Parties In Poland Research Articles

Introduction

Introduction Arien Mack in putting together this issue on estrangement, we made clear to the authors whom we invited to write for it that the issue was not intended to be a collection of papers reflecting on the Marxist notion of "alienation," but rather a discussion of the idea of estrangement in the sense of defamiliarization or "making strange"—the distance that in its positive aspect can provide the possibility of new perspectives, but in its negative aspect can cause division between intimates (members of a family or members of a religion) or groups within a single society (neighbors or racial/ethnic groups). Estrangement has clear political dimensions, which are all too easily seen in the election of Donald Trump in the United States, in the success of Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński and the Freedom and Justice Party in Poland, in the re-elections of Viktor Orban in Hungary and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey—and this list easily could be expanded. It is also evident in the recent rise of populism in many countries and the turn away from globalism, witnessed by the British exit from the European Union and the threatened departure of other European members as well. In all these cases it may be possible to see a link between estrangement and disruptive engagement. Equally interesting and important is the role that estrangement can play as a narrative tool in literature and the arts. In literature perhaps the primary instance is Camus's The Stranger, which was recently turned on its head in Kamel Daoud's novel The Merault Investigations. In art its place has been made central by the Russian formalist Victor Shklovsky, who wrote in his 1917 essay "Art as Technique," [End Page xix] The purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known. The technique of art is to make objects "unfamiliar," to make forms difficult, to increase the difficulty and length of perception because the process of perception is an aesthetic end in itself and must be prolonged. Art is a way of experiencing the artfulness of an object; the object is not important. Estrangement of course also has had a central role in the philosophical writings of Jean Paul Sartre, and the concept has figured in the literature about modern art and theater, notably in discussions of Beckett and Brecht, where it is understood as a way to provide a critical distance between the viewer and the viewed, giving rise to new perspectives and critical engagement. All of these various meanings of estrangement, and others as well, are the subject of the essays in this issue. We hope it will draw our readers' attention to the ways in which the term has taken on new significance in the all too prevalent turn away from democratic governance seen in many countries, while it continues to provide an interesting way of understanding art and literature and, as you will see, even as a way of looking at the #MeToo movement. [End Page xx] Copyright © 2018 The New School

An ‘ordinary man’s’ protest: self-immolation as a radical political message in Eastern Europe today and in the past

The article describes the tradition of self-immolation in Eastern Europe as a form of radical protest during periods of structural crisis. The authors describe cases of self-immolation (Ryszard Siwiec, Jan Palach, Evzen Plocek, Musa Mamut) which took place in the communist period, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. In the context of Eastern European tradition, they also describe the last case of self-immolation, when Piotr Szczęsny set himself on fire in Warsaw in October 2017 to protest against the authoritarian rule of the Law and Justice (PiS) party in Poland. After this incident, Piotr Szczęsny and his memory have become an element of the ‘culture of protest’ in Poland. Quotes from his manifesto began to appear on walls and during anti-government demonstrations. Piotr Szczęsny has also become a protagonist of protest songs.

Looking Beyond the Warp and Weft: Unpicking Latent Narratives in Clothing

This article presents my on-going practice in which I explore and reveal perceived memory and experience that is imbued in worn clothing, specifically through my recent work Łódź Blouse Trilogy. In this work, I undertook a series of interventions on blouses in order to reveal dormant and latent matter—details from a single photographic image of a tea party in Poland’s Łódź ghetto.Łódź Blouse Trilogy and related work addresses the use of textiles, cloth, and clothing as a rich landscape to explore and communicate complex ideas within a fine art context. I also seek to present knowledge and provoke thinking on a series of levels, from craft skills to contemporary scientific and psychological thinking.We are intimately familiar with the physicality and materiality of clothing. Thus, this work offers a “safe” fluid entry point to discuss and stimulate thinking around inherited memory, biological and metaphorical transference, personal recall and repression, our sense of self and the ability of cloth and clothes to hold and translate human experience.Fascinated with the creative implications of what is left behind in the clothes we wear, and supported by my experience of working with Alison Fendly at the Forensic Science Service, I have sought to make visible a personal response. The use of garment construction/deconstruction, digital embroidery and dye-sublimation printing have made this work manifest.

Krótki kurs historii „kobiet”. Kobiety w języku partii komunistycznej w Polsce 1945–1989

