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One highly significant phenomenon demonstrating that public life is becoming increasingly democratic is provided by the formal and material guaranty of the citizens' political participation. Legitimization of power is an important issue. For the sake of simplicity, it may be said that one political option or another has won the elections. Under Polish conditions, an electoral victory means that a given party won more votes than any other. But by no means does it say that this party has won the support of a majority of voters. Poland has been ruled by the parties that have won anything from 20.41% of the votes, as the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) did in 1993, to the 41.51% Civic Platform (PO) won in 2007. This shows that power has been exercised by political parties that have not won the approval of a majority of voters. The picture looks even worse when the support rulers enjoy is not measured in terms of approval expressed by voters, but in terms of absolute values, i.e. the proportion of all citizens entitled to vote. The legitimization of power is extremely low when analyzed from this perspective. In the best case it amounts to 21.89% obtained by the victorious party, and 26.58% of all entitled to vote won by the coalition formed by the victorious parties to rule after the elections. Thus it is difficult to talk about democratic governance, understood as the rule of the majority. It should rather be concluded that the ruling parties are those that have won the largest support, which only means that they have collected more votes than any other political power taking part in the same elections. Understood in this way, power is not exercised on behalf of a majority, but by the best organized minority.

Since the end of the last century Mexico has experienced a profound proces of political and electoral change which was reflected in its transition from a dominant party authoritarian regime to a competitive multiparty system. This paper has two parts and a concluding section. The first part focuses on major changes in a number of relevant dimensions of the Mexican party system, including electoral competitiveness, party fractionalisation, electoral volatility, nationalisation, and the aggregate distribution of partisan loyalties among the electorate (macropartisanship) over the last three decades. The analysis is based on aggregate electoral data at the national and the district level, as well as on data from surveys of public opinion. The paper shows important changes in the structure and behaviour of the Mexican electorate, such as increasing partisan de-alignment as well as growing competitiveness, fractionalisation, and nationalisation of the party system. The second part is a brief review of the factors driving the process of political and electoral change in Mexico.

Since the end of the last century Mexico has experienced a profound proces of political and electoral change which was reflected in its transition from a dominant party authoritarian regime to a competitive multiparty system. This paper has two parts and a concluding section. The first part focuses on major changes in a number of relevant dimensions of the Mexican party system, including electoral competitiveness, party fractionalisation, electoral volatility, nationalisation, and the aggregate distribution of partisan loyalties among the electorate (macropartisanship) over the last three decades. The analysis is based on aggregate electoral data at the national and the district level, as well as on data from surveys of public opinion. The paper shows important changes in the structure and behaviour of the Mexican electorate, such as increasing partisan de-alignment as well as growing competitiveness, fractionalisation, and nationalisation of the party system. The second part is a brief review of the factors driving the process of political and electoral change in Mexico.

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).

In some political and science circles (including Poland) there are articulated views on the crucial role of electoral systems in the process of political competition. Therefore they express the opinion about prevalence of certain electoral arrangements in terms of the implementation of certain political preferences. Often hopes for the reform of the political system are associated with the changes of the electoral systems. In the Great Britain (the United Kingdom) and other English-speaking countries citizens have formed community associations whose aim is the change from the majority to the proportional electoral system. In the effect we have more proportional election result and extension of real electoral bid to a larger number of political parties. On the other hand, in Poland, we have seen the opposite trend. Proponents of single-mandate constituencies depreciate the system of proportional representation. They express the belief in the positive effects of the majority system in the parliamentary elections. Radicals endorse the idea that only those electoral solutions are synonymous with electoral democracy and they are a way to reduce the pathologies of political life. In terms of these issues there have arisen many misconceptions and political myths. The main purpose of this article is to pay attention to trends in the areas of electoral reforms in the world. The author tries to answer the following research questions: 1) What electoral systems were popular in the world in individual periods from the 19th to the 21st centuries? 2) What tendencies appear in changes of electoral systems in the recent years? 3) What is the being of popularity phenomenon of mixed-member electoral systems? In the recent years the most popular electoral systems are: proportional representation with open lists and majority rules in single member-districts. ; W niektórych środowiskach politycznych (w tym w Polsce), a także naukowych artykułowane są poglądy o – decydującej w procesie rywalizacji politycznej – roli systemów wyborczych oraz w związku z tym wyrażane jest przekonanie o przewadze niektórych rozwiązań wyborczych w zakresie realizacji określonych preferencji politycznych. Często nadzieje w zakresie reformy systemu politycznego wiąże się ze zmianami systemów wyborczych. W Wielkiej Brytanii i innych krajach anglosaskich powstały stowarzyszenia społeczne, których celem jest zmiana systemu większościowego na proporcjonalny. Jego zwolennicy opowiadają się za proporcjonalnością wyniku wyborczego i rozszerzeniem realnej oferty wyborczej do większej liczby podmiotów partyjnych. Z kolei w Polsce można zauważyć odwrotną tendencję. Zwolennicy jednomandatowych okręgów wyborczych, deprecjonując system proporcjonalnejreprezentacji, wyrażają przekonanie o pozytywnych efektach systemu większościowego w wyborach do Sejmu. W wariancie radykalnym lansowana jest teza, że tylko powyższe rozwiązania wyborcze stanowią synonim demokracji i są sposobem na ograniczenie patologii życia politycznego. Wokół tej problematyki narosło wiele nieporozumień i mitów politycznych. Celem przedstawionego artykułu jest zwrócenie uwagi na tendencje w zakresie polityki reform wyborczych w świecie i odpowiedź na takie pytania badawcze jak: 1) Jakie systemy wyborcze były popularne w świecie w poszczególnych okresach od XIX do XXI wieku?; 2) Jakie są tendencje w zakresie zmian systemów wyborczych w ostatnich latach?; 3) Z czego wynika fenomen popularności mieszanych systemów wyborczych? W ostatnich latach najbardziej popularnymi rozwiązaniami wyborczymi są system proporcjonalny z listami otwartymi oraz system większościowy z jednomandatowymi okręgami wyborczymi.

