The paper reviews Barbara Kaszkowska-Wandor's book Res publica (post) literaria. Od poetyki wspólnoty do postliteratury. The study into the etymology of the metaphor of the "literary republic" leads the author to consider fundamental questions concerning the role of literature in shaping communities and the ways in which literature impacts political reality. The author's erudition and bold methodological solutions allow her to answer those questions – often old and considered to be unanswerable – in an original, unobvious way. ; Tekst jest recenzją książki Barbary Kaszowskiej-Wandor Res publica (post) litteraria. Od poetyki wspólnoty do postliteratury. Badanie etymologii metafory "republiki literackiej" prowadzi autorkę do rozważania fundamentalnych pytań dotyczących roli literatury w kształtowaniu wspólnot społecznych i pytań o sposoby wywierania przez literaturę wpływu na rzeczywistość polityczną. Rozległa erudycja badaczki i stosowane przez nią odważne rozwiązania metodologiczne pozwalają jej udzielić na te pytania – bardzo stare i często uważane za nierozstrzygalne – oryginalnych, nieoczywistych odpowiedzi.
Extensive research on native speakers' attitudes towards foreign accents and their users carried out in immigrant-receiving countries such as, for example, Great Britain, the United States and Australia (e.g. Kalin and Rayko 1978; Lippi-Green 1997; Munro et al. 2006), has allowed specialists to formulate several cross-cultural generalizations concerning the perception and evaluation of accented speech. For instance, according to Lindemann (2002, 2010), the listeners' attitude towards foreign speakers, shaped by cultural stereotypes and prejudices, plays a crucial role in comprehending accented speech. It is also often claimed (e.g. Said 2006; Lev-Ari and Keysar 2010) that a heavy foreign accent has a negative impact on the listeners' assessment of speakers' personality traits, such as credibility, intelligence and competence. Moreover, this negative accent-based social evaluation, as shown by Lippi-Green (1997), might even lead to various kinds of foreign speakers' discrimination. Contemporary Poland, where Polish-speaking foreigners are still a relative rarity, constitutes an interesting and yet unexplored ground for testing the universality of claims concerning the relationship between the listeners' cultural prejudices and their evaluations of foreign speakers' accents, as well as personality traits. In this paper we report on an empirical study in which 40 Polish university students assessed 11 samples of foreign-accented Polish, both in terms of accent features and personal characteristics ascribed to the speakers, in order to find out whether these judgements are affected by Polish listeners' attitudes towards the speakers' cultural background and knowledge of their nationality. The results of the study indicate that, on the whole, the speakers' nationality does not significantly affect the participants' evaluation of foreign speakers' accent features (i.e. comprehensibility, foreign-accentedness and acceptability). Such relationship can, however, be found in the attribution of personal characteristics to foreign speakers, which, to some extent, is influenced by the information concerning their nationality and listeners' cultural prejudices.
The essence of democracy is the rule of the sovereign, that is the nation, today understood as all of the state's citizens. At present, the most common type of governance is representative democracy, exercised by representatives elected from the citizens themselves. Therefore, for the proper functioning of liberal democracy it is difficult to find a more important issue than the procedure for the election of those who govern us. The article presents two alternative electoral systems: an alternative voting system (AV) and the system of Single Transferable Vote (STV). ; The essence of democracy is the rule of the sovereign, that is the nation, today understood as all of the state's citizens. At present, the most common type of governance is representative democracy, exercised by representatives elected from the citizens themselves. Therefore, for the proper functioning of liberal democracy it is difficult to find a more important issue than the procedure for the election of those who govern us. The article presents two alternative electoral systems: an alternative voting system (AV) and the system of Single Transferable Vote (STV).
The aim of the paper is the analysis of the relationship between the perception of the success factors in international collaborative relationships and firm's international experience. The results of an empirical study on the sample of 278 Polish exporters and importers cooperating with partners from China and Germany are presented and both the differences in success factor perception depending on foreign partners' home country, and the correlation of the perception of the success factors with the international experience of the firms are discussed. The study revealed that the firms working with partners in China have somewhat more international experience. The importance of the majority of the success factors in relationships with German partners did not differ significantly from those in collaboration with Chinese firms. However, some consequential differences were observed. Internationalization experience is not strongly related with the perception of international cooperation success factors.
