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This paper is the comparative analysis of two historically interdependent systems or socio-economic regimes: democracy and capitalism. The author argues that capitalism serves democracy only to a certain extent, and only within its own established framework. When capitalism takes the "wicked" form, it leads to the distortion of democracy, and even to its destruction. The above analysis has covered the problems of expansion of the vexing phenomenon of poverty, social inequality, accelerated global warming, protectionism and the privileged position of the highly developed countries, the controversy surrounding the governments' approval of apparently democratic and privileged position of the USA. The author's reflections are based on the reliable statistical data from the public institution sources and the author's own empirical research. ; Przedmiotem artykułu jest analiza porównawcza dwóch historycznie zależnych od siebie systemów lub ustrojów społeczno-gospodarczych: demokracji i kapitalizmu. Autor stawia tezę, że kapitalizm jedynie do pewnego stopnia służy demokracji i tylko w ramach przez nią ustalonych. Kiedy kapitalizm przyjmuje formę "niegodziwą", doprowadza do zniekształcenia demokracji, a nawet do jej zniszczenia. Przeanalizowane zostały problemy dokuczliwego rozszerzania się zjawiska biedy, nierówności społecznych, przyspieszonego ocieplania klimatu, protekcjonalizmu i uprzywilejowanej pozycji państw wysokorozwiniętych, kontrowersji wokół legitymizacji rządów pozornie demokratycznych i uprzywilejowanej pozycji USA. Przedstawione przez autora rozważania oparte są o miarodajne dane statystyczne ze źródeł instytucji publicznych oraz empiryczne badania własne.

The creation of the Three Seas Initiative (TSI), the political and economic format for 12 EU countries, is accompanied by a growing interest on the part of world powers and non-EU countries in the region. The aim of the research is to analyse the involvement of three Eastern European countries, namely Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova in projects developed under TSI. The research used a neorealistic approach. These countries belong to the post-Soviet area and, apart from Belarus, show a willingness to cooperate with Western institutions, which arouses a strong reaction from the Russian Federation. The research will result in determining their participation in projects implemented by TSI, including energy, transport, and digital infrastructure. These countries are on the way to working more closely with the Initiative, possibly under the new TSI plus format. The United States supports the expansion of the Three Seas Initiative.

Global Warming and the Kyoto Protocol are issues that raise many controversies. This matter is especially visible in the countries which formed the JUSCANNZ, later renamed the Umbrella Group, which is an alliance in the climate negotiations process that consists of non-European Union developed states that – above all – oppose new greenhouse gases emissions reductions commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol itself and the aforementioned commitments were and still are the sources of conflicts on the international and country levels. On the country level these conflicts are highly noticeable in four Umbrella Group countries: United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada and they occurred on various levels in regard to the Kyoto Protocol: negotiation (case of the United States), ratification (cases of the United States and Australia), implementation (cases of the Australia and New Zealand) and a level that can be called a "withdrawal" level (case of Canada). All these conflicts were caused by differences in main political parties' positions towards the Kyoto Protocol and/or by differences in the look on that matter presented by the legislative branch and the executive branch. In this article the abovementioned issues will be examined. ; Artykuł nie zawiera abstraktu w języku polskim

The paper analyzes solutions used in the process of institutionalization of relations between UE, CIS member states and the states of Asia and Africa. It also analyzes influence of institutionalization of economic cooperation, particularly export and import, on the position of states involved. Different solutions, such as GSTP for least developed countries, are used. Attention is drawn to the asymmetry in trade relations with the less developed countries, which are given preferential access to EU markets. Those solutions are additionally strengthened by financial instruments. It seems that the results of these actions are positive: GNP increase of African states is higher than the GNP increase of EU-27, especially after 2009. The importance of European Commission and EBC is underlined as an important factor that stimulates growth in those countries. Similar cooperation but on different level is also observed in regard to other continents. The cooperation between Asia, Africa and CIS countries is not limited to transfer of funds. It also includes internationalization of contacts and liberalization of trade, services and capital flow as well as cooperation in research and support of economic transformation. The solutions applied are different for each country, however they are based on the same principles.

The study aims to verify the existence of convergence of 28 European Union (EU) members and 16 non-EU post-socialist countries. The analysis covers the 1995–2018 period. The research has also been conducted for shorter subperiods: 1995–2004, 2004–2018, and 2010–2018. Three types of convergence are taken into account: beta (less developed countries exhibit a faster rate of economic growth than more developed ones), sigma (income differentiation decreases over time), and gamma (countries change their ranks in the GDP per capita ranking). The study confirms the existence of β-, σ-, and γ-convergence in both groups of countries. Convergence, however, is not an automatic phenomenon and there are years in which σ-divergence and γ-divergence were observed.

