Aktywność polityczna Polaków w świetle ewolucji postaw społeczno-politycznych związanych z przeobrażeniem systemu politycznego

Abstract

The article analyses the political attitudes and behaviours of the citizens, and describes the content and dynamics of the changes occurring due to the evolution of the Polish political system. The analysis of political participation by Polish citizens is presented in relation to the theoretical construct of social attitudes as a foundation of democracy, as proposed by Dahl. In the context of society’s approach to democracy and trust in institutions, a comparative analysis has been presented of voter participation in subsequent parliamentary and local elections. The process of creating a civil society, including the various forms of participation in non-governmental organisations, has been presented in relation to attitudes such as cooperation, social trust and care for the common good.In order to illustrate the egocentric and particularistic attitudes, the activities of citizens involved in the politics of protest have been analysed. Recent years have seen a number of demonstrations; symbolic in nature and testimony to certain principles, which have been used here as material for the analysis of the ideological approach to political problems.To sum up the problem of political participation of Polish citizens, it can be said that the dynamics of the forms and content of political participation indicates a growing involvement of citizens in the governance process, which definitely makes a positive contribution to the development of democracy. It must be noted, however, that the political activity of a large part of society has not been motivated by pro-democratic attitudes. The high diversification, disparity and instability of attitudes translate into the forms and content of political participation.