The terminology developed to serve the needs of stableWestern democracies fails with respect to the republics that emerged following the collapse of the USSR. This may be confirmed by the notion of the 'grey zone', assisted democracy, managed democracy or electoral democracy. The Belorussian transition process seems to be work in progress. Its closure would demand that the current state be acknowledged as being stable rather than transitional. Aunanimous assessment is not assisted by the terminological divergence that is indispensably accompanying transformation, transition or the period of transition, as termed in the Russian language, which seems to be the best description of the process. The analysis does not apply the dichotomist approach to democracy, either, where democracy is considered to be either present or absent, since it is impossible to identify the nondemocratic elements of the system unanimously. T. Carothers, who was critical of Huntington's Third Wave, claims that when the key elements of a political system are appropriately manipulated for the benefit of a heuristic analysis it results in a political system of managed democracy to be a priori acknowledged to be a democratic one. The tools of analysis developed for the needs of stableWestern democracies fail when faced with a new type of personal, party or military dictatorship, or with neoauthoritarianism, understood as authoritarianism altered by the irreversible globalization processes. ; The terminology developed to serve the needs of stableWestern democracies fails with respect to the republics that emerged following the collapse of the USSR. This may be confirmed by the notion of the 'grey zone', assisted democracy, managed democracy or electoral democracy. The Belorussian transition process seems to be work in progress. Its closure would demand that the current state be acknowledged as being stable rather than transitional. Aunanimous assessment is not assisted by the terminological divergence that is indispensably accompanying transformation, transition or the period of transition, as termed in the Russian language, which seems to be the best description of the process. The analysis does not apply the dichotomist approach to democracy, either, where democracy is considered to be either present or absent, since it is impossible to identify the nondemocratic elements of the system unanimously. T. Carothers, who was critical of Huntington's Third Wave, claims that when the key elements of a political system are appropriately manipulated for the benefit of a heuristic analysis it results in a political system of managed democracy to be a priori acknowledged to be a democratic one. The tools of analysis developed for the needs of stableWestern democracies fail when faced with a new type of personal, party or military dictatorship, or with neoauthoritarianism, understood as authoritarianism altered by the irreversible globalization processes.

The purpose of the article is to turn the readers' attention to the threats and dangers of functioning of the democratic system. The starting point for the considerations is the conception of a famous Italian sociologist Gaetano Mosca (1858-1941), a co-author of the sociological theory of elites. Gaetano Mosca was opposed to the introduction of a general right to vote and was against granting the voting rights to women. Besides, he was a strong opponent of proportional electoral regulations, and he stressed the role of electoral committees and the significance of a strong middle, class as a support for the democratic government. The article points to the topicality of some Mosca's views on the system of representative democracy. However, the article's main concern is to indicate some dangers for the emerging Polish democracy. In particular, the author points to: 1) the danger of indifference and weak political understanding among the Polish electorate; 2) the necessity to put forth alternative programmes (to make it possible to vote for particular programmes rather than for particular persons); 3) advantages and disadvantages of proportional and majority electoral regulations (the author is in favour of proportional regulations with a minimum threshold); 4) the necessity of reconstructing the middle class. Besides, the author stresses the dangers specific for the functioning of democracy at a local level. The topicality of many Gaetano's views on the functioning of democratic systems is the best proof of advantages flowing from the studies on the classical sociological thought. ; Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/2016

