Reputation of Poland in the Public Opinion of the Countries of Europe at the Beginning of the 21st Century in the Studies of the Institute of Public Affairs

Abstract

Relevance of the topic of the research is determined by the necessity to systemize the works on the study of the reputation of the Republic of Poland during the period of transformation finalization and negotiations on accession to the European Union, which will allow to use them in the future both for the scientific and research work as well as for the application of best practices of national branding in Ukraine. The aim of the article is to study the content and value of the studies of the Institute of Public Affairs dedicated to the topic of reputation of Poland in the countries of Europe at the beginning of the 21st century. Methodology of the research is based on the combination of general (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and specific (historical-genetic, historical-typological, historical-systemic, sociocultural) scientific methods with the principals of historicism, systematicity, scientificity and verification. The Institute of Public Affairs was one of the leading analytical centers of the Republic of Poland. The studies, conducted by the Institute, have shown what reputation Poland and the Polish had in the public opinion of the countries of Europe during the phase of active negotiations on the country’s accession to the EU. The IPA’s experts analysed the information about Poland provided by the European media. The researchers provided extensive empirical data as well as the analysis of the theoretical aspect of reputation formation and illustrated the functioning and shift of historical stereotypes. Conclusions. According to the results of the studies of the Institute of Public Affairs, at the very beginning of the 21st century the country had a reputation during the negotiations on the accession to the European Union, which was caused by negative stereotypes. This situation could have been rectified (and in the end, it was rectified), as the historical stereotypes are slowly eliminated, however, they are being changed under the influence of contemporary reality. Mass media play a significant role in this process, being the mirror of public mood and an instrument for shaping it. At the same time, a positive image of Poland was formed in the public opinion of Ukraine, however, Ukraine itself had a bad reputation among the population of Poland, which should have served as an implication for the representatives of the Ukrainian governing elites to take the necessary similar steps.