The main purpose of the survey discussed in this paper is to answer the question of which factors describe the status of political integration of Poles in Austria. Political integration concerns the phenomenon of joining the political life of a given political system and, to some extent, also its results. For the purpose of this study the notion of political integration is to stand for the involvement of the 'visiting' citizens in the political life of the 'host' state, in particular political participation, taking the form of public activity and voting in elections. The survey adopts a general theoretical model where the state of integration of Poles in Austria is comprehended in terms of a three-element political culture (comprising cognitive, emotional-and-assessing, and behavioral elements). It undergoes external influences, related to the period spent living abroad, and domestic influences of social identity (approached functionally). Additionally, the model assumes that these factors can be internally related. The empirical aspect of the analysis is based on the authors' own survey carried out using a questionnaire, psychological scale and focus group interview of a sample of Polish émigrés in Austria. ; The main purpose of the survey discussed in this paper is to answer the question of which factors describe the status of political integration of Poles in Austria. Political integration concerns the phenomenon of joining the political life of a given political system and, to some extent, also its results. For the purpose of this study the notion of political integration is to stand for the involvement of the 'visiting' citizens in the political life of the 'host' state, in particular political participation, taking the form of public activity and voting in elections. The survey adopts a general theoretical model where the state of integration of Poles in Austria is comprehended in terms of a three-element political culture (comprising cognitive, emotional-and-assessing, and behavioral elements). It undergoes external influences, related to the period spent living abroad, and domestic influences of social identity (approached functionally). Additionally, the model assumes that these factors can be internally related. The empirical aspect of the analysis is based on the authors' own survey carried out using a questionnaire, psychological scale and focus group interview of a sample of Polish émigrés in Austria.
The main purpose of the survey discussed in this paper is to answer the question of which factors describe the status of political integration of Poles in Austria. Political integration concerns the phenomenon of joining the political life of a given political system and, to some extent, also its results. For the purpose of this study the notion of political integration is to stand for the involvement of the 'visiting' citizens in the political life of the 'host' state, in particular political participation, taking the form of public activity and voting in elections. The survey adopts a general theoretical model where the state of integration of Poles in Austria is comprehended in terms of a three-element political culture (comprising cognitive, emotional-and-assessing, and behavioral elements). It undergoes external influences, related to the period spent living abroad, and domestic influences of social identity (approached functionally). Additionally, the model assumes that these factors can be internally related. The empirical aspect of the analysis is based on the authors' own survey carried out using a questionnaire, psychological scale and focus group interview of a sample of Polish émigrés in Austria.
In his book author explains social and political phenomena that are connected with political change in local conditions in Poland in 1989. As yet there has been no empirical study that would consider first partly free election to the last parliament of People's Republic of Poland in local conditions. In 1989 there were 108 electoral constituencies in Poland to the Sejm elections, and free election to the Senate were conducted in 49 provinces of Poland. Chojnice was a capital city of election constituency no. 14 to the Sejm and a part of election to the Senate conducted in Bydgoszcz Province. As over the time social issues are perceived through stereotypes and tend to be mythologized, it seems important to author to show such events and phenomena on firm basis. It is worth emphasizing that results from 1989 elections in local conditions are generally unknown. Poles do not know results in their local constituencies because nearly thirty years after the elections official results from local constituencies still have not been not published anywhere. Thus, this study is based on primary sources, newspapers from that time, literature of this particular issue. The analysis and synthesis is based on a number of theoretical perspectives: behaviorism to describe interaction between political actors – electoral system – party systems; political process and political change; Joseph Schumpeter's assumption that political competition is of fundamental importance for the