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Even though the province has been a territorial division unit since the unification of Italy, despite the passing of over 150 years it has not been able to obtain a clear institutional identity. Its existence has been repeatedly questioned with attempts of abolition followed by reactivation. The economic crisis of 2008 brought again into question the legitimacy and efficiency of the functioning of the province. The latter was about to be abolished by means of an unsuccessful constitutional reform, which was rejected in the constitutional referendum of December 4, 2016. Nevertheless, in 2014 Parliament adopted the so-called Delrio Act, which did not eliminate the province, but transformed it into the so-called wide territorial unit (enti territoriali di area vasta) together with the newly created metropolitan cities. In Sicily, the provinces were abolished and free consortia were created in their place, while in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region inter-municipal territorial unions were formed. After the reforms carried out as a result of the economic crisis of 2008, the province became only one of many units of an intermediate level of the state structure and its actual significance was related to the policy of a particular region and assigned functions (regional rescaling). The weakening of the political position of the province is associated with its increasing dependence on the region, the elimination of the direct election of its organs, unpaid character of work in provincial bodies and the reduction of financial resources for existing competences. Choć prowincja jest jednostką podziału terytorialnego od zjednoczenia Włoch, to mimo upływu ponad 150 lat nie zdołała uzyskać jednoznacznej tożsamości instytucjonalnej. Podważono jest istnienie wielokrotnie, podejmując próby jej zniesienie a następnie reaktywacji. Kryzys ekonomiczny 2008 roku ponownie poddał pod dyskusję zasadność i efektywność funkcjonowania prowincji wraz z próbą jej likwidacji w drodze nieudanej reformy konstytucyjnej, która została odrzucona w referendum konstytucyjnym z 4 grudnia 2016 r. Parlament uchwalił jednak w 2014 r. tzw. ustawę Delrio, która wprawdzie nie zlikwidowała prowincji, ale przekształciła je w tzw. jednostki terytorialne o szerokim obszarze (enti territoriali di area vasta) wraz z nowopowstałymi miastami metropolitalnymi. Na Sycylii zniesiono prowincje a w ich miejsce utworzono wolne konsorcja, a w regionie Friuli-Wenecja Julijska międzygminne unie terytorialne. Po reformach przeprowadzonych w efekcie kryzysu ekonomicznego 2008 r. prowincja stała się jedną z wielu jednostek pośredniego poziomu struktury państwa, a jej faktyczne znaczenie związane było z polityką konkretnego regionu oraz przydzielonymi funkcjami (regional rescaling). Osłabienie pozycji ustrojowej prowincji wiąże się z coraz większym jej uzależnieniem od regionu, likwidacją bezpośredniego wyboru jej organów, bezpłatnym sprawowaniem funkcji w organach prowincji oraz zmniejszeniem środków finansowych na jej funkcjonowanie.

Among the states of Southern Europe, which created a consolidated democratic system in Huntington's third wave of democracy, it was Greece that was hit hardest with the effects of the 2008 economic crisis and its influence on the functioning of the contemporary political system created on the basis of the constitution of 1975. Only external financial assistance was capable of protecting the Greek state from actual and formal bankruptcy. However, the subsequent loan packages (as part of three assistance programmes in 2010, 2012, and 2015) came at the price of losing the capacity to make political decisions independently by the Greek government. The external financial assistance programmes and their subsequent loan tranches were granted on the condition of many economic reforms, reform execution oversight and the possibility of withdrawing the assistance by the so-called Troika, that is, the International Monetary Fund, the EU Commission, and the European Central Bank. Not even a referendum carried out on 5 July 2015 which rejected the subsequent bound transaction (financial assistance in exchange for further reforms and cuts), including a threat of a so-called Grexit (i.e. Greece's withdrawal from the eurozone), had any relevant influence on the conditions of the subsequent bailout. In this situation, the parliament was forced to accept the proposed bailout package with all its consequences within 48 hours without pursuing a longer debate in the House of Deputies. A research hypothesis can be drawn from these events, which states that a deepening economic crisis and the need to pursue further financial assistance led the political institutions of the Greek state to an even greater relinquishment of its sovereignty to international organisations and which resulted in the further radicalisation of public sentiment and the strengthening of extreme parties. Surely, a series of already existing and new factors could have had an influence on the discussed situation. These will be verified subsequently in the research process. [fragm. tekstu]

