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The authors analyze the essence of the problem of financialization of economy in the national and global perspectives, at the same time pointing out that this process also refers to the sphere of politics. The example of the 2007+ financial and banking crisis indicates the negative features of this process in reference to economy but also to the financial security of the states and their citizens. In the sphere of politics financialization in the external aspect is reflected in transferring public funds to private economic entities, mainly financial corporations, by virtue of political decisions. In the internal aspects financialization means an increasing role of financial instruments and resources in establishing public authorities, including parliaments and presidential offices. This tendency is considered by the authors to be an immanent feature of contemporary capitalism and a threat to democracy.

Normative concept of The Social-Economic order proposed by Wilhelm Röpke allows for the valuation of the modern shape of Capitalism. In the introduction the author has attempted to show the actual problems faced by current Public Policy such as reinstatement of the socially accepted order of freedom during era of oligopolistic-corporate-finance oriented capitalism, fight against asymmetric distribution of wealth and management of sustainable Immigration Policy. Wilhelm Röpke was a member of a group called "Ordo liberals". According to the Ortoliberals the public policy needs to allow most possible freedoms to all citizens (including economic free market freedoms). At the same time, the Ortoliberals want to be active in preparing the Public Policy which would prepare a platform for effective economy, fair justice system and equal opportunity for all members of society. According to Ortoliberalism, administrative actions need to follow the principle of subsidiarity. The Public Policy must also ensure social justice and protection of dignity for the whole population, as expected in the society governed by Social Solidarity.

The aim of the article is to analyze the changing position of the state in the capitalist world economy form the perspective of Karl Polanyi's political theory. The main thesis of the article is that the position of the state largely depends on the character of rules constituting global political economy. Three world regimes were singled out (gold standard, Bretton Woods system, and hyperglobalization), and the position of the state within each system was analyzed. If we agree with Robert Cox that each world order is a product of ideas, institutions and power relations, then we may expect the institutional structure of the world economy to evolve following the changes in the underlying constellation of ideas and social forces.

The contemporary economic security of states depends more and more heavily on technological factors. The paper provides a comparative study covering the trade of the Visegrád Group with a primary purpose to explore directions of technological change, revealed in the structure of their exports, their likely causes, and consequences. The research problem was positioned in an interdisciplinary methodological perspective, merging critical security studies, international political economy, international economics, and new public governance. The obtained results prove characteristics of V4 economies typical of dependent capitalism and confirm the structural challenge of foreign technological guidance.

This paper attempts to present a review of higher education reform processes in Poland in 1990-2015 and 2016-2018 (when a draft of the so‑called Act 2.0 was prepared) and an assessment of the domestic "art of reforms". As the author has adopted the perspective of the public policy science, she focuses on issues of public policy making, i.e. the development and strategic programming policy, drafting legislation, and accompanying public consultations. Furthermore, the paper discusses three past and one current attempt to reform higher education in the context of the political economy of reforms that are globally perceived as a benchmark. The long, nearly 30‑year period covered by the paper's analyses allowed the author to draw conclusions with regard to the evolution of higher education policy, highlighting the problem of its quality (standards) as a public policy.

The presented paper deals with the basic issues, dilemmas and social and cultural contradictions in the Polish transformation process against the background of Central and Eastern Europe, the processes of the establishment and development of new states and nations as well as the new markets. The author views these problems through the light of the emergence of a broad class of subcontractors in a turbulent environment and the new modes of production, which are a result of changes in the structure of human labour introduced by post-Fordism (in its final stage, lean management) and postmodernity. The author also analyzes the social change as a consequence of social relations resulting from exchanging the life chances of the actors for the class-conditioned market opportunities in the existing social and political situation (conjoncture) and at the present stage of transformation at the moment when the emergent markets get shaped and mature. The study makes use of the hermeneutic method, which is finding out the essence of the present phase of transformation through the light of new concepts against the background of the historical-comparative analysis. The present article is not aimed at ordering reality but it is an inspiration for studies and for approaching transformation in accordance with a new conceptual apparatus of social sciences, sociology, management and political economy.

In the period of 2018–2022 Polish government implemented the record number of programs for financial support of local governments. Their aim was to improve local services, maintain the high level of investments, aid in the fight against COVID-19 pandemics and rebuilding the economy, as well as equalising the potential decline of incomes related to the taxation reforms implemented since 2019. Programs on the record amount of 135,58 billion PLN helped to remain the investments on the earlier level, as the COVID-19 pandemics caused only temporary decline in own revenues.