Artykul zwraca uwage na dyskurs na temat kobiet formulowany przez partie komunistyczną w powojennej Polsce. Podstawą wyodrebnienia i rozumienia bardzo istotnej dla PPR/PZPR kategorii „kobiety” byly zarowno przeslanki ideologiczne, jak i tradycyjnie rozumiane roznice plci. Kobiecośc nie zostala odrzucona, lecz przedefiniowana. Dyskurs o kobietach zasadzal sie na tezie, ze rownouprawnienie i rownośc nie są sprzeczne z tradycyjnie rozumianą kobiecością. Partia starala sie go wykorzystywac do mobilizacji kobiet do „budowy socjalizmu”. Short course on the history of “women”. Women in the vocabulary of the communist party in Poland 1945–1989 The purpose of the article is to analyse the discourse formulated by the communist party in postwar Poland (1944–1989) on the category of “woman”. The author attempts to answer the question about what was understood by this category, what traits were attributed to women, in what way their social roles were perceived and what roles were postulated for them. Women in the understanding of the party and its activists made a separate group with its own identity. The way in which this category of “women” was constructed was based on the party’s ideology, but also on quite traditional concepts of gender, which resulted in certain contradictions: on the one hand the fight against stereotypes of women and their roles was proclaimed, while on the other some of them were shaped and strengthened. This was to serve political purposes: to mobilise women to “build socialism” in areas seen as “feminine” (for instance health and social care, household management, etc.). Conclusions drawn from the analysis lead us to a different thesis than the one formulated by Eva Fodor for Hungary; she claims that the “female subject/communist personality” was subordinate to that of male. In Poland the discourse of the communist party sought to incorporate values and roles it saw as female into the construction of a socialist society, without suggesting the inferiority of women.

Workers and the Radical Right in Poland

AbstractHow has the Law and Justice Party in Poland (PiS) been able to get significant labor support to introduce far-right policies that undermine pluralist democracy? We look at PiS in the context of the “left fascist” traditions of the past, when redistributionist policies won wide support among workers who were accepted as part of the favored “nation.” Labor support breaks down along three lines, with industrial labor most closely aligned with PiS, white-collar labor (in education and health) mostly opposed, and the marginalized small-city precariat being mobilized by PiS, but also finding a place in explicitly fascist parties further to the Right. Left alternatives, weakened due to the collapse of class discourse, are slowly reemerging, but the Right will likely command most labor support for the near future.

Relacje między polityką i administracją w procesie tworzenia służby cywilnej w Polsce. Perspektywa nowego instytucjonalizmu

Civil service is an important element in the system of public administration and has a major impact on a state’s manner of functioning. The creation of civil service in Poland was intended to ensure that the public administration performed its duties in a professional and impartial manner, unhindered by special political interests. The aim of the paper is to analyze the process of creating civil service in Poland after 1989, and to show how, in practice, from the beginning of the transformation and under the governments of successive political groups, a division was formed between the political and administrative spheres, and to what degree the actual relations between politics and public administration ref lect the formal regulations contained in civil service acts. The paper concentrates in particular on personnel policy in regard to senior positions in civil service, because these appointments are connected with assuming control of decision making processes and human resource policy in administrative offices. In the research, various complementary qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Multidimensional analysis of the data leads to the conclusion that political parties in Poland strive to limit the autonomy of the government administration and to make it subordinate to their interests. The legislation in the area of civil service has been largely subjugated to the political interest of the moment, and not to the long-term interest of the state. The use of neo-institutional perspective helps to identify the reasons behind the adoption of specific legal measures and to show their actual effects.

The Polish Constitutional Crisis: Obvious Facts and Bad (Fake) Arguments of the Government and Its Supporters

In this paper, I claim that in the context of the constitutional crisis that began in 2015, all main arguments made by the government and supporters of the ruling party in Poland, i.e. Law and Justice (PiS), are bad. First, I propose to go to obvious facts. Secondly, I will separately work on each argument that I think is bad. However, this is interesting that these arguments made by politicians or academic scholars, such as lawyers, sociologists, and philosophers, are in fact fake arguments. They are irrelevant and false. My approach is methodologically holistic (I analysed legal acts, judicial verdicts, political statements, interviews, etc., and I talked to ordinary people). Of my background, I have to make it clear: I am a Polish citizen living abroad and a scholar. I was born and grew up as well as was educated in Poland. Taking a legal-philosophical approach, in this essay I try to explain these diverse constitutional Polish issues in simple words.

Polska A, B i C? Volební geografie vybraných polských vojvodství

The study focuses on spatial analysis of the general election results in Lower Silesia, Lodz and Lesser Poland voivodeships in a period between 2001 and 2015. Primary subjects of the analysis are political parties Law and Justice, Civic Platform, Polish People´s Party and Democratic Left Alliance, but particularly works also with the results of another parties (Self-Defence, League of Polish families, Modern). Standard electoral geography methodological methods, such as cartographic display of election results, correlation analysis and concentration of the election results measurement have been used on the local level and along with Polish and Czech literature review are included in the study. Main goal of the study was to find out if there are structural differences in terms of electoral support for the parties on both regional and voivodeship level. The analysis proved deeper context of the election results in the eastern regions along with a changing spatial structure of the Law and Justice support in the first decade of the 21st century and related deepening differences between voter bases of the Law and Justice and the Civic Platform- strongest parties in Poland. Findings of the analysis might be useful for upcoming research of the analysis of the electoral support in terms of regional differences.