"The crisis is not solely Greek. The crisis is European."2 With these words, the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addressed the parliament in his first speech after winning the elections on 25 January 2015. This was a powerful declaration, as for the first time since the fall of the Regime of the Colonels in 1974, power in Greece was taken over by the Syriza, a radical left-wing group that formed a coalition with the nationalist Independent Greeks party. In the face of a deep economic crisis, several years of recession and the de facto bankruptcy of the state, both the political powers stood against austerity and financial cuts, which the cabinets of the socialist PASOK party and the conservative New Democracy party had subscribed to." (fragm.)

"The economic crisis of 2008 affected the Italian state to a lesser extent than the other countries of southern Europe. Nonetheless, its effects have had a significant impact on the current process of reconstruction of the party scene, the socio-economic reforms being gradually implemented, and on the preparation of a draft amendment of the constitution, adopted by parliament in 2016, and on a constitutional referendum held on 4 December 2016." (fragm.)

The economic crisis of 2008 affected the Italian state to a lesser extent than the other countries of southern Europe. Nonetheless, its effects have had a significant impact on the current process of reconstruction of the party scene, the socio-economic reforms being gradually implemented, and on the preparation of a draft amendment of the constitution, adopted by parliament in 2016, and on a constitutional referendum held on 4 December 2016. Italy, unlike Greece or Spain, did not have to seek external financial assistance. However, following a deterioration of its economic situation, introduction of economic management reforms at the European Union level, and a decline in its credit rating, Italy was forced to introduce crisis measures, necessary structural reforms, and other actions to improve its economic competitiveness. In 2012, an amendment of article 81 of Italy's constitution was adopted, whereby a budget stability law was introduced. In politics, insufficient actions to rectify the Italian economy resulted in the dismissal of the centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi on 12 November 2011 which had been elected in the 2008 parliamentary elections, the disintegration of Berlusconi's the People of Freedom party and the appointment of a non-partisan government of technocrats led by Mario Monti. The effects of the economic crisis deepened the already existing dissatisfaction with the stagnant political elites, leading to the emergence of a group called the Five Star Movement as a manifestation of public disillusionment with bipolar political competition and the assumption of power by a new generation of politicians under the leadership of 39-year-old Matteo Renzi in February 2014. It is therefore initially assumed that the economic crisis in Italy after 2008 became an accelerator of political change, which, however, was accompanied by traditional socio-economic problems. [fragm. tekstu]

This article presents the main ideas of constitutional reform, governments in Italy over the last thirty years. "Blocked Italian democracy" was looking for ways of overcoming the legal framework. Conceived the idea of the great constitutional reform in the late seventies. There are three main ways of that reform: 1) the establishment of the Constituent Assembly, 2) creating a bicameral committee on constitutional reform, 3) by art.138 of the Constitution for its revision. The first solution only enjoyed the support of the right of the political scene. But failed to establish three committees for the bicameral constitutional reform: in the years 1983–1985 A. Bozziego Commission, in 1992–1994 the Commission C. De Mita and N. Iotti, in 1997, the Commission M. D'Alema. Presented by reform projects have failed due to lack of agreement between the main political forces. Thus, the third way of constitutional reform became Article 138 of the Constitution. However, in cases where an amendment has been approved only by an absolute majority of both houses of parliament, it can be put to the vote in a referendum on ratification. Twice held such a constitutional referendum, once on the center-left proposals 7 October 2001 year, the second time against the center-right approach June 25–26, 2006. The last referendum did not obtain public support. So it seems that the idea of the great constitutional reform has failed to deep divisions between the main political parties.

