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The aim of this paper is to indicate a diverse nature of the issues investigated in public policy sciences, particularly emphasizing the importance of the health policy in explaining social reality. By resolving public problems, numerous needs of society, inter alia, health needs can be met. One of the sciences which explains social problems and public policy has an interest in is the health policy. Both the health policy and public policy have two dimensions, i.e. applicable and theoretical. In terms of 'applicable' one, active participation of all social life entities affecting awareness of developing health resources is vital. And in the theoretical one, as a science, health policy addresses theoretical problems related to satisfying health needs of individual and collective populations. However, in the existing definitions of the health policy, there is no reference to "health needs". One can only assume that this category is used intuitively as it is hard to imagine numerous activities and decisions taken without identifying the needs, so that the health system could meet them. Reverting to health policy in its practical sense it is crucial to teach the public responsibility for their own behavior towards health. Health education deals with the skills needed to care about health in an accountable and independent way. This kind of education plays an important part in the implementation of public policy since its task is not only to transfer knowledge, but also to develop skills to make informed choices and decisions and thus to shape a democratic society with an independent way of thinking. The applicable role of the health policy is to improve the management of the health sector. In this respect, the organization of the treatment process, which is to provide comprehensive medical care for patients and therefore to improve the existing relations of a public nature, is essential.

This paper attempts to present a review of higher education reform processes in Poland in 1990-2015 and 2016-2018 (when a draft of the so‑called Act 2.0 was prepared) and an assessment of the domestic "art of reforms". As the author has adopted the perspective of the public policy science, she focuses on issues of public policy making, i.e. the development and strategic programming policy, drafting legislation, and accompanying public consultations. Furthermore, the paper discusses three past and one current attempt to reform higher education in the context of the political economy of reforms that are globally perceived as a benchmark. The long, nearly 30‑year period covered by the paper's analyses allowed the author to draw conclusions with regard to the evolution of higher education policy, highlighting the problem of its quality (standards) as a public policy.

There are also theoretical issues such as: adequacy of this discipline of knowledge to the analysis of the realities of public action in Poland. This issue arises due to the fact that public policy emerged as a discipline of knowledge in the Anglo-Saxon tradition, on the basis of its specificity. Moreover, the theories evident in public policy science have been developed in the West, mainly in America. The local realities were the basis. Therefore, the question arises whether we should build our theories or adapt those that have been developed elsewhere. Meanwhile, we do not have many or even most elements of the Anglo-Saxon tradition, even in terms of the size of our analytical achievements. We are not even inclined to conduct such an advanced analysis of social and economic phenomena. Hence, it seems important to me to ask about the theoretical potential of this discipline in relation to the analysis of public activities in Poland.

The examination of public policy in Poland should refer to the terms, analytical categories as well as theories, which have already been postulated in this research field. The article aims to present an overview of the development of public policy theories in the long run. To begin with, the typological and stages approaches were presented. The theories of public policy were presented as two broader classes based on the differentiation into rational and interpretative paradigms. The application of the first one was examined in greater detail in the area of defining the choices of the ways to address public issues. The interpretative paradigm was presented mainly in connection with the argumentative approach as well as an attempt to combine the rational and interpretative approaches in the context of a rational discussion. The overview ends with the presentation of a few ways of organising the public policy research field through the research questions, the research areas, the theoretical-methodological framework as well as the archetypes of the public policy analysts' activity.

In contemporary states the aims of public policy are more often met through the implementation of regulatory instruments. It appears vital then to analyse their theoretical background as well as to contextually specify the conditions of their effective implementation. The following paper aims to conduct an analysis of the regulatory instruments such as standards, soft law along with self-regulation. There are three types of regulatory standards pointed out (goal-oriented, resultative, specific). The choice of a given standard often depends on context-specific factors, and additionally it involves an important dilemma, i.e. whether they should be unified for all the subordinate entities or differentiated in terms of the given features of the regulated entities. The author analyses the so-called 'soft law' as a regulatory instrument, which is implemented both in national and international regulatory systems. The term is used within the framework of regulatory policy and holds that the aims of public policy can be met through the application of soft, and sometimes 'informal' tools, that in certain circumstances might turn out to be equally effective as typical hard regulatory tools that are subject to sanction. The article additionally aims to address the issue of self-regulation that encompasses a set of rules that economic entities have created in a voluntary way (informally) and reciprocally claim as legally binding. These can also entail formal rules (e.g. the codes of conduct) that are fully executed in courts. In the summary section it is claimed that the choice of regulatory instruments is the one that should be dependent on the level of maturity of the institutional structures functioning within an economy as well as the capacity of entities to adequately react to informative market signals.