democracy; Samuel Huntington's theory of third wave of democratization. All the data is analyzed in quantitative perspective. There is no hypothesis as the study is a descriptive and explanatory one. Its main goal is to highlight earlier unknown phenomena. This study is about local politics in a one-party state during the time of political change, so author refers to the politics on state level from that time. The most important questions refer to: continuity of activity of new social movement members from the time of the carnival of Chojnice "Solidarity" in the years 1980-1981 and their involvement in 1989; political negotiations and emergence of political leaders during that time; political will of citizens to take part in political change and their will to change the political system; attitudes of political actors from PUWP and "Solidarity"; individual nature of facts from that time taken under consideration from the perspective of local reality; attitudes of local regime members towards political change; results of elections in Chojnice constituency on 4th and 18th June 1989; differentiation of political behavior in Chojnice constituency; picture of society of that time; influence of cultural and ethnical identity as well as people's ties (mainly with Catholic Church) and roots on their political choices. Political behavior is one of the main category of this study. Author highlights not only electoral system but also describes process of political leaders' emergence on local scale. In this perspective election campaign is portrayed as a political fight between candidates of Citizen Committee of "Solidarity" and candidates of Polish United Worker's Party (PUWP) and its political satellites. As a matter of fact, author stresses the importance of category of the legitimization and shows that members of PUWP (in Poland known as PZPR) were not totally delegitimized by citizens in 1989 election in Chojnice constituency. In fact, PUWP was mostly legitimized by Poles in the northern part of Bydgoszcz Province during that election. The study consists of the following parts: introduction, 8 chapters, summary, bibliography, index and appendix. The first chapter describes electoral system and law that was enforced in 1989. The second one analyzes political climate and political situation around elections to the Sejm and the Senate. The third chapter is also mostly analytical one. Author describes local communists apparatchiks' attitude towards political change. The fourth chapter shows the process of political leaders emergence from both sides of the political conflict. The fifth chapter describes personal features of candidates to the Sejm and the Senate. The sixth chapter shows election campaign. The seventh one shows election results. The eighth chapter describes political attitudes and behavior of citizens in Chojnice constituency. In the appendix readers may find results from constituency districts of Chojnice town, and Chojnice country. As a result of this study some unexpected conclusions emerged after empirical study, for example: one of the most prominent one is that citizens of People's Republic of Poland do not reject totally PUWP and its monopoly for power and authority; paradoxically candidates from "Solidarity" movement were not selected as democratically as candidates from PUWP ; deep differences in political attitudes in Chojnice constituency depended on the scale of people's religiousness and the tradition of political opposition in town, as well as on ethnic groups; the highest support for political change was among Kashubians, whereas the lowest in the groups called Krajniacy and Borowiacy. ; Monografia powstała ona w wyniku analizy procesu wyborczego tzw. przełomu politycznego związanego z wyborami czerwcowymi 1989 r. Jest to studium zdarzeń i zjawisk z tamtego okresu, z okręgu wyborczego nr 14 Chojnice, który to okręg do Sejmu PRL obejmował w wyborach kontaktowych całą północną część województwa bydgoskiego i był jednym ze 108 takich okręgów w Polsce. W książce przedstawiono zarówno genezę decyzji politycznych stojących za wyborem przedterminowych wyborów w 1989 r. przez reżim komunistyczny, jak i między innymi proces wyłaniania liderów na listy wyborcze. Zaprezentowano postawy polityczne, kontekst społeczno-polityczny, stanowisko lokalnych struktur Polskiej Zjednoczonej Partii Robotniczej i jej działaczy wobec perspektywy głębokich przemian politycznych, które zapowiadały wybory czerwcowe, jak i też zaprezentowano reakcje powyborcze chojnickich komunistów. Dokonano także analizy porównawczej, według podstawowej jednostki jaką była gmina, ukazując zróżnicowanie postaw również w odniesieniu do przynależności etnograficznej wyborców w okręgu wyborczym nr 14. Analizie poddano także wybory do Senatu, koncentrując się na przebiegu kampanii, kandydatach oraz wynikach z terenu północnej części województwa bydgoskiego. Całość studium jest wynikiem analizy materiałów źródłowych - tj. dokumentów Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej, Rady Państwa oraz Komitetu Miejskiego PZPR w Chojnicach i Komitetu Gminnego PZPR w Chojnicach oraz relacji i wspomnień.