The paper briefly reviews what is encompassed in the term ministerial responsibility in Italian and Hellenic constitutional system. In this respect, the paper seeks to define the key concept of political ministerial responsibility, and also the distinction between collective and individual ministerial responsibility in the frame of the Hellenic and Italian parliamentary system. It then presents an overview of the substantive and procedural rules on such responsibility found in the Constitution of Greece, Constitution of Italy, Hellenic Parliament's Standing Orders, Italian Parliament's Order. This is followed by an assessment of basic concerns related to the actual application of the institution of ministerial responsibility. In conclusion, the paper presents some normative reflections on the issue. Niniejszy artykuł dotyczy zagadnienia politycznej odpowiedzialności ministerialnej w greckim i włoskim systemie konstytucyjnym. Analizie została poddana kluczowa koncepcja politycznej odpowiedzialności ministrów, a także rozróżnienie między solidarną i indywidualną odpowiedzialnością ministerialną w ramach greckiego i włoskiego systemu parlamentarnego. W kolejnej części artykułu zostały omówione przepisy materialne i proceduralne w odniesieniu do omawianego problemu, zawarte w Konstytucji Grecji, Konstytucji Włoch oraz w regulaminach parlamentarnych obu państw. Zostały przedstawione podstawowe problemy związane z faktycznym stosowaniem instytucji ministerialnej odpowiedzialności oraz kilka uwagę natury normatywnej omawianego zagadnienia.

Artykuł dotyczy procesu konstytucjonalizacji partii politycznych w Polsce w latach 1918– 2018 oraz ewolucji systemu partyjnego. Stanowi on studium prawno-politologiczne funkcjonowania partii politycznych w Polsce. W analizie wykorzystana została przede wszystkim koncepcja Heinricha Triepela, który ujął relację między państwem a partiami w 4 stopniowym podziale: stadium zwalczania (Stadium der Bekämpfung), ignorowania (Stadium der Ignorierung), uznawania i legalizacji (Periode der Anerkenung und Legalisierung) oraz konstytucyjnej inkorporacji (Ära der verfassungβmasigen Inkorporation). Polska odzyskując niepodległość 1918 roku weszła od razu w trzecie stadium, natomiast dopiero po drugiej wojnie światowej w stadium konstytucjonalizacji partii. Wykorzystane metody badawcze to analiza historyczna, analiza dokumentów oraz porównawcza. W artykule omówiono etapy rozwoju systemu partyjnego dzieląc je na etap dwudziestolecia międzywojennego 1918–1939, lata 1944–1989, okres lat 1990–2018. Konstatując, system partyjny w Polsce po 1989 roku podlegał długotrwałemu procesowi zmian i ewoluował od system sfragmentaryzowanego do system z niedoskonałą rywalizacją dwupartyjną. Stopniowy proces stabilizacji regulacji prawnych dotyczących wyborów oraz instytucjonalizacja partii politycznych przyczyniły się do konstytucjonalizacji system partyjnego.

What are the consequences of Syriza coming to power in Greece in 2015? Did it become a new Weimar Germany for the future Europe? In this article we test the hypothesis that winning two consecutive parliamentary elections in 2015 and forming a government contributed to a farther institutionalisation of this party within the rules of Greek democracy. This article is based on data from the Greek Ministry of Interior and the website of the Greek parliament. This text aims at presenting the process of transformation of Syriza - a radical, left-wing, anti-establishment and anti-austerity party into a governmental entity, pro systemic and accepting the principle of the democratic state of law. All this was due to the establishing of the governmental coalition with ANEL, a nationalist party; social-economic reforms; the reform of the electoral system for parliamentary elections; the proposal of a constitutional reform and the ending of the nearly 30-year dispute with Macedonia. The electoral failure during the parliamentary elections on the 7th of July 2019 finishes a 4-year governance of Syriza and enables us to try to evaluate this experiment for the first time. A key finding of our investigation is the need to highlight the respect for the democratic rules by Syriza during its government and its further institutionalisation as one of the main groupings of the contemporary party system in Greece.