The aim of the author is to present the possible consequences of any further intensification of the global problems which the European Union will have to stand up to, to a larger degree than before. Globalization has not created global problems, but it has contributed to their intensification. There are four groups of global issues that are of particular significance to globalization processes: (1) international security, (2) ecology, (3) demography, and (4) poverty and marginalization. Undoubtedly, the European Union is a 'privileged' region as it comprises safe states. Europe and the United States perceive the prevention of threats to be a common interest, which justifies the claim that the two partners are at least partially chained to each other. However, Europe is vulnerable to the consequences of global threats. In future, poor countries will blame developed countries for their problems, including those related to their natural environment. Adverse demographic trends will result in the European population growing older and there will be a decrease in the numbers of native Europeans. International relations may be destabilized in the long-term by the widening gap between the developed countries and developing ones, and by their feelings of being excluded from globalization processes. An alternative to this scenario could be provided by cohesive and active global policies on the part of the EU, however, it cannot change the adverse consequences of modern global trends by itself.

The aim of the author is to present the possible consequences of any further intensification of the global problems which the European Union will have to stand up to, to a larger degree than before. Globalization has not created global problems, but it has contributed to their intensification. There are four groups of global issues that are of particular significance to globalization processes: (1) international security, (2) ecology, (3) demography, and (4) poverty and marginalization. Undoubtedly, the European Union is a 'privileged' region as it comprises safe states. Europe and the United States perceive the prevention of threats to be a common interest, which justifies the claim that the two partners are at least partially chained to each other. However, Europe is vulnerable to the consequences of global threats. In future, poor countries will blame developed countries for their problems, including those related to their natural environment. Adverse demographic trends will result in the European population growing older and there will be a decrease in the numbers of native Europeans. International relations may be destabilized in the long-term by the widening gap between the developed countries and developing ones, and by their feelings of being excluded from globalization processes. An alternative to this scenario could be provided by cohesive and active global policies on the part of the EU, however, it cannot change the adverse consequences of modern global trends by itself.

The study is the result of a legal comparative analysis of the directions of reforms in the administrative judiciary in the countries of young democracy: Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Ukraine, Georgia and Kazakhstan. The analysis was carried out with reference to the patterns developed in old European democracies, mainly in Austria and Germany. Papers on reforms of the administrative judiciary in each of these countries were delivered at the international scientific conference: Reforms of administrative judiciary in the countries of young democracy (10–11.06.2021, Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Lodz). They focused on three issues: 1) contemporary challenges of the rule of law and administrative judiciary, 2) directions of changes in the national systems of administrative judiciary, 3) the future of administrative judiciary. The content of the study refers to this system of issues, which reflects the stages of development of administrative judiciary in the countries of young democracy. The conclusions drawn from the analysis show the results of reforms at each of these stages – from the constitutionalization of the rule of law, through the independence of the court-administrative procedure, to the stage of the present, extremely difficult challenges, not only of a procedural nature. ; Opracowanie stanowi wynik prawnoporównaczej analizy kierunków reform sądownictwa administracyjnego w państwach młodej demokracji: Polski, Czech, Litwy, Chorwacji, Serbii, Węgier, Ukrainy, Gruzji i Kazachstanu, w nawiązaniu do wzorów wypracowanych w starych demokracjach europejskich, głównie w Austrii i Niemczech. Wygłoszone na międzynarodowej konferencji naukowej: Reformy sądownictwa administracyjnego w państwach młodej demokracji (10–11.06.2021r. WPiA UŁ) referaty na temat reform sądownictwa administracyjnego w każdym z tych państw koncentrowały się na trzech zagadnieniach: 1) współczesne wyzwania praworządności a sądownictwo administracyjne, 2) kierunki przemian w krajowych ...