Artykuł wydano na licencji Commons CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0 Polska i został dodany do repozytorium przez przedstawiciela redakcji. ; Dzisiejsza instytucja części regionalnej subwencji ogólnej wbrew swojej nazwie nie jest subwencją w rozumieniu art. 167 ust. 2 Konstytucji. Jest niewymienioną w Konstytucji instytucją o charakterze korekcyjno-wyrównawczym, której istota polega na obowiązku wpłat jednych województw i nadaniu uprawnień do wypłat innym województwom. "Janosikowe", które miało na celu wyrównywać szanse, doprowadziło do znacznego deficytu budżetowego samorząd województwa mazowieckiego. Była to jedyna w Polsce jednostka samorządu terytorialnego, która przez całą ubiegłą dekadę była płatnikiem netto "janosikowego", czyli do budżetu państwa wpłaciła więcej, niż otrzymała z powrotem. Przez 11 lat to było blisko 6 mld zł. Mazowsze w 2014 r. miało do zapłacenia 646 mln zł. W 2013 roku zapłaciło prawie 660 mln – równowartość 48 procent dochodów podatkowych województwa. Autorzy przedkładanego opracowania zamierzają udowodnić, iż to błędne przepisy aktu normatywnego były przyczyną sytuacji w samorządzie mazowieckim, którą uważają za wręcz absurdalną. Mając powyższe na uwadze należy stwierdzić, że z taką formą subwencjonowania samorząd mazowiecki działa dysfunkcyjnie. ; Today the institution of regional part of the general subsidy, contrary to its name, there is a subsidy within the meaning of Art. 167 paragraph. 2 of the Constitution. It is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution of a correctional institution-equalizing, whose essence lies in the obligation to deposit some provinces and the entitlement to payments to other provinces. "Janosik", which was intended to equalize led to a significant budget deficit the provincial government of Mazovia. It was the only unit in Poland local governments, which for the past decade has been a net contributor "janosikowego", in to the state budget paid more than you receive back. For 11 years it was almost 6 billion zł. Mazovia in 2014. had to pay 646 million zł. In 2013, it paid nearly 660 million – the equivalent of 48 percent of the tax revenue of the province. The authors submitted the development plan to prove that it is erroneous entries in normative act was the cause of the situation in the local government of Mazowieckie, which they regard as quite absurd. With this in mind it is clear that with such a form of government subsidization of Mazowieckie operates dysfunctional. ; Artur Potocki
This article is a case study that presents the international cooperation of one of the 66 Polish cities with the district status – Płock, a city of average size in this category of Polish local self-governments, which, however, is not average in terms of its historical traditions. For several decades it was the capital of Poland and the historical capital of one of its regions, Mazovia. Today, it is a medium-sized city, which is very active in theinternational arena. For its international cooperation it has been awarded many Council of Europe awards: the European Diploma, the Flag of Honour and the Plaque of Honour. This article presents the activities undertaken by the Płock authorities which led to the awarding of these distinctions. ; Artykuł ten stanowi studium przypadku i przedstawia współpracę międzynarodową jednego z 66 polskich miast na prawach powiatu – Płocka, miasta przeciętnej wielkości w tej kategorii polskich samorządów terytorialnych, które jednak nie jest przeciętne pod względem tradycji historycznych. Było ono przez kilkadziesiąt lat stolicą Polski i historyczną stolicą jednej z jej dzielnic – Mazowsza. Dzisiaj jest miastem średniej wielkości, które bardzo aktywnie działa na arenie międzynarodowej. Za współpracę międzynarodową zostało wyróżnione wieloma nagrodami Rady Europy: Dyplomem Europejskim, Flagą Honorową i Tablicą Honorową. Artykuł przedstawia działalność Płocka, która doprowadziła do otrzymania tych wyróżnień.
The present monograph constitutes a constitutional study of the institution of the local government discussed through the prism of the principle of local self-government. Such an approach to the titular principle allows to consider it not only from the political and legal perspective, but also from a functional one, while the discussion oscillates around: the constitutional status of a person regarded as an individual as well as their dignity guaranteed by the Constitution, the constitutional status of a person regarded as an obligatory member of the self-government community, the status of the self-government community, the status of the national community, the status of the state, as well as the status of the underlying structures of the civil society and non-governmental organizations. The argument leads to the conclusion that the local government is an institution deeply entrenched in the structure of the civil society, and, as a result, should be guaranteed by the state the right to evolve naturally, in accordance with the evolution and maturation of the Polish civil society. As a consequence, the constitutional regulations of the local government should not constitute an inhibitive factor for the natural processes accompanying the development of the civil society. The present study could find its practical application both in cases of judicial control of the constitutionality of legislation with regard to the law on local selfgovernment, as well as judicial control over exercising and applying the law, the didactic process at the university, the day-to-day functioning of social and nongovernmental organizations as well as the bodies of local self-government agencies and councilors. Moreover, it could prove helpful in the processes of reform of the public administration and the creation of institutions for the study of the effectiveness of the creation and operation of public administration systems.