What are the consequences of Syriza coming to power in Greece in 2015? Did it become a new Weimar Germany for the future Europe? In this article we test the hypothesis that winning two consecutive parliamentary elections in 2015 and forming a government contributed to a farther institutionalisation of this party within the rules of Greek democracy. This article is based on data from the Greek Ministry of Interior and the website of the Greek parliament. This text aims at presenting the process of transformation of Syriza - a radical, left-wing, anti-establishment and anti-austerity party into a governmental entity, pro systemic and accepting the principle of the democratic state of law. All this was due to the establishing of the governmental coalition with ANEL, a nationalist party; social-economic reforms; the reform of the electoral system for parliamentary elections; the proposal of a constitutional reform and the ending of the nearly 30-year dispute with Macedonia. The electoral failure during the parliamentary elections on the 7th of July 2019 finishes a 4-year governance of Syriza and enables us to try to evaluate this experiment for the first time. A key finding of our investigation is the need to highlight the respect for the democratic rules by Syriza during its government and its further institutionalisation as one of the main groupings of the contemporary party system in Greece.

An economic crisis also sparks a desire to introduce changes in the functioning of public administration institutions. Such actions were taken by the central authorities of Greece and Italy. Whenever it is necessary to carry out tasks in order to fulfil public expectations but resources are limited, the state begins to seek ways to financially optimise the execution of these tasks. Dissolution of the intermediate levels of public administration or decreasing the number of local government entities are examples of actions that significantly change the functioning of the entire party system. Another phenomenon, which may occur in a crisis and is closely related to decentralisation, is the strengthening of decentralising tendencies in regions that possess their own distinctive features. Taking advantage of regional political elites to deepen the socio-political divide between the centre and the peripheries may lead to serious changes in the functioning of the entire political system: from changes in the territorial organisation of the state, to attempts to disintegrate it altogether. A serious economic crisis may also lead to a public debate on the necessity to change the constitution. In turn, any amendment of the constitution leads to a radical change in the functioning of a state's political system. [fragm. tekstu]

The interdependencies between the economy and politics or, in other words, the influence of the economic environment on the political system, plays a key role in democratic states, where the influence of particular social groups (groups of interest) on the political decisions taken is, at least in theory, the greatest. In this particular dimension, democracy presents itself as a system, which contributes to a large degree to "politicisation" of decisions that appear to be clearly economic and "technical." Subjects that wield power in a democratic political system make economic decisions based on their potential for improving their chances of re-election. Subjects that aspire to take over power, in turn, criticise these decisions and try to convince as broad an electoral base as possible that the decisions taken once they are in power, will better cater to their interests. Apart from interests, ideas (ideologies) and values represented by various social groups, another factor that "binds" politics with the economy, are the institutions that function within a political system. Every political and economic activity is regulated by specific public institutions that define the legal framework of the activity, formulate objectives, methods, and instruments needed to perform the activity, act to achieve its objectives, monitor its realisation and control the conformance of the activity with legal regulations. [fragm. tekstu]

The political instability of Italian governments, excessive fragmentation and party polarization, political corruption characterized Italy's political system from the unification of the state in the second half of the nineteenth century. Successive amendments to the parliamentary election law were an attempt to solve the above problems. Such a process also took place in 1993. The aim of this article is to present the legal provisions of the electoral law to the Chamber of Deputies in Italy of August 4th, 1993. The shape of the changes introduced, the mixed election formula and the original method of distributing seats (scorporo totale and scorporo pro quota) were an example of searching for new solutions in electoral engineering on the way to finding the perfect electoral law. The article uses mainly legal-dogmatic and legal-institutional methods.

