The article is about the contemporary agenda of the policy for senior citizens in Poland, concerning especially the long-term care issue. In the first part, there are key concepts of the article defined, such as "agenda in the public policy", "policy for senior citizens and long-term care issue". In the second part, there are several policy documents and programmes for the aged examined, which provides the overview of the current elderly and long-term policy and its agenda. The analysis includes the governmental documents and programmes, as well as the activity (concerning long-term care for the elderly) of some other central institutions such as the Ombudsman and Supreme Audit Office and Office of Competition and Consumer Protection. The article ends with the conclusions.
One of the indicators of the condition of the democratic state is its attitude towards national minorities. Not only the institutional dimension of these relations is important, but also the functioning of the public sphere. Public sphere provides space to negotiate and deliberate over issues that are important to the community. Media, which are an essential part of public sphere act as a facilitator and influence social attitudes towards discussed issues. Following paper presents results of an original research on framing German minority in regional press in Poland. Context of the research is the political conflict over the the enlargement of Opole City. The majority of Germans - the most numerous national minority in Poland - live in the Opole region. The enlargement of the city of Opole changes administrative structure in the region by incorporating to the city parts of the neighboring communities often governed by German minority. The incorporation process induced strong protests of the residents of these communities and fears of the German minority itself that these changes would adversely affect its position. The study covers press articles that appeared in regional dailies published in the Opole region. Quantitative and qualitative analysis tools were used, includuing framing analysis. ; Jednym z wskaźników kondycji państwa demokratycznego jest jego stosunek do mniejszości narodowych. Istotny jest wymiar formalny tych relacji, a także funkcjonowanie sfery publicznej. Kluczowa będzie zatem zdolność do efektywnego negocjowania i deliberacji nad kwestiami ważnymi społecznie i budzącymi duże emocje. Naturalną przestrzeń dla takiej debaty stwarzają media. Będąc również uczestnikiem debaty, media pozycjonują strony i wpływają na postawy społeczne wobec dyskutowanych kwestii. Celem badań, których wyniki są prezentowane w niniejszym artykule była analiza medialnego pozycjonowania mniejszości niemieckiej (MN) w ramach sporu o przesunięcie granic Opola. Na Opolszczyźnie zamieszkuje większość polskich Niemców – najliczniejszej mniejszości narodowej w Polsce. Powiększenie miasta Opola o część terenów należących do sąsiednich gmin, w których znaczącą część społeczności stanowiła MN, wzbudziło silne protesty mieszkańców tych gmin i obawy samej MN, że zmiany te niekorzystnie wpłyną na jej pozycję. W badaniach uwzględniono artykuły prasowe, które ukazały się w regionalnych dziennikach wydawanych na Opolszczyźnie. Stosowano narzędzia analizy ilościowej i jakościowej, wykorzystując m.in. metodę ram interpretacyjnych (framing).
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 validity of the current global development agenda, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ends on December 31, 2015. International community has worked on the new development agenda since 2010. The new development agenda will replace the MDGs from 1 January 2016. The European Union is a very active participant in the work on the shape of the new development agenda. EU activity in this area is coming clearly both from the organization's ambition, wanting to play the role of a "global player" and the importance of global development policy objectives for the EU's development cooperation. Not coincidentally, the European Union announced the 2015 European Year of Development (EYD). The article presents the position of the most important institutions of the EU towards a new agenda for development (Post 2015 agenda). ; Ważność aktualnej, globalnej agendy rozwojowej, znanej pod nazwą Milenijne Cele Rozwojowe (MDGs), kończy się 31 grudnia 2015 r. Od 2010 r. trwają prace analityczne, programowe i polityczne nad nową agendą rozwojową, która zastąpi MDGs począwszy od 1 stycznia 2016 r. Unia Europejska jest bardzo aktywnym uczestnikiem prac nad kształtem kolejnej agendy rozwojowej. Aktywność UE w tym obszarze wynika zarówno z ambicji tej organizacji, chcącej odgrywać rolę "globalnego gracza", jak i znaczenia założeń globalnej polityki rozwojowej dla unijnej współpracy rozwojowej. Nieprzypadkowo Unia Europejska ogłosiła rok 2015 Europejskim Rokiem na rzecz Rozwoju – European Year for Development (EYD). Artykuł przedstawia stanowisko najważniejszych instytucji UE wobec nowej agendy rozwojowej (Post 2015).