The article conducts a multidimensional diagnosis of the state of the Polish economy after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. The author assessed the impact of the pandemic on the situation of enterprises and Polish households. The reference to the analysis are above mentioned such variables as: gross domestic product (GDP), CPI/HICP inflation, domestic demand, retail sales of goods, registered unemployment rate, consumer situation (BWUK, WWUK), economic situation, bankruptcy proceedings, restructuring proceedings, etc. The issues raised in the article have been grouped into four thematic blocks, i.e.: 1) the restrictiveness of the policy of the government of Mateusz Morawiecki at individual stages (waves) of the pandemic, 2) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on key economic indicators, 3) the impact of the pandemic on indicators regarding the perception of the economic and consumer situation, 4) the social perception of the impact of the pandemic on the standard of living of Poles, the perception of the government of Mateusz Morawiecki and the actions taken by it concerning economic restrictions. This part is based on the results of the public opinion poll Opinion of Poles on the activities of the government of Mateusz Morawiecki during the coronavirus pandemic, which was carried out under the direction of the author in May 2021. For the purposes of the article, the author formulated a research thesis, i.e. the COVID-19 pandemic affected the state of the Polish economy, slowed it down, but did not lead to a collapse such as regression.

The article concerns the analysis of the impact of the discipline of political science and administration on the functioning of society and the economy in the perspective of third criterion of the evaluation of scientific disciplines. 75 impact descriptions for the years 2017–2021, submitted by 34 universities, were analysed. The author's intention is: to discuss the results of the evaluation, to systematise the areas of influence of political science centres, to determine the scope and significance of the declared impact, to discuss the role of research units in creating the impact. In order to achieve the set goals, secondary data from the RAD-on system and the Ministry of Education and Science (MEiN) were used, as well as primary data, including information from representatives of the discipline and participant observation while preparing of evaluation at the home university and performing an expert work.

Szczecin, Gdańsk and Królewiec (Königsberg) in the 19th century were the most important Prussian ports on the Baltic Sea. However, due to the general trends of the global economy, their role as trade centers has been marginalised. Under the influence of top-down modernization tendencies (agrarian reforms, liberalization of the economy, democratization of political processes, stability of the administrative system) they became modern economic, political and cultural centres. They confirmed their position as regional centres, but were outclassed by other centers in Germany and Europe.

The modern power of the USA is based on traditional sources: the size of the territory and demographics, economy, army and soft power factors (culture, foreign policy, values, public diplomacy). The United States creates a power that has sustainable resources backed by an efficient mechanism of action and the will of the public to implement these plans. Currently, the US has enough resources, and most importantly, in the current international environment, it is able to use them to maintain an advantage over its competitors. The article presents the elements of US power that determine its advantage over other countries and the weaknesses that may limit its influence. This largely determines the research methods used (statistical and comparative). The latter method allows to determine the scale of US hegemony and what are the chances of its maintenance in the 21st century.

The role and importance of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) in solving global problems, developing human rights, democratic principles, reforms, modernizing public life and developing a global civil society is constantly increasing. INGOs have become new actors in the system of world politics and international relations. There was a need to study the activities of INGOs around the world in the field of history, law, sociology, philosophy, political science. In recent years, many INGOs have appeared in the world, and they work in all countries of the world in such priorities as ensuring human rights, freedom of speech, the economy, the social sphere, the environment, etc. Today, there is an increasing need for a comprehensive study of the activities of INGOs, trends in their increase in the number and rapid growth, influence on the domestic and foreign policies of states and in shaping the global political agenda. The emergence of global problems and the lack of strength and political will of some countries to solve them slow down the integration processes around the world. Especially, there is a need for cooperation in the issues of democratization, liberalization and modernization of public administration and public life. Therefore, today the role and participation of INGOs in solving such issues is increasing. An important result of INGO activity is constructivism and pragmatism.

The paper presents the scope and scale of transformation of the defense industries of Central Eastern Europe (CEE) countries after the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the USSR. The starting point is the role and position of the armaments economy sector (armaments economy environment), embedded in the realities of the centrally planned economy, and its submission to the politics of the USSR. The turn of the centuries was a period of political and economic transformation conducted during the conditions of a deep economic recession. The defense industry was one of the economic sectors most affected by the crisis. The economic and defense policy of CEE countries was aimed at preserving the capabilities of the armaments sector. Restructuring activities initiated and forced by the change of the political and economic environment have already brought noticeable effects, even though the process has not yet been completed. Defense industry enterprises have become entities operating on the same terms and conditions as other companies on the competitive market. The method of comparative analysis and a case study supplemented with elements of descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the course of the processes. The study has been focused on the analysis of the course of the changes and examination of effects of the analyzed phenomena for the economy and defense of the CEE countries, taking into account primarily their scale and scope.

The author - using empirical data - claims that a meritocratic approach to public governance in Poland does not seem deeply rooted. The research indicates that since mid-November 2015 until the beginning of November 2017 meritocratic rules have been totally ignored in governmental institutions including state-owned companies. Many legal regulations were enacted in order to introduce changes in managing bodies responsible for key public institutions as well as companies. The drive to improve their effectiveness were not of prime importance. The key criterion for promoting was based on the decision-maker's personal trust. There are many implications of the above-mentioned development, including a loss of trust to the state resulting in a moral degeneration from the perspective of political class as well society as a whole.