The article analyzes the political changes that have taken place in Greece following a double parliamentary election of 2015 (in January and September), focusing on three levels: 1) party system change, 2) electoral system change into parliament, 3) constitutional reform. The first part of the text sets out the basic changes in the structure of the party system, emphasizing the electoral victory of the radical forces – the far left populist SYRIZA or the rise of the far-right (Golden Dawn) in the double election of 2015. The paper also briefly reviews the nature and functioning of the Greek parliamentary electoral system with special regard to the newly adopted electoral law. In this respect, the paper highlights the main constitutional principles governing suffrage, as a necessary background to examining and understanding the framework upon which Greek electoral systems are based. It also presents the main features of the current electoral system, since it is the one to be applied in the following parliamentary election. The focus will be then on the recent reform of the electoral system in Greece after the adoption of Law 4406/2016. The paper analyses its most significant aspects and raises a number of relevant questions. Special reference is made to the voting procedure followed by the Greek Parliament for the adoption of Law 4406/2016, since it is a key factor for its enforcement. Since the outbreak of the crisis discussions about constitutional reform have been ongoing in Greece, although the initiation of a formal amendment process was blocked until 2013, due to the time-constraints imposed by the constitutional amending formula. The paragraph assesses the proposals made in July 2016 by the Tsipras government for a radical revision of the 1975 Constitution, taking into account the intense debate which engaged Greek constitutional law scholars. The Author highlights the particular features of the Greek constitutional revision model, characterized by political-elite-driven change which has led in the past to amending attempts lacking of a broad consensus. The broad scope of the proposed amendments requires political foresight and caution to prevent the constitutional revision from being reduced to a mere political diversion to ensure the permanence in power of certain political actors in the absence of consent and to deflect attention from continued controversial austerity policies. Artykuł analizuje zmiany polityczne, jakie zaszły w Grecji po podwójnych wyborach parlamentarnych z 2015 r. (w styczniu i wrześniu), koncentrując się na trzech płaszczyznach: 1) zmiany modelu systemu partyjnego, 2) zmiany systemu wyborczego do parlamentu, 3) reformy konstytucji. W pierwszej części tekstu określono podstawowe zmiany w strukturze systemu partyjnego, podkreślając zwycięstwo wyborcze radykalnych ugrupowań – lewicowej Syrizy czy skrajnej prawicy (Złoty Świt) w podwójnej elekcji z 2015 r. W drugiej części artykułu została omówiona charakterystyka i sposób funkcjonowania greckiego parlamentarnego systemu wyborczego, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem nowo przyjętej ordynacji wyborczej. Zwrócono uwagę na główne zasady konstytucyjne dotyczące prawa wyborczego, jako niezbędnego tła dla zbadania i zrozumienia ram, na których opierają się greckie systemy wyborcze. Przedstawiono główne cechy obecnego systemu wyborczego na podstawie ostatniej reformy systemu wyborczego w Grecji, ustawy no. 4406 z 2016 r. Artykuł analizuje jego najważniejsze aspekty i porusza szereg istotnych pytań. Odwołuje się szczególnie do procedury głosowania prowadzonej przez grecki parlament w celu przyjęcia ustawy 4406/2016, ponieważ jest to kluczowy czynnik jej egzekwowania. Ostatnia część artykuły została poświęcona planowej zmianie greckiej konstytucji. Od wybuchu kryzysu gospodarczego w Grecji trwają dyskusje na temat reformy konstytucyjnej, chociaż proces formalnej zmiany został wstrzymany do 2013 r., ze względu na ograniczenia czasowe narzucone w konstytucji. W artykule dokonano oceny propozycji złożonych przez rząd Tsiprasa w lipcu 2016 r. w celu radykalnej rewizji konstytucji z 1975 r. Autorka podkreśla szczególne cechy greckiego modelu rewizji konstytucyjnej, charakteryzującego się zmianami kierowanymi przez elitę polityczną, które doprowadziły w przeszłości do zmian bez większego konsensusu. Szeroki zakres proponowanych poprawek wymaga politycznego przewidywania i ostrożności, aby zapobiec przekształceniu rewizji konstytucji w zwykłą zmianę polityczną oraz aby zapewnić ciągłość władzy niektórych podmiotów politycznych przy braku zgody i odwrócić uwagę od wciąż kontrowersyjnych polityk oszczędnościowych.