The study is the result of a legal comparative analysis of the directions of reforms in the administrative judiciary in the countries of young democracy: Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Ukraine, Georgia and Kazakhstan. The analysis was carried out with reference to the patterns developed in old European democracies, mainly in Austria and Germany. Papers on reforms of the administrative judiciary in each of these countries were delivered at the international scientific conference: Reforms of administrative judiciary in the countries of young democracy (10–11.06.2021, Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Lodz). They focused on three issues: 1) contemporary challenges of the rule of law and administrative judiciary, 2) directions of changes in the national systems of administrative judiciary, 3) the future of administrative judiciary. The content of the study refers to this system of issues, which reflects the stages of development of administrative judiciary in the countries of young democracy. The conclusions drawn from the analysis show the results of reforms at each of these stages – from the constitutionalization of the rule of law, through the independence of the court-administrative procedure, to the stage of the present, extremely difficult challenges, not only of a procedural nature. ; Opracowanie stanowi wynik prawnoporównaczej analizy kierunków reform sądownictwa administracyjnego w państwach młodej demokracji: Polski, Czech, Litwy, Chorwacji, Serbii, Węgier, Ukrainy, Gruzji i Kazachstanu, w nawiązaniu do wzorów wypracowanych w starych demokracjach europejskich, głównie w Austrii i Niemczech. Wygłoszone na międzynarodowej konferencji naukowej: Reformy sądownictwa administracyjnego w państwach młodej demokracji (10–11.06.2021 r. WPiA UŁ) referaty na temat reform sądownictwa administracyjnego w każdym z tych państw koncentrowały się na trzech zagadnieniach: 1) współczesne wyzwania praworządności a sądownictwo administracyjne, 2) kierunki przemian w krajowych systemach sądownictwa administracyjnego, 3) przyszłość sądownictwa administracyjnego. Treść opracowania nawiązuje do tego układu zagadnień, który odzwierciedla etapy rozwoju sądownictwa administracyjnego w państwach młodej demokracji. Płynące z przeprowadzonej analizy wnioski pokazują wyniki reform na każdym z tych etapów – od konstytucjonalizacji zasady praworządności, przez usamodzielnienie się procedury sądowoadministracyjnej, aż po etap obecnych, niezwykle trudnych wyzwań nie tylko procesowej natury.

The article concerns the prospects of demographic growth of Poland to 2050, based on the results of the latest forecast GUS (2014), Eurostat and the United Nations (2012). A characteristic feature of population change in the world, is the intensification of the process of aging of the population, but his special character applies to highly developed countries. Quantitative analysis of the available data indicates that Poland will become one of the oldest countries in Europe. Depending on the forecast, the decrease in population by 2050 will be between 3,6 - 4,5 million. However, fundamental changes will concern the structure of the population by age. All the indicators of population aging clearly show, that in the analyzed term Poland will have experience the demographic crisis — hyper aging. Its consequences will concern to many areas of social, economic and political life.

The article aims to empirically indicate the share and industry characteristics of the largest state-owned enterprises in five selected countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Furthermore, based on the analysis, an attempt is made to answer relevant research questions: Whether and to what extent after almost 30 years of transition have the economies of the analysed countries become similar to the economies of selected developed countries of Western Europe with regard to the scope of state ownership in the economy? If so, to what extend? Could the economies of the analysed countries be seen as an occurrence of growing importance of state-owned enterprises after the financial crisis of 2008–2009, referred to in the literature as the "return of state-owned enterprises"? The analysis of the scope of state ownership in the economy was made using the processed and completed source data contained in the Orbis database. The study consists of three parts. The first part presents methodological assumptions of the analysis, definitions, description of data sources and basic characteristics of the studied set of enterprises. The second part contains data on state-owned enterprises in the analysed countries, divided into the state-owned and statecontrolled with a minority shareholding also includes industry-specific analysis. The third part contains synthetic international comparisons and a retrospective analysis, including the status and characteristics of state-owned enterprises in the surveyed countries in 2009, 2013 and 2017. The conclusions contained in the summary indicate a significant diversification of the scope and importance of state enterprises in the economies of the analysed countries.

The author describes the policy change which took place within last years in the economic policy in the most developed countries as well as in Poland. That relates to the relevance of industrial sector in the world economy. During the prevalence of the neoliberal way of thinking in the economic policy it has been regarded as the one in decline. Its neoliberal advocates were convinced that this sector is going to be replaced by the service sector as a growth engine in the world economy. But with 15 years, quit unexpectedly, a belief in the relevance of it collapsed. That resulted from the technological progress in the industrial sector as well as the global economic crises which began in 2008. At present, the economic discourse revolves around the necessity of the modern reindustrialization. This is a challenge for the Polish economic policy as well. In Poland we saw too much deindustrialization within last two decades, which weakened our prospects for development.

