Suchergebnisse

The article is the first attempt at describing and comparing leaders of four most important populist groupings in Poland: Samoobrona, PiS, LPR, Kukiz'15. It makes three primary contributions to the literature of the subject. In its theoretical aspect, it shows that the literature concerning the analysed issue is still at the stage of being developed. When it comes to the analysis of data, it was found that populist party leaders played an important political role in Poland. In the case of Samoobrona, PiS and Kukiz'15 they played a key role in the process of origination of their parties, while in PiS they still hold a very strong intra-party position.

Abstract
Rarely do twins play active and significant roles in politics. Yet in 2006 President of the Republic of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, designated his twin brother Jarosław to be prime minister. The aim of the current publication is to analyse the political activity of Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński in the context of the founding of PiS and its functioning. Their position inside the party is undisputed. Moreover, as there is no opposition inside the party and Jarosław Kaczyński achieves spectacular electoral results, his legitimisation as autonomous leader of the party is strengthened even further.

This article is part of the special cluster titled Political Parties and Direct Democracy in Eastern Europe, guest-edited by Sergiu Gherghina. The article is the first attempt to describe and compare five nationwide referendums in Poland after 1989 as tools of direct democracy exploited by political parties. The article makes two primary contributions to the literature. The explanation focuses on the circumstances as well as the two main motives of the referendum initiators, that is, to cause trouble for political opponents and strengthen one's own position by legitimising one's own proposals concerning the political system and foreign policy directions. Moreover, the article discusses six methods employed by political parties to use the institution of nationwide referendum for their own political purposes. Interestingly, the Polish example shows that nationwide referendums have twofold effects for their initiators. On the one hand, they allow political parties to effectively realise the aims behind the initiated referendum. On the other hand, both political parties (1996, 1997, 2003) and presidents (1996 and 2015) sustained defeats in the next parliamentary or presidential elections.

Abstract
The objective of this analysis is to examine political party leadership with reference to the rules and results of its selection process in post-communist Poland. The exploration of these matters is based on qualitative and quantitative data concerning 16 different political parties and 80 selections they conducted in the years 1990-2013. The comprehensive research methods employed for this study ranged from in-depth analysis of particular election results to analysis of constitutional and structural party variations. This extensive investigation enables the reader to draw conclusions about Polish intra-party politics and to understand the vetting processes that Polish politicians must undergo. The findings indicate that political parties tend to address wider selectorates; and that the rules of selection are transparent, democratic, and empirically predictable.

Utterances of political leaders participating in a parliamentary debate, especially in crisis situations, are of exceptional significance. The aim of the study is to analyse positions and declarations of political leaders towards the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland as regards politicians' speeches made in the Sejm. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed on 504 speeches made by chairpersons of parties and parliamentary clubs and circles. The analysis showed that the issue of COVID-19, although it was the most important problem for Poles for many months, did not receive as much attention from political leaders in the Sejm. The leaders of opposition groups criticised the government and called for action. In contrast, the leaders of ruling parties' coalition did not actively participate in the Sejm discourse.

Abstract
The aim of this article is to analyse the role and importance of leaders in the Czech populist parties and movements, as well as determining significant factors which condition their institutionalisation. The main focus will be placed on the role of leaders in establishing their respective parties, their formal position and intraparty selection processes in VV, ANO, SPD and ÚPD. Examples of actions taken by the leaders of ANO and SPD show that building populist parties on the foundation of the strong, formal and official position of the leader in their party as well as becoming open to more members prove effective when it comes to the discussed issues...

AbstractThe European migrant crisis constitutes one of the greatest challenges of the second Decade of the 21st century. Controlled by the populist Law and Justice, the Polish government has been one of the few to oppose receiving refugees, although it is obliged to through the cooperation of EU states. The authors analyzed 852 parliamentary speeches of 24 Polish political leaders since 2011 to 2019. Considering the analysis results, it is possible to conclude that the more severe the crisis became, the more dynamically the number of reports on the migrant crisis increased in parliamentary discourse. The research confirms that the two biggest parties present dramatically disparate views on the issue. The study also confirms that the views and declarations of the analyzed political leaders are compatible with the views of their electorates.

One of the most important aspects of academic life is cooperation between researchers from different centres. Different levels of experience, approaches and paradigms enable researchers to observe the complete image of categories. The Political Leadership Section of the Polish Political Science Association has been formed during the Second Nationwide Congress of Political Science in Poznań (2012). The Association's Board has established it on February 7, 2013. Since that day the section integrates scholars from different universities interested in issues of political leadership, it supports development of this research field in Poland, it collects published monographs, editions and papers relevant to this field and it coordinates development of teaching standards in education on political leadership. The section's activity and its role in Polish academic community proves that this topic has become a significant aspect of social sciences in the country.