Ważność aktualnej, globalnej agendy rozwojowej, znanej pod nazwą Milenijne Cele Rozwojowe (MDGs), kończy się 31 grudnia 2015 r. Od 2010 r. trwają prace analityczne, programowe i polityczne nad nową agendą rozwojową, która zastąpi MDGs począwszy od 1 stycznia 2016 r. Unia Europejska jest bardzo aktywnym uczestnikiem prac nad kształtem kolejnej agendy rozwojowej. Aktywność UE w tym obszarze wynika zarówno z ambicji tej organizacji, chcącej od¬grywać rolę "globalnego gracza", jak i znaczenia założeń globalnej polityki rozwojowej dla unijnej współpracy rozwojowej. Nieprzypadkowo Unia Europejska ogłosiła rok 2015 Europejskim Rokiem na rzecz Rozwoju - European Year for Development (EYD). Artykuł przedstawia stanowisko najważniejszych instytucji UE wobec nowej agendy rozwojowej ; The validity of the current global development agenda, known as the Millennium Develop¬ment Goals (MDGs) ends on December 31,2015. International community has worked on the new development agenda since 2010. The new development agenda will replace the MDGs from 1 Jan¬uary 2016. The European Union is a very active participant in the work on the shape of the new de¬velopment agenda. EU activity in this area is coming clearly both from the organization's ambition, wanting to play the role of a "global player" and the importance of global development policy objectives for the EU's development cooperation. Not coincidentally, the European Union announced the 2015 European Year of Development (EYD). The article presents the position of the most important institutions of the EU towards a new agenda for development (Post 2015 agenda).
The article aims to examine the role of non-farm actors and environmental interest groups in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU). It uses policy networks as an analytical tool to understand the structure, dynamics and outcomes of the EU's agricultural decision-making processes. Both locations of actors in the CAP policy structures and interaction modes between actors are examined. Also, the role of networks in shaping the CAP's reform decisions is assessed. The article shows that non-farm actors, and specifically environmentalists, researchers and other agents interested in major CAP reforms, have limited influence on final policy outcomes. At the same time though it has been found that non-farm actors play an increasingly important role in framing the CAP policy debate. They form active and vocal issue networks that impinge upon initial stages of the agenda setting phase in the policy cycle process. Also, the EU institutions become more and more dependent on non-farm actors' expertise when it comes to policy evaluation. Although the pro-reform approach of these actors is clearly noticeable, it is still too small to bring more than incremental changes within the policy
The article aims to examine the role of non-farm actors and environmental interest groups in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU). It uses policy networks as an analytical tool to understand the structure, dynamics and outcomes of the EU's agricultural decision-making processes. Both locations of actors in the CAP policy structures and interaction modes between actors are examined. Also, the role of networks in shaping the CAP's reform decisions is assessed. The article shows that non-farm actors, and specifically environmentalists, researchers and other agents interested in major CAP reforms, have limited influence on final policy outcomes. At the same time though it has been found that non-farm actors play an increasingly important role in framing the CAP policy debate. They form active and vocal issue networks that impinge upon initial stages of the agenda setting phase in the policy cycle process. Also, the EU institutions become more and more dependent on non-farm actors' expertise when it comes to policy evaluation. Although the pro-reform approach of these actors is clearly noticeable, it is still too small to bring more than incremental changes within the policy
The author claims that the development of the discipline of policy analysis and the professionalization of state activities in policymaking (from public education, public administration or political activities) takes the high quality policy studies. The policy analysis craft has plays many public role. Generally, its main task is to achieve the maximum of rational judgments relating to the key components in policymaking. It helps to diagnose the policy problems which affect the society and must be resolved, including capturing their dynamics before the damages are done. It supports as well the agenda setting which is to reflect the hierarchy of public problems. It helps to crystallize the evidence base which are to prove the effectiveness of policy intervention which has been planned. The author describes the historical circumstances in Poland shaping the cultural bias in policy analysis. He points to some public life practices which limit the inclination for analyzing policies or affect their quality. At the same time he emphasizes the significance of the professional policy analysis to make sure the decision making process is effective. It enables to detect many sorts of risks hidden on the stage of policy formulation and policy implementation. The public administration, political class, and many analytical institutions like think tanks have troubles in policy analysis.
