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.
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.
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.
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.
Podstawowym założeniem artykułu jest uznanie, że złożoność wyzwań związanych ze starzeniem się populacji wymusza rozwój powiązań kooperacyjnych między podmiotami polityki publicznej reprezentującymi różne sektory. Innymi słowy: niezbędna jest bardziej intensywna i lepiej skoordynowana współpraca między organizacjami sektora publicznego, komercyjnego, pozarządowego, nieformalnego oraz sektora obejmującego podmioty gospodarki społecznej (np. spółdzielnie). Zasadnicze znaczenie ma w tym kontekście wdrażanie założeń teorii współzarządzania (governance), koprodukcji oraz mieszanej gospodarki dobrobytu (inaczej: wielosektorowej polityki społecznej). W konsekwencji artykuł wskazuje na wybrane wątki dyskursu dotyczącego relacji procesu starzenia się ludności z przedsiębiorczością społeczną i innowacjami społecznymi. Tekst przytacza także przykłady dobrych praktyk i inicjatyw z obszaru gospodarki społecznej. Podsumowanie zawiera rekomendacje dla podmiotów polityki publicznej oraz proponowane kierunki dalszych badań.
The article aims to observe the purpose and subject of "public policy sciences" from the perspective of living space. The role of housing policy and settlement in this respect is at the core of the paper reasoning. It requires reflection on the relationships of social, housing and settlement policies, and their location on the background of other elements and disciplines of social sciences in the context of living. Public policy relations of a systemic, political, economic and social character, as well as of natural and ecological one, which complement the concept of sustainable development, are also discussed. This concept focused more than ever on a fair and decent habitation of successive generations, by substantially increasing the role of housing and settlement policy, highlights that the aim and subject of "the public policy sciences" is the living space.
The author addresses the social participation issue in the context of its significance to public policy in Poland. He examines the barriers limiting the expansion of participation. He notices them in the way a democracy functions ("failed democracy" according to Democracy Index), as well as in the way the dialogue has been organised (for example, two separate currents have been established - i.e. the social one and the civic one, which is quite unusual by Western European standards). He regards the politicians' perception of what a democracy is as a next barrier. As a result of that one can see lower standards of public sphere in place, antiquated public governance still in place, the underdevelopment of the legal framework for social dialogue and the low quality of policy-making. The author also describes the most important social phenomena relating to the functioning of the social and civic dialogue mechanisms. He analyses the sources of the current condition of the dialogue in terms of historical, structural as well as political factors.
The article aims to portray a reconstruction as well as conduct an analysis of the changes in public support policy for the people who provide long-term care to their heavily disabled relatives. The first part presents the characteristic traits of the carer allowance recipients as well as their experiences and distinctiveness in the broader context of the situation of the disabled and their families. The second part provides a chronology of the changes in financial support policy toward carers since 2003 when the Act of Family Benefits took effect. Under the Act carers are entitled to allowances up to the present time. The process shows not only the lack of any stable trend as far as the direction of the policy in that field is concerned, but also a big role of external factors as well as social and public actors in that matter. The actors of public policy in this area as well as their impact on the construct of the legal changes in place constitute the subject of the third part of the article. Apart from the Council of Ministers, the author regards the Constitutional Tribunal and its rulings, the Ombudsman and also public support recipients along with their representative parties as the actors of public support policy.