Political parties play an important role in the contemporary democratic system, whereby the authority of a majority is constrained by human dignity and human rights. Without parties, there would be no political pluralism, one of the basic legal and systemic principles of the contemporary democratic state. On the practical level, though, the statutory rules governing the financing of political parties – laid down in the Political Parties Act and in the Electoral Code – produce results which weaken Constitutional democracy. An argument for keeping, in principle, the present model – where political parties are financed out of state budget and from other statutory sources – invokes the immanent risk of the system's oligarchization, which would come with the elimination of subsidies and its inevitable outcome, a "privatization" of political parties. Yet the present system of political parties' financing is in need of a major revamp. Most importantly, the changes should make the financing of political parties fully and genuinely transparent and subject to public control – whether in respect of the spending of budgetary resources or funds from membership fees, donations and other sources. The auditing powers of the State Electoral Commission in respect of political parties' financing should be widened and rendered more exercisable. The financing of political parties is supposed to consolidate the democratic system, advance political pluralism, foster the formation and growth of new parties, and promote equal chances in electoral rivalry – rather than servie to stabilize the electoral advantage of the parties with access to public money. ; Artykuł nie zawiera abstraktu w języku polskim

The primary research question of the article is: What determined the results of the Polish left-wing parties in the Polish parliamentary election of 2015? Moreover, the article asks also: Did the electoral platform affect the results of the United Left Coalition and Razem? The aim of the author is to discuss the characteristics of the left-wing political parties and coalitions during the parliamentary election of 2015. To that end, the author analyzes the electoral platforms of the particular organizations. The article is interdisciplinary in nature, since it analyzes the issue from three distinct perspectives: political, sociological, and philosophical. In turn, the attempted answer to the research questions can give significant insight into the further research into the legitimization process of left-wing parties in Poland.

Publikacja recenzowana / Peer-reviewed publication ; Celem niniejszego artykułu jest próba odpowiedzi na pytanie, dlaczego w krajach Europy należących do zachodniego kręgu cywilizacyjnego w ostatnich latach wybuchł kryzys zaufania do demokracji liberalnej oraz w jaki sposób można go pokonać. Zdaniem autora, głównym powodem tego kryzysu jest bardzo instrumentalny stosunek dużej części obywateli tych państw do tej formy rządów. Darzą ją oni akceptacją i zaufaniem tylko do momentu, do którego zapewnia im dobrobyt i poczucie bezpieczeństwa, co obecnie – w ich przekonaniu – nie ma miejsca. Dlatego też, chcąc zmienić ten negatywny stan rzeczy, należy sprawić, by ponownie – w ramach demokracji liberalnej – ich potrzeby i aspiracje zaspokajane były na akceptowalnym przez nich poziomie. W tym celu konieczne jest spełnienie szeregu warunków, do których należy m.in.: przywrócenie zaufania obywateli do organów władzy oraz procedur wyborczych, podjęcie energicznych działań przeciwko rosnącym nierównościom społecznym, wzmożenie przez państwa działań na rzecz skutecznego zwalczania międzynarodowego terroryzmu – aczkolwiek z poszanowaniem liberalnych i demokratycznych wartości oraz wolności i praw człowieka – oraz rzeczywistej integracji przybyszy z innych kręgów cywilizacyjnych, przede wszystkim ze świata islamu. Jednocześnie politycy oraz przedstawiciele świata mediów powinni powrócić do dyskursu opartego na wartościach, na których zbudowane zostały ustroje państw europejskich należących do zachodniego kręgu cywilizacyjnego. ; This article is an attempt to answer the question, why there has been a recent crisis of trust to the liberal democracy in European states belonging to the Western circle of civilisation and how it could be overcome. According to the opinion of the author, the main reason for that crisis is an instrumental approach of a large part of citizens of those countries towards this form of government. They accept and trust it only as long as it provides them with prosperity and a sense of security, which is currently – up to them – not working properly. That is why, in order to change that situation, fulfilling their needs and aspiration on acceptable level must be again possible within the framework of this form of government. In order to achieve this goal a number of conditions must be met, including, restoring trust of citizens in the government and faith in the electoral process, taking vigorous actions to counteract rising social inequalities, increasing measures to successfully combat and suppress international terrorism by various countries – although with respect to liberal and democratic values as well as human rights and freedoms – and a real integration of immigrants from other civilisation circles, first of all, Muslims. At the same time, politicians and the media are supposed to return to the discourse based on the values upon which political systems of European states belonging to the Western circle of civilisation were founded.

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.