The paper deals with the European cooperation in outer space, which in the course of half a century has led to the creation of the European space policy, another European public policy. At the beginning of the paper, the definition framework for public policy was outlined and the European space policy was briefly presented. The analysis begins with an indication of the reasons for establishing cooperation for space, then it covers the history of European space efforts as well as the attempts to institutionalize that cooperation. In the further part of the paper, the process of working out the European space policy and the most recently announced European space programme are analysed. Finally, the conclusions resulting from the analysis give the answer to the questions raised in the paper about the ability to effectively design and execute the space policy, the results of implementation of particular space policy programmes, allocation of resources for the benefit of society, the position of the EU in international relations.

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.

The main goal of the article is to present to Polish readers the most important information about one of the newer theories of the public policy process - Narrative Policy Framework (NPF). The NPF assumes that public policy narratives play a fundamental role in the public policy process. These are strategically constructed stories about the causes and solutions to public policy problems. Actors use narratives to achieve their goals, for example, implementing policies closest to their preferences. On the example of the government's "Good start" ("Dobry start" in Polish) program, the article presents practical applications of the NPF at the micro, meso, and macro levels.

The article aims to discuss the relationship between social policy and public policy and to identify its most important elements. Social policy is linked historically on the one hand with the economy and on the other - with sociology and political sciences. Theory of public policy exposes the role of public administration in achieving its objectives and allows for wider recognition of the tasks by linking them with other specialties. This makes it possible to achieve in practice synergistic effects of actions taken, and at the theoretical level - a more comprehensive assessment of the analyzed problems. The history of social policy in Poland, especially of the Institute of Social Economy shows that such a broad approach to social policy has been characteristic also in the past.

The text points out the need for significant changes in the disability policies, which result from the paradigm shift from medicine to social issues. Three theoretical approaches are presented and briefly discussed, which might be helpful when analyzing the public policy towards disability and eventually be used when reformulating it. First, the biographical approach and the trajectory of everyday life are presented. Then, the problem is discussed in the context of the social exclusion followed by the analysis of the public policies from the perspective of the expected failure. Finally the text presents the differences between social and public disability policies and points out the advantages of the approach typical for public policy-related sciences.

The main obstacles in the implementation of public policies emerge at the earlier stages of the agenda-setting and the formulation of goals due to institutional constraints. They comprise the ambiguities about the governing center and thus about the real actors of the public policy process. The government fully controls the legislation, although this results from a functional unity of the executive and the legislative powers rather than from formal regulations. The parliament gets deprived of its influence on public policy. The government, however, is not able to fulfill its functions, either. The evidence shows that the main actor in programming public policy is the administration, and the decision-taking process is dispersed among separate ministries without any real coordination and oversight. The law is an instrument of communicating decisions taken at the pre-legislative stage. The use of objective data and public consultations is occasional, although they could compensate for the declining role of the parliament. This makes the selection of proper policy instruments yet more difficult.

The following discussion took place in September 2018 at the Warsaw School of Economics. It focused on both senior politics, experts, and analysts. The discussion was moderated and planned by Andrzej Klimczuk, associated with the Warsaw School of Economics, and invited to the discussion: Barbara Szatur-Jaworska, social politician and gerontologist from the University of Warsaw, Paweł Kubicki, economist, Warsaw School of Economics, Marek Niezabitowski, sociologist from the Silesian University of Technology, Ryszard Majer, social politician , Agnieszka Cieśla, architect and urban planner, Warsaw University of Technology, Marzena Rudnicka, founder and president of the National Institute of Senior Management (biographical notes at the end of the debate). Panelists during the discussion analyzed the following issues: I. Beginnings of the senior policy, its definition, strategic documents of the state, II. The role of local governments in animating activities within the framework of senior policy and non-governmental organizations, III. Creation and role of the law on seniors, IV. Diversification of the environment of seniors, V. Activities in other countries within the framework of the senior policy, VI. Changes in social awareness, the evolution of attitudes towards older people, old age, ageing, VII. The market for products and services for seniors, VIII. Seniors' activity, formal and informal, activity infrastructure, IX. Housing for older people and ageing population X. The role of the state and self-government in the senior policy, dialogue with the authorities, public-private partnership, XI. Challenges and directions of development of the senior policy, XII. The deficit of care services, XIII. Senior and pension policy, XIV. Convergence and divergence in the senior policy.

Report on the 4th Seminar on Public Policy: Polish Historical, Educational and Scientific Policy. Organizer: Collegium of Economics and Social Sciences, Warsaw School of Economics, May 29, 2015.