The author addresses the social participation issue in the context of its significance to public policy in Poland. He examines the barriers limiting the expansion of participation. He notices them in the way a democracy functions ("failed democracy" according to Democracy Index), as well as in the way the dialogue has been organised (for example, two separate currents have been established – i.e. the social one and the civic one, which is quite unusual by Western European standards). He regards the politicians' perception of what a democracy is as a next barrier. As a result of that one can see lower standards of public sphere in place, antiquated public governance still in place, the underdevelopment of the legal framework for social dialogue and the low quality of policy-making. The author also describes the most important social phenomena relating to the functioning of the social and civic dialogue mechanisms. He analyses the sources of the current condition of the dialogue in terms of historical, structural as well as political factors. ; Autor analizuje problematykę partycypacji społecznej w Polsce w kontekście jej znaczenia dla polityki publicznej. Omawia bariery, które ograniczają rozwój partycypacji. Dostrzega je w sposobie funkcjonowania systemu demokracji ("wadliwa demokracja" wg rankingu Democracy Index) oraz po stronie dialogu (m.in. wyodrębnienie nurtów dialogu społecznego i obywatelskiego, co jest nietypowe, jak na zachodnioeuropejskie standardy). Za barierę uznaje również sposób postrzegania przez klasę polityczną tego, czym jest demokracja. Wywołuje on bowiem wiele konsekwencji, m.in. prowadzi do obniżania standardów funkcjonowania sfery publicznej, powielania przestarzałego modelu zarządzania państwem, niedorozwoju ram prawnych dialogu obywatelskiego czy do niskiej jakości polityki publicznej. Autor opisuje również najważniejsze zjawiska obrazujące sposoby funkcjonowaniadialogu społecznego i obywatelskiego. Analizuje źródła ich obecnej kondycji, zarównohistoryczne, jak strukturalne i polityczne.
Civil dialogue has an impact on the quality of public policy, in the online form it allows direct influence of stakeholders on the process of formulation and its implementation. It is also a new quality in the process of evaluating public policy. Civil dialogue is usually understood as a process of communication between the state authority and non-governmental organizations, but the author of the article indicates that it is possible to conduct civil dialogue in a direct way with citizens through social media. He presents the results of research aimed at verifying the use of social media by the authorities in order to establish a dialogue with citizens. The research consisted in measuring and analyzing communication conducted by selected Polish voivodeship cities on the Twitter social network. The author points out the characteristic styles of communication that can be interpreted from the perspective of civil dialogue.
The transformation of the political system in Poland after the negotiations of the'Round Table' resulted in an increased interest in modern history, accompanied by a desire to reckon with the past, in particular with the period of communist rule after 1944. Since the 1990s, government authorities and political parties have made a natural move to legitimize the democratic political system in the area of social memory and historical policy. This process has been initiated by constitutional changes, coupled with a truly spontaneous social movement to change national symbols, names of streets and squares, patrons of schools and universities, institutions and manufacturing plants rooted in the overthrown system of communist Poland. The humanities, in particular historiography, have taken steps to reassess attitudes to Polish and global history. The issues of social memory, national identity and historical policy have been reflected in the ideologies and platforms of various political parties. The issue of social (national) memory has become entangled in political disputes and a struggle for 'control of the past', of interpretations of history, the value of patriotism and, by extension, of the electorate, has been waged mainly by the Law and Justice (PiS), Civic Platform (PO), and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) parties. This paper analyzes and describes the most influential political movements in Poland in the early 21st century as regards their attitude to collective memory and the concept of historical policy. These attitudes are presented in terms of the conservative, liberal, critical and totalitarian 'models of historical policy'. The study implies that the conservative and liberal models predominate, clearly influenced by the ideology of Christian democracy and national tendencies. The attitude of conservative parties in particular is characterized by disrespect for academic findings and interpretations of history, a frequently ad hoc approach to facts and assessments of the past, which follows from a desire to find the in-depth historical legitimization of the status of a given party in society and to dominate the electorate. ; The transformation of the political system in Poland after the negotiations of the'Round Table' resulted in an increased interest in modern history, accompanied by a desire to reckon with the past, in particular with the period of communist rule after 1944. Since the 1990s, government authorities and political parties have made a natural move to legitimize the democratic political system in the area of social memory and historical policy. This process has been initiated by constitutional changes, coupled with a truly spontaneous social movement to change national symbols, names of streets and squares, patrons of schools and universities, institutions and manufacturing plants rooted in the overthrown system of communist Poland. The humanities, in particular historiography, have taken steps to reassess attitudes to Polish and global history. The issues of social memory, national identity and historical policy have been reflected in the ideologies and platforms of various political parties. The issue of social (national) memory has become entangled in political disputes and a struggle for 'control of the past', of interpretations of history, the value of patriotism and, by extension, of the electorate, has been waged mainly by the Law and Justice (PiS), Civic Platform (PO), and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) parties. This paper analyzes and describes the most influential political movements in Poland in the early 21st century as regards their attitude to collective memory and the concept of historical policy. These attitudes are presented in terms of the conservative, liberal, critical and totalitarian 'models of historical policy'. The study implies that the conservative and liberal models predominate, clearly influenced by the ideology of Christian democracy and national tendencies. The attitude of conservative parties in particular is characterized by disrespect for academic findings and interpretations of history, a frequently ad hoc approach to facts and assessments of the past, which follows from a desire to find the in-depth historical legitimization of the status of a given party in society and to dominate the electorate.