The aim of the article is to present the specific nature of research on the issues of national relations in a totalitarian state based on the example of the lands of Central and Eastern Europe under the Soviet occupation from 1939-1941. In order to achieve this, the literature on the subject (in English and Polish) was reviewed as well as the most important methodological problems encountered by researchers. The research program was also outlined, along with a proposal for their conceptualization in the form of signalling the main aspects of the above-mentioned issues, including the specificity of the Soviet occupation of 1939-1941, social and ethnic relations in this area, and the Soviet nationalities policy. Several research methods and postulates were proposed, as well as perspectives and theoretical approaches that could facilitate the study of this complex and controversial subject, e.g., the interdisciplinary nature of research, methods of bottom-up formation of political attitudes of the population (the so-called "bottom-up" method), application of theories of the totalitarian state, and different theories of ethnicity. As a result, an interdisciplinary program of comparative studies of ethnic relations in Central and Eastern Europe under Soviet rule (1939-1941) was outlined, taking into account the transnational character of historical processes and the need to conduct micro historic analyses and case studies that would allow capturing of the diversity of ethnic relations and verify the effectiveness of the policy of the central Soviet authorities. The article argues that it seems obvious that the specificity of the analysed problematics can be properly grasped only by consideration it in the historical and theoretical context, adopting a comparative and transnational approach, from a micro-historical as well as everyday-life perspective that highlights the most important social factors which facilitated changes in interethnic relations.
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 ; Bariery w realizacji polityki publicznej pojawiają się na długo przed przystąpieniem do jej wdrażania. Wadliwe instytucje utrudniają właściwą identyfikację problemów i formułowanie polityki. Głównym problemem jest brak określenia centrum decyzyjnego, będącego głównym podmiotem odpowiedzialnym za tworzenie polityki publicznej. Funkcjonalne splecenie władzy ustawodawczej i wykonawczej pozbawia parlament wpływu na kształt polityki publicznej. Również rząd nie pełni przypisanej mu funkcji prowadzenia polityki. Dane z badań świadczą o przejęciu tej funkcji przez resorty i braku koordynacji działań legislacyjnych. Prawo jest instrumentem komunikowania wcześniej podjętych decyzji. Nie wykorzystuje się obiektywnej wiedzy ani konsultacji społecznych, które mogłyby równoważyć malejącą rolę parlamentu. Utrudnia to dobranie właściwychinstrumentów realizacji polityki.
On balance the performance of the first Polish EU Council Presidency in the matter of the enlargement process of the European Union seems to be positive. The Polish Presidency effectively implemented the five main functions of a Presidency: the agenda-setting, brokerage, management, coordination and internal representation in the contacts with the governments of member states and the institutions of the European Union. The most important aspect was that it managed to implement almost all the operational objectives typically required for the enlargement process. Despite the objections and doubts expressed by the governments of many member states, conditioned mainly by the debt crisis of the Eurozone and the need for internal and external consolidation of the European Union, the Polish Presidency managed to maintain the concept of enlargement as an important element on the EU's agenda. On 5 December 2011, on the initiative of the Polish Presidency, the General Affairs Council agreed a new approach to the accession negotiations involving the earliest possible opening of the most contentious negotiation chapters, including fundamental rights and policies pertaining to the area of freedom, security and justice. Employing the agenda-setting function, the Polish Presidency was the co-author of the Group Presidency programme and the author of the country's Presidency programme and both documents provided the foundation for Poland's activity in the process of enlargement of the European Union. The most important achievements of the Polish Presidency resulting from the implementation of the brokerage, coordination and management functions concerned Croatia, Iceland, Serbia and Montenegro. The Polish government finalised the work on the text of the accession treaty with Croatia and brought about the signing of the treaty on 9 December 2011. It also accepted the agreements referring to the status of Croatia in the transition period; that is, until the treaty becomes fully effective. The Polish Presidency also gave a significant impetus to the accession negotiations with Iceland, by opening seven negotiation chapters and concluding six. The achievement of the Polish Presidency towards the endeavours of the countries of the Western Balkans to gain accession to the European Union was the opening of procedures leading to Serbia being granted candidate country status, although the formal decision was taken on 28 February 2012 by the General Affairs Council under the chairmanship of the Danish Presidency. In addition, the politically crucial enlargement conclusions of the General Affairs