The reforms carried out in 1990, which included the reactivation of local self-government, constituted one of the most important elements of the systemic transformation in our country. They were also an important element of the reform measures undertaken to implement the three main goals of the political transformation after 1989: democracy, the free market and decentralization. The postulate of restoring local self-government was included in the Solidarity programme in 1981, and it was the subject of renewed focus during the Round Table talks in 1989. Among the supporters and propagators of this idea in the anti-communist opposition were representatives of the study of administrative law, who envisioned the creation of a completely new institution that would not be indebted to the communist regime. It was therefore assumed that the old system of local authorities had been rejected. The self-government reform carried out in 1990 was at the same time a powerful shock to the study of systemic administrative law, which lost its subject of research, namely the issues of national councils, which from then on were treated only in the context of 'negative experiences'. The reactivation of the local self-government in 1990 was accompanied by discussions and disputes on the concept of its essence, basic political assumptions and detailed rules of functioning. However, the reform did not come to an end in 1990, as local government law is characterized by a significant dynamic of changes concerning specific solutions, which is reflected in numerous amendments to local government laws. Subsequent reforms were accompanied by the activities of experts in the field of administrative law. At the same time, one should note significant development in the study of administrative law with regard to the consideration of local self-government issues. ; Przeprowadzone w 1990 r. reformy obejmujące reaktywowanie samorządu terytorialnego stanowiły jeden z najważniejszych elementów przemian ustrojowych w naszym kraju i były one istotnym elementem działań reformatorskich w ramach realizacji trzech głównych celów transformacji ustrojowej po roku 1989: demokracja, wolny rynek, decentralizacja. Postulat przywrócenia samorządu terytorialnego znalazł się w 1981 r. w programie Solidarności i powrócono do niego podczas obrad Okrągłego Stołu w 1989. Wśród zwolenników i propagatorów tej idei w opozycji antykomunistycznej byli przedstawiciele nauki prawa administracyjnego, którzy przewidywali stworzenie całkowicie nowej instytucji, niemieszczącej się w ramach ustroju komunistycznego. Zakładano zatem jednoznaczne odrzucenie starego systemu władz lokalnych. Przeprowadzona w 1990 r. reforma samorządowa stanowiła jednocześnie potężny wstrząs dla nauki ustrojowego prawa administracyjnego, które utraciło swój przedmiot badań w postaci problematyki rad narodowych, traktowanych odtąd wyłącznie w kontekście "negatywnych doświadczeń". Reaktywowaniu samorządu terytorialnego w 1990 r. towarzyszyły dyskusje i spory wokół koncepcji jego istoty, podstawowych założeń ustrojowych i szczegółowych zasad funkcjonowania. Reforma nie zakończyła się w 1990 r., gdyż prawo samorządowe charakteryzuje się znaczną dynamiką przemian dotyczących konkretnych rozwiązań, co znajduje swój wyraz w licznych nowelizacjach ustaw samorządowych. Kolejnym reformom towarzyszyła działalność ekspertów z zakresu nauki prawa administracyjnego. Jednocześnie odnotować należy znaczny rozwój nauki prawa administracyjnego w zakresie problematyki samorządowej.
"Praca jest nowa, oryginalna i pionierska nie tylko w literalnie rozumianym zakresie tematyczno-problemowym (jako studium o językach i tożsamościach w regionie lubuskim), ale także w szerszym aspekcie uczciwego, aideologicznego spojrzenia na tzw. nowe dialekty mieszane na tzw. Ziemiach Zachodnich i Północnych" (z recenzji prof. Bogdana Walczaka). "Anna Zielińska w badaniach nad kontaktami językowymi na pograniczach dopracowała się własnej, oryginalnej metodologii, łącząc elementy socjolingwistyczne, dialektologiczne i kulturologiczne. W monografii przedstawiła spójny opis rzeczywistych sposobów komunikowania się na terenie wielojęzycznym, z różnorodną, napływową ludnością, o zróżnicowanej hierarchii prestiżowej różnych języków i ich odmian. Takie podejście badawcze nie było dotychczas stosowane dla regionu lubuskiego, w którym starano się raczej wymodelować idealny stan zintegrowanej polszczyzny" (z recenzji prof. Ewy Wolnicz-Pawłowskiej). "Książka Anny Zielińskiej dekonstruuje polskie stereotypy narosłe wokół tzw. Ziem Odzyskanych wskutek uwarunkowań politycznych i ideologicznych ostatniego półwiecza. Jej znakomicie uargumentowany materiałowo i teoretycznie wywód nie tylko łączy w sposób nowatorski klasyczne podejście socjolingwistyczne z perspektywą antropologiczną, ale także prowokuje do dociekań nad mechanizmami nacjonalizmu w polskim dyskursie naukowym dotyczącym tego obszaru" (z recenzji dr hab. Anny Engelking). ; "The work is novel, original and pioneering not only in terms of its narrowly understood subject matter (a study of languages and identities in the Lubusz region) but likewise in wider terms as a