The transformation of the political system in Poland after the negotiations of the 'Round Table' resulted in an increased interest in modern history, accompanied by a desire to reckon with the past, in particular with the period of communist rule after 1944. Since the 1990s, government authorities and political parties have made a natural move to legitimize the democratic political system in the area of social memory and historical policy. This process has been initiated by constitutional changes, coupled with a truly spontaneous social movement to change national symbols, names of streets and squares, patrons of schools and universities, institutions and manufacturing plants rooted in the overthrown system of communist Poland. The humanities, in particular historiography, have taken steps to reassess attitudes to Polish and global history. The issues of social memory, national identity and historical policy have been reflected in the ideologies and platforms of various political parties. The issue of social (national) memory has become entangled in political disputes and a struggle for 'control of the past', of interpretations of history, the value of patriotism and, by extension, of the electorate, has been waged mainly by the Law and Justice (PiS), Civic Platform (PO), and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) parties. This paper analyzes and describes the most influential political movements in Poland in the early 21st century as regards their attitude to collective memory and the concept of historical policy. These attitudes are presented in terms of the conservative, liberal, critical and totalitarian 'models of historical policy'. The study implies that the conservative and liberal models predominate, clearly influenced by the ideology of Christian democracy and national tendencies. The attitude of conservative parties in particular is characterized by disrespect for academic findings and inter- pretations of history, a frequently ad hoc approach to facts and assessments of the past, which follows from a desire to find the in-depth historical legitimization of the status of a given party in society and to dominate the electorate.
Civil dialogue has an impact on the quality of public policy, inthe online form it allows direct influence of stakeholders on the process of formulation and its implementation. It is also anew quality inthe process of evaluating public policy. Civil dialogue is usually understood as aprocess of communication between the state authority and non-governmental organizations, but the author of the article indicates that it is possible toconduct civil dialogue inadirect way with citizens through social media. He presents the results of research aimed at verifying the use of social media by the authorities inorder toestablish adialogue with citizens. The research consisted inmeasuring and analyzing communication conducted by selected Polish voivodeship cities on the Twitter social network. The author points out the characteristic styles of communication that can be interpreted from the perspective of civil dialogue. ; Dialog obywatelski wpływa najakość prowadzonej polityki publicznej, wformie online umożliwia bezpośrednie wpływanie interesariuszy naproces jej formułowania iimplementacji. Stanowi również nową jakość wprocesie ewaluacji polityki publicznej. Dialog obywatelski rozumiany jest najczęściej jako proces komunikacji pomiędzy władzą państwową aorganizacjami pozarządowymi, autor artykułu wskazuje jednak, że możliwe jest prowadzenie dialogu obywatelskiego wsposób bezpośredni zobywatelami za pomocą mediów społecznościowych. Przedstawia wyniki badań, których celem była weryfikacja sposobu korzystania przez władzę zmediów społecznościowych wcelu nawiązania dialogu zobywatelami. Badanie polegało napomiarach ianalizie komunikacji prowadzonej przez wybrane polskie miasta wojewódzkie wserwisie społecznościowym Twitter. Autor wskazuje nacharakterystyczne style komunikacji, które można interpretować zperspektywy dialogu obywatelskiego.