Council for Montenegro, on the basis of which the European Council announced that a decision would be taken on the commencement of accession negotiations in June 2012, were achieved during the Polish Presidency. Taking into account that some member states were critical of the steps taken to normalise relationships between Serbia and Kosovo, the balanced conclusions of the Council, in the part referring to Serbia, should also be taken as a success for the Polish Presidency. Although the Polish Presidency suffered a few failures it is worth emphasising that they resulted mainly from the attitude of other member states such as Greece or the negligence of the third party countries in the enlargement process – in the cases of Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. The Polish government, like the others since 2009, failed to overcome the opposition of Greece to the commencement of accession negotiations with Macedonia, although other member states fully supported the concept. The Polish Presidency, like the Belgian and Hungarian Presidencies, was unable to open any new chapter in the accession negotiations with Turkey. However, the reasons were the lack of progress in the implementation of the process of reforms by the Turkish government, the still unsolved controversial issues with Cyprus, the growing assertiveness of Turkey in the foreign policy arena and the unfavourable attitude towards the accession of Turkey to the Union by some member states. Nonetheless, the Polish Presidency achieved an agreement with other member states for a positive agenda in the relations between the Union and Turkey, which led to a relatively balanced text relating to Turkey in the conclusions of the General Affairs Council on 5 December 2011. The reason for the lack of achievement in the enlargement process with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo was the limited progress in fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria made by these countries. Therefore, these countries still remain only as states which aspire to be members of the European Union. Balancing all the stated successes and failures it should be emphasised that the Polish Presidency gave new impetus to the enlargement process of the European Union. This was visible in the proposal by the Polish government and its acceptance by the General Affairs Council of a new methodology for conducting future accession negotiations, the significant advancement of the accession negotiations with Iceland, the opening of the procedure for granting candidate country status to Serbia and establishing the political requirements for the commencement of accession negotiations with Montenegro. In addition, the Polish government signed the accession treaty with Croatia and accepted the agreements regarding the country's status in its relationships with the European Union in the transition period until the accession treaty is fully implemented.
The author claims that the development of the discipline of policy analysis and the professionalization of state activities in policymaking (from public education, public administration or political activities) takes the high quality policy studies. The policy analysis craft has plays many public role. Generally, its main task is to achieve the maximum of rational judgments relating to the key components in policymaking. It helps to diagnose the policy problems which affect the society and must be resolved, including capturing their dynamics before the damages are done. It supports as well the agenda setting which is to reflect the hierarchy of public problems. It helps to crystallize the evidence base which are to prove the effectiveness of policy intervention which has been planned. The author describes the historical circumstances in Poland shaping the cultural bias in policy analysis. He points to some public life practices which limit the inclination for analyzing policies or affect their quality. At the same time he emphasizes the significance of the professional policy analysis to make sure the decision making process is effective. It enables to detect many sorts of risks hidden on the stage of policy formulation and policy implementation. The public administration, political class, and many analytical institutions like think tanks have troubles in policy analysis. ; Autor dowodzi, że rozwój dyscypliny wiedzy o polityce publicznej wymaga silnie rozwiniętej kultury analizy w państwie i społeczeństwie. Stawia tezę mówiącą o istnieniu wielu trudności w kształtowaniu wysokiej kultury analizy w Polsce. Wskazuje na uwarunkowania kulturowe i niektóre praktyki w życiu zbiorowym, które ograniczają skłonność do analizy. Problemy z jakością kultury analizy widoczne są w administracji publicznej i klasie politycznej, a także we wciąż niedorozwiniętej sieci instytucji analitycznych typu think tanki. Jednocześnie autor podkreśla znaczenie profesjonalnej i nowoczesnej analizy dla uzyskania wysokiej jakości procesu decyzyjnego w państwie. Umożliwia ona ograniczenie wielu rodzajów ryzyka, które kryją się w procesie formułowania i wdrażania polityki publicznej, głębsze diagnozowanie problemów, jakie społeczeństwo chce i musi rozwiązywać. Ma za zadanie uchwycenie ich dynamiki, nim zacznie ona mieć niszczące skutki. Proces analizy wspiera również zadanie tworzenia właściwej agendy problemów, czyli takiej, która odzwierciedla hierarchię ważności problemów. Analiza może pomóc również udowodnić trafność zaplanowanej interwencji publicznej.
