any ideas regarding reforms of the EU institutional system. In those cases where the answer to this question is a positive – presentation and brief analysis. The parties that will be taken into account will be those, that registered electoral lists in all constituencies – alone or in coalition with other parties in the 2019 European elections. The indicated goal will be achieved on the basis of content of political programs current during the election campaign to the European Parliament in 2019. To outline the context of this issue, first synthetically presented (based on the results of Eurobarometer survey conducted in autumn 2018) will be what is declared the trust of Polish society to EU institutions and, for comparison, to national institutions. The brief analysis mentioned above programs and the most important conclusions are included in the summary.

The year 1989 was both in Poland and in many other European countries, which were in the sphere of the Soviet influences, the beginning of revolutionary changes: political, economie, social and cultural ones. They also influenced the Polish language of politics which has changed radically for the last 20 years. An important reason for a variety of styles and registers is the instability of the Polish political scene, the abundance of political parties, constantly forming new parliamentary groups and government coalitions, and the disappearance of the others. In the language of the contemporary politics the lexis is particularly extensive and includes thousands of words referring to the public life of the Poles. The major point of the article is the claim that the language of contemporary politics is getting poorer, loses its elegance and becomes more and more primitive. The author sees the reasons for this pauperization in the trends of contemporary culture. He shows the main features of the phenomenon: a turn towards commonness and informality, an emotionality of expressions, a hermetic vision of the world, an impossibility of a dialogue and an increase in populist attitudes.

The study of political activity among the elderly has prompted some American researchers to take up research on "political gerontology" in the late 1970s. One of the effects of the increasing political activity of seniors, but also the growing number of 65+ voters was the emergence a new type of party that uniquely identified with senior citizens and in the wider sense ‒ the elderly, focusing both on demands typical for this electorate. The first party of its kind in Europe was the Italian Pensioners' Party, founded in October 1987. The Balkan pensioners' parties in the majority of cases were among the typical post-communist "demanding parties", expressing the frustration of people, who lost social prestige and financial stability during the economic transformation. Some of them noted significant success by entering into the ruling coalitions (Serbia, Slovenia). Their successes generated the creation of new pensioners' parties in Kosovo and Macedonia. The programs of Balkan pensioners' parties are directed to the entire society, expressing sensitivity to the interests of excluding groups but it is hard to find visible references to elderly problems understood as a social and demographic challenge. The political activity of the Balkan "grey parties" does not seem as a form of elders' emancipation but only as a defense of the pensions and social privileges inherited from the communist times. ; The study of political activity among the elderly has prompted some American researchers to take up research on "political gerontology" in the late 1970s. One of the effects of the increasing political activity of seniors, but also the growing number of 65+ voters was the emergence a new type of party that uniquely identified with senior citizens and in the wider sense ‒ the elderly, focusing both on demands typical for this electorate. The first party of its kind in Europe was the Italian Pensioners' Party, founded in October 1987. The Balkan pensioners' parties in the majority of cases were among the typical post-communist "demanding parties", expressing the frustration of people, who lost social prestige and financial stability during the economic transformation. Some of them noted significant success by entering into the ruling coalitions (Serbia, Slovenia). Their successes generated the creation of new pensioners' parties in Kosovo and Macedonia. The programs of Balkan pensioners' parties are directed to the entire society, expressing sensitivity to the interests of excluding groups but it is hard to find visible references to elderly problems understood as a social and demographic challenge. The political activity of the Balkan "grey parties" does not seem as a form of elders' emancipation but only as a defense of the pensions and social privileges inherited from the communist times.