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Switzerland is an example of a state that has adopted specific solutions as regards the election and execution of executive power, which has generated the common conviction that the Swiss Confederation is among the most solid democracies in the world. Recent years have shown, however, that political practice has brought about a significant evolution of Swiss solutions as the distribution of power in the parliament has resulted in the abolition of the 'magical formula' that guaranteed the great (and stable) government coalition, and the emergence of initiatives aiming at changing the principles along which executive power is elected in Switzerland. The purpose of considerations presented in this paper is to analyze the specific character of how the executive institutions function in the Swiss Confederation, answer the question of what directions the changes to the composition of the Federal Council are taking, as well as address the directions of evolutionary changes to the principles of electing the members of the Swiss government. ; Switzerland is an example of a state that has adopted specific solutions as regards the election and execution of executive power, which has generated the common conviction that the Swiss Confederation is among the most solid democracies in the world. Recent years have shown, however, that political practice has brought about a significant evolution of Swiss solutions as the distribution of power in the parliament has resulted in the abolition of the 'magical formula' that guaranteed the great (and stable) government coalition, and the emergence of initiatives aiming at changing the principles along which executive power is elected in Switzerland. The purpose of considerations presented in this paper is to analyze the specific character of how the executive institutions function in the Swiss Confederation, answer the question of what directions the changes to the composition of the Federal Council are taking, as well as address the directions of evolutionary changes to the principles of electing the members of the Swiss government.

W ostatnich dwóch dekadach nastąpił w Unii Europejskiej rozwój instytucji odpowiadających za bezpieczeństwo tych społeczeństw. W roku 2003 Rada Europy przyjęła pierwszą w historii tej organizacji międzynarodowej strategię bezpieczeństwa. Do zdecydowanych kroków zmusiły także zamachy terrorystyczne. Istotnego znaczenia nabrał proces tworzenia unijnych formacji wojskowych, głównie Grup Bojowych. Tworzenie tej formacji jest najważniejszą, podejmowaną przez UE inicjatywą militarną. Od 2010 roku pełnią one rotacyjne dyżury i są zdolne do szybkiego reagowania na kryzysy poza terytorium Europy. W procesie tym coraz aktywniej uczestniczy Polska, przyczyniając się do umacniania swej pozycji w strukturach UE. Polska tworzy z innymi krajami Weimarską i Wyszehradzką Grupę Bojową. Należy sądzić, że w najbliższych latach nie powstanie europejska armia pod jednolitym dowództwem i jednakowo umundurowana. Unia Europejska przyjęła na siebie zadania uzupełniające w stosunku do operacji wojskowych prowadzonych przez Organizację Narodów Zjednoczonych, Stany Zjednoczone i Sojusz Północnoatlantycki. ; The institutions responsible for the security of those societies developed in the last two decades in the European Union. The Council of Europe accepted the first safety strategy in the history of this international organization. Terrorist attacks made taking forceful steps necessary. The process of creating union troops mainly in combat groups became significant. The creation of this group is the most important military initiative undertaken by the European Union. Since 2010 they have been working in rotation groups and with the ability to react quickly during a crisis outside European territory. Poland is taking part in this process with an increasingly active contribution to strengthen its position within EU structures. Poland is part of the Weimarsk and Visegrad combat group with other countries. There is no sign yet of the creation of a unileteral European army in the coming years. The European Union undertakes supplementary tasks in relation to military operations run by the United Nations and NATO.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a political and legal analysis of the choice options, decisionmaking processes and negotiation strategies of political actors in dispute over the date of the presidential elections in Poland the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Possible decisions are outlined in the form of a modified decision tree known from the decision theory, taking into account not only the options falling within the scope of individual actors' performance, but also scenarios triggered by specific choices and interdependent on the behavior of other actors (their cooperation or lack of cooperation). The descriptive-explanatory and predictive analysis is based on the assumptions of the public choice theory. The article also explains the legal determinants and boundaries of actions available to political actors ; Teisės fakultetas ; Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas

Mobility of students, mobility of scientists and ECT system — implementation of the Bologna Process in Polish universitiesThe article introduces the idea of the Bologna Process – a European-wide initiative which focuses on changes in the higher education system. The strategic aim of this policy is to create a European Higher Education Area and to improve its international competitiveness The authors analyze the genesis of the idea of the Bologna Process, briefly discuss its strategic objectives, the tools used to achieve them and describe the stakeholders taking part in the implementation of the policy at the European and national levels. The essay concentrates on the description of the two out of six main tools of the Bologna Process: mobility and ECTS system as well as their implementation in Polish universities

Publikacja recenzowana / Peer-reviewed publication ; The objective of the article is to indicate similarities as well as discrepancies between the Polish and German governments' stands on the crisis and conflict in Ukraine. The author tries to respond to the question: What will be the implications of the conflict in Ukraine for the "Eastern policy" of Poland and Germany? Will they result in the continuation of their current "Eastern policy", its evolution or maybe they will bring an essential change to their policy in the region? In author's opinion, taking into account significant differences between the Polish and German foreign policies towards Russia and Ukraine between 2014 and 2015 as well as before that period, the possibility for enhanced cooperation between the two governments in relation to their foreign policy towards Russia and Ukraine will continue to be remote in the upcoming years.