Contemporaneous wars are subjected to some profound changes regarding applied means and sometimes goals of the confronting parties. It is becoming clear with the cases of special operations, launched by Russia against its strategic rivalries and countries, which have been proclaimed by the latter sphere of Russia's geopolitical interests. Kremlin tries to undermine the electoral process and distort their results. They serve very important tools of Russia's actual policy. For instance, they aim at distortion of the election agenda settings, spreading fake news and false perception of main topics for a public discourse into targeted countries. USA, France, Great Britain seem to be only a few examples of those actions. Most of all, the vulnerability towards Russia's interference into democratic elections are attributed with Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and some other post-soviet counties. The article characterizes some cases of such intrusion and points out at the urgent necessity to set in forth counter-policy against this kind of the interference. ; Współczesne konflikty wojenne zmieniają charakter stosowanych środków i pod wieloma względami cele, do których dążą strony. Widać to na przykładzie operacji specjalnych, które współczesna Rosja podejmuje w celu zdestabilizowania strategicznych rywali i zwiększenia wpływów w krajach, które sama określiła jako sferę swoich interesów. Jednym z ważnych narzędzi realizacji korzystnej dla Kremla polityki są celowe, wywrotowe wysiłki zmierzające do zniekształcenia przebiegu i wyników demokratycznych wyborów. W szczególności poprzez wykorzystanie agentów wpływu, kształtowanie agendy przez poszczególne środki masowego przekazu, wprowadzanie destrukcyjnych tendencji do dyskursu publicznego. Nie będąc pionierem w tej dziedzinie, Rosja wielokrotnie interweniowała podczas wyborów w różnych krajach. Stany Zjednoczone, Wielka Brytania i Francja nie uniknęły tego losu. Ponadto rosyjska ingerencja jest widoczna w przestrzeni poradzieckiej, np. W Gruzji, Mołdawii, a szczególnie intensywnie na Ukrainie. Artykuł analizuje przykłady takich ingerencji w proces wyborczy i zwraca uwagę na konieczność opracowania i wdrożenia środków przeciwdziałających im. ; Современные войны меняют природу используемых средств, а во многом и преследуемых сторонами целей. Это просматривается на примере тех спецопераций, которые предпринимаются современной Россией для дестабилизации своих стратегических соперников и усиления влияния в тех странах, которые она сама провозгласила сферой своих интересов. Одним из важных инструментов осуществления выгодной для Кремля политики выступают ее целенаправленные подрывные усилия, направленные на искажение хода и результатов демократических выборов. В частности, путем использования агентов влияния, формирования повестки дня отдельными средствами массовой информации, внесения деструктивных тенденций в публичный дискурс. Не будучи первопроходцем в данной сфере, Россия неоднократно осуществляет вмешательство в ход выборов в различных странах. Этой судьбы не избежали США, Великобритания, Франция. Тем более российское вмешательство заметно на постсоветском пространстве, как-то в Грузии, Молдове, и особенно интенсивно в Украине. В статье рассматриваются отдельные примеры такого вмешательства в избирательный процесс и обращается внимание на необходимость разработки и осуществления мер по противодействию им.
Council of Europe has a long history of combating discrimination, although this subject has been dealt with in different institutional setting. The principles of equality and non-discrimination feature prominently and repeatedly in the Council of Europe documents. Promoting human rights and non-discrimination have been focal issues for the Council of Europe ever since its founding, paving the way for numerous policy measures, campaigns, conferences, trainings and debates. This paper presents current trends in Council of Europe's non-discrimination policy, as well as the historic review of the process of its development. It focuses, both on the presentation of instruments and practical effects. The Council of Europe has played a key role in the development of a common anti-discrimination agenda. European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Protocol no. 12, as well as the other instruments dealt with in this presentation, were a major step in the fight against discrimination in Europe. At the level of general orientation of the Council of Europe policy against discrimination the legislation prohibiting discrimination brings forth effective results. Nevertheless, combating discrimination and un-equality requires more than prohibition. Therefore, the Council of Europe must not see progress to date as the endgame, but rather a first step towards a society in which everyone can participate equally.