The aging of the population is the process of increasing the proportion of older people in the population, which is the result of two long‑term demographic trends: a decrease in fertility and an increase in life expectancy. For the correct measurement of the advancement of this process, it is extremely important what age we consider the beginning of the old age. In the traditional approach older people are most often considered to be people over 60 or 65 years of age. In the alternative approach the beginning of the old age can be considered the age which the expected life expectancy is exactly 15 years. In many parts of the world, the phenomenon of depopulation may appear in the coming years, and the number of children will be lower than the number of older people. In the future, older people will be in nearly one third of their entire population in many regions. However, the percentage of people who have 15 or fewer years to live will stabilize in the future at about 15% of the total population in the most developed countries. Therefore, the beginning of the old age will grow in the future up to 70 years and more in the most developed countries. ; Starzenie się ludności oznacza proces wzrostu odsetka osób starszych w populacji, który jest efektem dwóch długoterminowych trendów demograficznych – zmniejszania się płodności i zwiększania się przeciętnej długości życia. Dla prawidłowego pomiaru zaawansowania tego procesu niezmiernie istotne jest to, jaki wiek uznamy za początek starości. W ujęciu tradycyjnym za osoby starsze uznaje się najczęściej osoby w wieku 60 lub 65 lat i więcej. Natomiast w alternatywnym ujęciu za początek okresu starości można uznać na przykład wiek, dla którego oczekiwane dalsze trwanie życia wynosi dokładnie 15 lat. W wielu miejscach na świecie nieuchronnie wystąpi w przyszłości zjawisko depopulacji, a liczba dzieci stanie się niższa od liczby osób starszych. Osoby w wieku 60 lat i więcej będą w przyszłości stanowić w wielu regionach blisko jedną trzecią ludności. Natomiast odsetek osób, którym zostało mniej niż 15 lat życia, w krajach najbardziej rozwiniętych ustabilizuje się w przyszłości na poziomie około 15% ich populacji. Dlatego granica określająca początek okresu starości w ujęciu tradycyjnym będzie się w przyszłości zwiększać nawet do 70 lat i więcej w państwach najbardziej rozwiniętych.

The aging of the population is the process of increasing the proportion of older people in the population, which is the result of two long‑term demographic trends: a decrease in fertility and an increase in life expectancy. For the correct measurement of the advancement of this process, it is extremely important what age we consider the beginning of the old age. In the traditional approach older people are most often considered to be people over 60 or 65 years of age. In the alternative approach the beginning of the old age can be considered the age which the expected life expectancy is exactly 15 years. In many parts of the world, the phenomenon of depopulation may appear in the coming years, and the number of children will be lower than the number of older people. In the future, older people will be in nearly one third of their entire population in many regions. However, the percentage of people who have 15 or fewer years to live will stabilize in the future at about 15% of the total population in the most developed countries. Therefore, the beginning of the old age will grow in the future up to 70 years and more in the most developed countries. ; Starzenie się ludności oznacza proces wzrostu odsetka osób starszych w populacji, który jest efektem dwóch długoterminowych trendów demograficznych – zmniejszania się płodności i zwiększania się przeciętnej długości życia. Dla prawidłowego pomiaru zaawansowania tego procesu niezmiernie istotne jest to, jaki wiek uznamy za początek starości. W ujęciu tradycyjnym za osoby starsze uznaje się najczęściej osoby w wieku 60 lub 65 lat i więcej. Natomiast w alternatywnym ujęciu za początek okresu starości można uznać na przykład wiek, dla którego oczekiwane dalsze trwanie życia wynosi dokładnie 15 lat. W wielu miejscach na świecie nieuchronnie wystąpi w przyszłości zjawisko depopulacji, a liczba dzieci stanie się niższa od liczby osób starszych. Osoby w wieku 60 lat i więcej będą w przyszłości stanowić w wielu regionach blisko jedną trzecią ludności. Natomiast odsetek osób, którym zostało mniej niż 15 lat życia, w krajach najbardziej rozwiniętych ustabilizuje się w przyszłości na poziomie około 15% ich populacji. Dlatego granica określająca początek okresu starości w ujęciu tradycyjnym będzie się w przyszłości zwiększać nawet do 70 lat i więcej w państwach najbardziej rozwiniętych.

Konfederacja Szwajcarska, jako państwo neutralne o niewielkich rozmiarach, zmuszona jest do stosowania w swej polityce zagranicznej instrumentów zaliczanych do tzw. soft power. Jednym z nich jest pomoc rozwojowa, udzielana państwom słabiej rozwiniętym, także znajdującym się w stanie tranzycji ustrojowej. Przykładem tego rodzaju działań jest pomoc Szwajcarii dla państw Kaukazu Południowego, wynikająca m.in. z historycznych kontaktów, a w czasach współczesnych rozpoczęta w ramach pomocy humanitarnej po trzęsieniu ziemi w 1988 r. Armenia, Azerbejdżan i Gruzja wspierane są w ramach planów strategicznych zarówno przez państwo szwajcarskie, jak i prywatnych donatorów. Oprócz tego Szwajcaria z powodzeniem pełni rolę mediatora w sporze gruzińsko-rosyjskim i turecko-armeńskim. ; The Swiss Confederation, as a neutral state, is forced to apply in its foreign policy instruments classifi ed as the so-called soft power. One of them is development assistance granted to less developed countries, also undergoing the period of political transition. An example of this type of Swiss activities is the assistance to the countries of the South Caucasus, resulting, inter alia, from historical contacts, in modern times initiated as part of humanitarian aid after the earthquake in 1988. Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are supported as part of strategic plans by both the Swiss state and private donors. Switzerland also successfully plays the role of a mediator: in the Georgian-Russian and Turkish-Armenian dispute.