The Shedding of Light on the Current Debate: Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and his Criticism of Representative Democracy In 1848, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–1865) refused to yield to the enthusiasm of the Republican Camp about universal suffrage and the link established between political and social reforms. In his first book published after the Revolution of February (La solution du probléme social), he questioned the legitimacy of the republican conception of representation. But if the short history of the Second Republic soon confirmed his fears about the abuses inherent in representation, his criticism of universal suffrage sounds still useful when we want to apprehend the present day debate devoted to direct democracy. In any presidential system, the time of elections becomes the moment when a nation looks at themselves. In France, as in many other western countries, the elections bring substantial debates about the democracy. In 2007, the calls for direct democracy made up a central point of political debates and were related to a long time defiance to the representative system. They strangely echoed the debates that took place in the Second Republic after the deputies' betrayal of the electoral law of May 31, 1850. In the article we show how Proudhon's political thought can help us think about direct democracy.

Coalitions became the main element of democratic political mechanisms in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989. As a result of fragmentation of opposition parties and evolution of organization and platforms of parties from the former regime, the political scene saw the rise of many new parties, which were forced to create alliances. The political transformation of 1989 definitively changed the style of politics. There rose a new political class, and the system of representative democracy, based on the rules of law and separation of powers, has been consolidated. Party coalitions are a dominant model of political alliances in Poland. Party configurations are chosen so that a coalition ensures the execution of goals in an optimal manner. Their goal is to create the strongest political group possible in order to gain or hold power. The article is an insightful analysis of electoral coalition functioning process in Poland between 1991 and 2011. Its goal was to characterize election platforms of electoral coalitions, as well as the political rivalry model, which determined the electoral behavior of the citizens. The work is an attempt to answer a research question: What influenced successes and failures of political parties during parliamentary elections?

Today democracy means that almost all adult citizens participate in the exercising of power. In substantive terms, democracy relies on freedom, equality, and majority rule. At the same time, it is also a regime that rests on specific principles and procedures (the procedural perspective). The process of consolidating democratic values and procedures goes through various stages. First, the erosion of a non-democratic regime involves the transfer of power from former elites to new political actors. Next, during the transition stage, the democratic institutional design is introduced into the political system. Finally, during the consolidation stage, the democratic principles of political life become well-established and democratic values accepted and internalised by the society. The most important determinants of the stage of erosion include: the heritage of the past and the influence of the surroundings. The transition is determined by: the structure of the state, national identity, political elites' work on the constitution, the relationship between the organs of government, the party system, the electoral system, lustration, decentralisation of power to a system of local authorities, and external factors. The consolidation stage depends on institutional factors on the one hand. such as the final design of the constitution, a stable model of relations between the organs of government, the development of a pluralistic party system, and solidification of the electoral system, and on behavioural factors on the other, such as acceptance and internalisation of democratic values by the society. The process of democratisation can be analysed and evaluated with the use of quantitative and qualitative indicators. This study employs indices used by Freedom House, The Economist Intelligence Unit, and The Bertelsmann Foundation. [fragm. tekstu]

The aim of this paper is a comparative analysis of legislative solutions and practical application of the direct democracy in Hungary and Albania after 1989. The legal changes that occurred during this period have guaranteed the citizens of both countries the tools to direct exercising the political power. Unfortunately, these tools have been almost immediately limited. The long-term political conflict, which effectively discouraged the public opinion to such activity, was responsible for this limitation in the case of Albania. Hungarians, on the other hand, have lost these rights as a result of unfortunate decisions of rulers, who were repeatedly changing the electoral law. The object of our attention will be especially institutional and legal differences determining the development (or regression) of the direct democracy in those countries. Main thesis of the article is the opinion that Hungary and Albania, regardless of their common experiences, represent two different models for adaptation of direct democracy solutions. ; Celem niniejszego artykułu jest odpowiedź na pytanie o miejsce instytucji referendum ogólnokrajowego w systemach politycznych Węgier i Albanii po transformacji ustrojowej 1989, zarówno w wymiarze legislacyjnym, jak i praktycznym. Zmiany prawne, które nastąpiły w tym okresie, zagwarantowały obywatelom obydwu państw narzędzia do bezpośredniego sprawowania władzy. Jednakże niemal natychmiast zmiany te były ograniczane. W przypadku Albanii zadecydował o tym wieloletni zamęt polityczny, który skutecznie zniechęcił społeczeństwo do aktywności referendalnej. Węgrom uprawnienia te stopniowo odbierały natomiast decyzje poszczególnych rządów zmieniających wielokrotnie ordynację wyborczą. Przedmiotem naszego zainteresowania będą różnice instytucjonalne i prawne determinujące stan demokracji bezpośredniej w obydwu państwach. Główna teza artykułu opiera się na opinii, że Węgry i Albania, niezależnie od ich wspólnych doświadczeń, reprezentują dwa różne modele adaptacji rozwiązań demokracji bezpośredniej.