This essay investigates mutual relations between China, Russia and Ukraine during the five month groundbreaking period between November 2013 and March 2014, in which failed attempts to suppress anti-government demonstrations (in particular in the so-called Maidan) brought about a change of the government. Meanwhile Russia, taking advantage of political instability in Ukraine, contributed to further destabilization of the country and forced the annexation of Crimea. The essay features an account of these events along with an overview of the PRC's stand on them. The utterances of Chinese diplomats together with government press statements will be scrutinized here in order to answer the questions of whether Beijing intends to get more involved in solving world's crises than it used to up until now as well as whether it means to play a major role in the world's politics in general.

Health insurance expenditures on drug refunds in 2004-2012Drug expenditures in each country account for a large share in total health expenditures. Hence experts, media and societies are becoming very interested in the drug policy in their country, where one of the important components is reimbursement/refund policy. Good governance in the drug sector means not only taking up allocation, redistribution and stabilization tasks that belong to the government, but also taking into consideration differences in interests of different stakeholders on the drug market. If it is disregarded, even ideal theoretical solutions will not work in market reality. This article presents and comments basic facts on development of universal health insurance expenditures on drug refund in the last 13 years in Poland, especially in 2012 after implementation of the new bill on refund policy. This law led to a dramatic decrease in drug refund cost share in total expenditures of the National Health Fund (Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia, NFZ) from 15% in 2011 to 11.2% in 2012. Still the share of drug refund has already had a decreasing tendency in NFZ expenditures starting from 2005. Available data contradict suspicions that savings on drug refunds in NFZ has led to an increase in patients' health expenditures on prescription drugs. Costs of substitutive full-price drugs (equivalents for refunded ones) bought by Polish patients in 2012 increased only by 650 mln PLN, while NFZ's refund expenditures decreased by almost 2 billion PLN, and patients' copayment in the case of refunded drugs dropped by one billion PLN. However, drug consumption was reduced. Conducted analysis also showed a systematic, and positive for patients, growth in the share of almost fully refunded drugs – drugs with low fixed copayments (from 49% in 2004 to almost 65% in 2012) and lower 30% patients' copayment in NFZ refunds. Which in fact is in contradiction with the common opinion that NFZ is running a policy of shifting more drug costs on patients. What is concerning are regional discrepancies (between regional – voievodship branches) in refund expenditures per insured person (the difference between the highest and lowest is 49 PLN – 28%).

The objective of scientific forecasting is to present the most probable course of an analyzed phenomenon, taking into account the direction and dynamics of its development. In the course of making forecasts one endeavors to determine the conditions providing for the evolution of this phenomenon. Twenty-something years of an independent Ukraine is decidedly too short a period to facilitate responsible hypothesizing on the development of internal and external situation of this country, but some suppositions are justified. On account of the limitations of this paper the author analyzes only selected events from the recent history of Ukraine. The analysis does not answer the question of whether the recurring crises in Ukraine result primarily from phenomena that cyclically occur in a democracy (i.e. elections), and are simply inherent in it or not. Alternatively, when the chronic nature of a crisis (not: crises) is assumed, it may be concluded that as Ukraine emerges 'unscathed' from each stage of the crisis it evolves towards a new, more advanced phase, in consistence with Kondratiev's theories of economic and political cycles. ; The objective of scientific forecasting is to present the most probable course of an analyzed phenomenon, taking into account the direction and dynamics of its development. In the course of making forecasts one endeavors to determine the conditions providing for the evolution of this phenomenon. Twenty-something years of an independent Ukraine is decidedly too short a period to facilitate responsible hypothesizing on the development of internal and external situation of this country, but some suppositions are justified. On account of the limitations of this paper the author analyzes only selected events from the recent history of Ukraine. The analysis does not answer the question of whether the recurring crises in Ukraine result primarily from phenomena that cyclically occur in a democracy (i.e. elections), and are simply inherent in it or not. Alternatively, when the chronic nature of a crisis (not: crises) is assumed, it may be concluded that as Ukraine emerges 'unscathed' from each stage of the crisis it evolves towards a new, more advanced phase, in consistence with Kondratiev's theories of economic and political cycles.

