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Considerations on political systems on a regional and local level are tightly connected with decentralization processes of political systems. Contemporary state structures have become dysfunctional in many cases in relation to developmental challenges of societies. After the period of excessive centralization, finished with a deep crisis, strong and deep decentralization processes, the result of which was giving a harmonious power division back happened several dozen years ago. A well‑known division of political systems according to system (constitutional) criteria that was formed years ago and took into account above all the relationship between a legislative power, the government and the head of state, that is, between the legislative and the executive level can be extended by a classification of political systems on a regional and local level nowadays. The main criterion of typology can be the relations (competence scope) between central (general) and regional as well as local authorities. The proposed division of system forms of democratic countries would be the following: 1. Unitary countries with a self‑government system, 2. Unitary countries with a territory autonomy and self‑government, 3. Federal countries with a self‑government system, and 4. Federal countries with a territory autonomy and self‑government.

The aim of the article is to demonstrate how science and researchcooperation may help to reintegrate the Baltic region in the 21st century withthe participation of Russia. This is done through the analysis of documentsand strategies of Baltic Sea regionalism in the context of the regional knowledgeregime. Attention is paid to different positionalities of the regional actorsand their narratives. The theoretical framework is secured by an analysis ofcritical junctures drawing on case studies from the years 1989-91 and 2014 andthe subsequent reconfiguration of the power / knowledge nexus. The analysisshows that this reconfiguration actively contributes to creating and changingthe content and context of the Baltic Sea regionalism as based on new symbolic,economic, and political capitals. The conclusion points to the potentialof Russia's involvement in the co-creation of the regional knowledge regimeand defines the conditions and methods of possible cooperation.

Despite the significant experiences of territorial autonomy of the province of Silesia in the Second Republic, in the current political system of Poland the extent of decentralization of the state is limited. ^e mainstream of political elites do not provide for changes in this area. Nevertheless, it is worth getting to know the experiences of Spain, which can be a positive or negative reference for a possible projection of a political change in Poland. Spain was the second country in Europe, which implemented a thorough reform of the system of government in 1979-1983. As the result 17 autonomous communities with their own political and legal regimes were created. ^e right to autonomy also had regions, even of the size of one province that did not have their own traditional ethnic separateness. ^is solution a`er more than 30 years perpetuated and regardless of the political plans of the separation of certain regions, is an important experience of a democratic and peaceful process of solving the problems of regional and local authorities. It is also, together with the experiences of Italy and the UK, a major research and political inspiration for the new European democracies. In the context of European integration and globalization, regionalization is of particular importance, and the development of regional and local parties, which, thanks to such a system are stimulated to action, determines the new face of modern democracy. Decentralization has become a constitutive feature of the concept of empirical democracy.