sincere, aeideological look at so-called new mixed dialects in so-called Western and Northern Territories" (Professor Bogdan Walczak). "In her studies on language contact in the borderlands, Anna Zielińska has developed her own original methodology, combining elements of sociolinguistics, dialectology and cultural studies. In the monograph she present a comprehensive description of ways of communication actually at play in multilingual territories with diverse immigrant populations and a multifaceted hierarchy of languages and their varieties. Approach of this kind has hitherto not been applied to the Lubusz region, with existing studies usually attempting to model an ideal state of integrated Polish" (Professor Ewa Wolnicz-Pawłowska). "Anna Zielińska's book deconstructs the stereotypes which have accrued in Poland about the so-called Recovered Territories due to the political and ideological conditions of the last half century. This study, brilliantly underpinned in terms of material and theory, is a pioneering combination of classic sociolinguistic approach with an anthropological perspective which inspires deliberations about the nationalistic mechanisms in Polish scholarly discourse concerning this area" (Professor Anna Engelking). ; Praca naukowa finansowana ze środków budżetowych na naukę w latach 2010-2013 jako projekt badawczy nr N N104 079739
W artykule podjęto próbę ukazania agendy dwóch dzienników ogólnopolskich "Gazety Wyborczej" i "Rzeczpospolitej", związanej z nagłośnieniem kampanii wyborczej poprzedzającej wybory do Parlamentu Europejskiego w 2014 roku. Przedmiotem badań empirycznych uczyniono zarówno obecność na łamach wspomnianej prasy problematyki dotyczącej poszczególnych ugrupowań politycznych, jak i sposób jej prezentacji opinii publicznej. Jednym z rezultatów przeprowadzonej analizy jest pozytywnie zweryfikowana hipoteza wskazująca na wysoki stopień współzależności rankingu tematów agendy medialnej i publicznej w badanym okresie (współczynnik Pearsona wyniósł 0,93). ; The article presents the results of research on the media agenda of two national dailies "Gazeta Wyborcza" and "Rzeczpospolita", related to popularizing the election campaign preceding the 2014 elections to the European Parliament. The subject of empirical research concerned both the presence of the issues concerning individual political groups, and their presentation to the public on the pages of each daily respectively. One of the results of the analysis is the confirmation of the hypothesis that there was a high degree of interdependence between the ranking of subjects presented by the media and the public agenda in the studied period (Pearson's coefficient amounted to 0.93)
Abstract. The Institute for Scientifi c-Analytical Study of Eastern Europe in Wilno existed from 1930 to 1939. An important part of its activities consisted of publications. The Institute published two periodicals; the "Year Book of the Institute for Scientifi c-Analytical Study of Eastern Europe in Wilno" and the "Balticoslavica" publication, along with various books. A wide variety of important works concerning various aspects of life in the Soviet Union appeared on the pages of these publications. Contemporary Polish Sovietologists hold in great regard the works of Institute scholars Stanislaw Swianiewicz, Boleslaw Cyrulinski and Witold Staniewicz, among others, on economic questions, as well as the studies of Wiktor Sukiennicki and Grzegorz Wirszubski on the legal and government systems of the USSR. In its fi nal years the Institute began to focus more attention on Soviet education and culture. During World War II the Institute was closed, and its research work suspended. However, in a relative short period of time, the scholars associated with the Institute managed to make a signifi cant contribution to the discovery of the political, economic and cultural life of the Soviet Union and neighboring countries.
Abstract. The Institute for Scientifi c-Analytical Study of Eastern Europe in Wilno existed from 1930 to 1939. An important part of its activities consisted of publications. The Institute published two periodicals; the "Year Book of the Institute for Scientifi c-Analytical Study of Eastern Europe in Wilno" and the "Balticoslavica" publication, along with various books. A wide variety of important works concerning various aspects of life in the Soviet Union appeared on the pages of these publications. Contemporary Polish Sovietologists hold in great regard the works of Institute scholars Stanislaw Swianiewicz, Boleslaw Cyrulinski and Witold Staniewicz, among others, on economic questions, as well as the studies of Wiktor Sukiennicki and Grzegorz Wirszubski on the legal and government systems of the USSR. In its fi nal years the Institute began to focus more attention on Soviet education and culture. During World War II the Institute was closed, and its research work suspended. However, in a relative short period of time, the scholars associated with the Institute managed to make a signifi cant contribution to the discovery of the political, economic and cultural life of the Soviet Union and neighboring countries.