One of the main challenges European democracy has faced recently is growing political radicalism, and primarily the increasing importance of populist parties originating from both left and right sides of the political arena. This paper refers to the theoretical assumptions concerning this phenomenon to analyze the operations of the 'Die Linke' party in the German party system. This party is an excellent example of taking skillful advantage of the circumstances favoring the development of the populist tendencies that have emerged following the recent, radical, social, and political changes in the Federal Republic of Germany. Against the background of European extremist left-wing parties, the paper presents the influence this Left-Wing Party exerts on the changing balance of power on the German political arena on a regional and national level, the ideological profile and party platform, and the changing structure of both its members and voters.

One of the main challenges European democracy has faced recently is growing political radicalism, and primarily the increasing importance of populist parties originating from both left and right sides of the political arena. This paper refers to the theoretical assumptions concerning this phenomenon to analyze the operations of the 'Die Linke' party in the German party system. This party is an excellent example of taking skillful advantage of the circumstances favoring the development of the populist tendencies that have emerged following the recent, radical, social, and political changes in the Federal Republic of Germany. Against the background of European extremist left-wing parties, the paper presents the influence this Left-Wing Party exerts on the changing balance of power on the German political arena on a regional and national level, the ideological profile and party platform, and the changing structure of both its members and voters.

The aim of the article is to reconstruct the theoretical foundations of the local government, reestablished in 1990, taking into account the state and political theories, whose standards have been established with regard to the local government during the interwar period, as well as the concept of the civil society, built upon the foundation of the civil movements of the 1980s that aimed at democratizing the authoritarian regimes of Central and Eastern Europe. The idea of the civil society, which reemerged after two centuries, not only inspired a nation-wide political protest movement and democratic modernization of the state, but also became one of the cornerstones of the conception of the local government, as cooperation with the local organizations, considered to be the most important agents of the third sector, has been inscribed directly into the local government statutes.

A point of departure for this study was an observation that, in political sciences, much more often the focus is on the phenomena happening in the political centres of European states than on those taking place in their regions. The foregoing, however, seems a serious impediment to further the knowledge on making political decisions and their practical implementation. When one follows closely the processes the countries of our continent go through, it is hard not to notice that the events unfolding in the regions more and more often, and to a much greater extent, impact the politics of both particular states and the structures of the unified Europe. Perfect exemplifications of the aforesaid assumption have been in the recent years Scotland and Catalonia. Therefore, the main aim of the present study is to indicate principle reasons that would offer a compelling justification to investigate social, political, and economic phenomena occurring at the level of region in Europe.

The article addresses current trends in the European transformation and compares the structure which is being built to ancient and medieval empires. The imperial order appears to be productive for the EU, due to it easily embraces the heterogeneity existing within the Union, as well as contributes to the strengthening of the EU institutional legitimacy and efficiency in global governance. The ongoing EU transformations, promoted by the German-French lobby and supported by the authorities in Brussels, are indirectly leading to the emergence of an imperial structure, which is secured by a soft power, instead of a rule of sword. Taking all this into account, an attempt is made to define the role of Poland, the largest post-2004 enlargement state, in the new structure. To make this attempt sufficient a brief analysis of current Polish foreign policy and economic growth is provided. ; Artykuł nie zawiera abstraktu w języku polskim

The goal of this work is to outline the current mutual relations between Poland and the Nordic countries, taking into consideration not only their internal differentiation but most of all the scope of their impact on the European scene and beyond. When examining Poland's relations with the Nordic countries today, we must do so on a multifaceted level: firstly, within the bilateral dimension considering, however, the growing internal cooperation among those countries in various fields; secondly, in terms of a regional cooperation, and, thirdly, as a very important aspect of the European Union and Transatlantic policy towards the East. Hence it is in the interest of Poland to develop all structures of cooperation which bond the Baltic countries. The strengthening of the Baltic-Nordic cooperation will determine the status of Poland as an important regional center both for the EU and the contacts with Russia, Ukraine, and other countries of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe.

It is virtually impossible for a modern democracy to properly function without civic society. Direct democracy involves citizens in public life, thus facilitating the emergence of civic society. Voting in referenda and taking advantage of other forms of direct execution of power provides an opportunity to create a society that cooperates with the authorities in solving numerous public issues. A question can be asked in this context: How are the opportunities generated by exercising direct democracy being utilized in Poland? The research has corroborated the sad pattern that all authorities, which are the nation's representation after all, are not inclined to vest decision-making directly with this nation. The mechanisms of direct democracy in Poland, in practice, do not give the people (the sovereign in Poland) an opportunity to actually exercise their power. Legal provisions concerning referenda and people's initiative at a national level allow the political elite to completely control the application of these mechanisms.