Tajna notatka Wydziału Zagranicznego KC PPR o problemach repatriacyjnych Polaków z ZSRR z 5 grudnia 1947 roku

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The Rosa Luxemburg Myth: A Critique of Luxemburg’s Politics in Poland (1893–1919)

Abstract This article challenges widespread uncritical portrayals of Rosa Luxemburg. By examining the politics and practices of Luxemburg and her SDKPiL party in Poland, I show that their commitment to proletarian emancipation was undermined by sectarian and doctrinaire tendencies that contributed to the defeat of Poland’s workers’ revolutions in 1905 and 1918–19. A critical analysis of their approaches to the national question, the Polish Socialist Party, German Social Democracy, and the role of the revolutionary party, undermines the prevailing romanticisation of Luxemburg. I argue that the Polish Socialist Party, Luxemburg’s main political rival, posed a viable Marxist alternative for Poland’s revolutionary movement.

Non-alternative reality? On the misery of the Left in Eastern Europe: the case of Poland

This article is a socio-historical analysis of the current weak position of the left wing in Poland and an attempt to explain the social causes of this situation. The author focuses mainly on the last 26 years and the political and economic processes, which took place in Poland and in Eastern Europe after the cold war and the restoration of capitalism in this part of the world. He also points to historical events taking place in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This paper shows that after the collapse of the Eastern bloc, its former member countries experienced extensive changes in the structure of ownership and huge social inequalities. Although this did not evoke class anger, social frustration was used for the development of populist right-wing and nationalist movements, composed of defenders of national identity. The current authoritarian government of the conservative-nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party in Poland is the result of not only the recent parliamentary elections, but also of neoliberal policies and the lack of a comprehensive, progressive political alternative to the directions set by the power elite in the early 1990s.

Finansowanie partii politycznych w Polsce

The article describes the matter of financing political parties in Poland. The Author draws several conclusions from his observation of the legal solutions and their effectiveness in the practice of political party activities. The Author argues that the Polish law on financing of political parties, regulated by various legislative acts, is fairly criticized for regulatory gaps, ambiguous concepts and incoherent solutions that make the law difficult to interpret and implement. Poland has implemented a system of mixed funding, i.e., both private and public, with predominance of public resources. Parties which manage to reach a certain, pre-determined election result are guaranteed income from the State Budget (subsidies and grants) which are the main source of financing politics. This results in a negative phenomenon of “petrification” of the existing political system. Parties which are not eligible to receive subsidies have great difficulty in carrying out their statutory activities and participate in elections.

VIDURIO IR RYTŲ EUROPOS GEROVĖS REŽIMŲ ORIENTACIJA Į AMŽIŲ: LENKIJOS IR VENGRIJOS ATVEJŲ LYGINAMOJI ANALIZĖ

Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos Vidurio ir Rytų Europos gerovės režimų orientacijos į amžių skirtumų priežastys. Ieškoma atsakymo į klausimą, ko­dėl vienų Vidurio ir Rytų Europos (VRE) valstybių socialinė politika yra palankesnė vyresnio amžiaus piliečiams, o kitų – jaunesniems. Gerovės re­žimo orientacija į amžių nustatoma apskaičiuojant vyresniems / jaunesniems piliečiams skiriamų socialinių išlaidų santykį (VJIS indeksą). Pagrindiniais analizės objektais pasirinktos dvi VRE valstybės, kurios gerovės režimų tyri­muose įprastai apibrėžiamos kaip tuo požiūriu panašios, tačiau jų orientacija į amžių labai skiriasi. Tai Vengrija, kurios gerovės režimas orientuotas į jau­nesnius, ir Lenkija, itin didelę savo socialinių išlaidų dalį skirianti pensinin­kų gerovei užtikrinti. Atliekant sisteminę šių valstybių orientacijos į amžių kaitos procesų analizę, išryškėja, kad dabartinė Vengrijos ir Lenkijos gerovės režimų orientacija į amžių yra nulemta dviejų istorinių kritinių lūžių, įvyku­sių septintu–aštuntu dešimtmečiais ir pokomunistinio laikotarpio pradžioje. Remiantis istorinio institucionalizmo koncepcija, identifikuojami procesai, kaip dvi institucijos – socialinės sistemos fragmentacijos laipsnis ir partinės konkurencijos pobūdis – bei jų sąveika bėgant laikui lėmė Vengrijos ir Len­kijos gerovės režimų orientacijos į amžių skirtumų atsiradimą.

„Polska musi być ambasadorem Ukrainy!” Polskie stanowisko wobec konfliktu rosyjsko-ukraińskiego 2013/2014

The main purpose of this article is to present the position of the Polish parliamentary parties in relation to specific events Ukrainian conflict at the turn of 2013/2014. From the very beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, most politicians of parliamentary parties in Poland watched and commented on the events in Ukraine 2013/2014, on the one hand, it seems – the absolute support of the European aspirations and Defending the freedom, democracy and sovereignty of Ukraine. This does not mean that there was no difference of opinion. First of all, the ideological issues that lie at the basis of party differences, as well as in traditional political struggle between the two major parties.

Are populist parties fostering women’s political representation in Poland? A comment on Kostadinova and Mikulska

In a recent contribution to Party Politics, Kostadinova and Mikulska analyze women’s political representation by populist parties in Poland and Bulgaria. The presented findings for Poland suggest that the main right-wing populist party PiS (1) elected more women to parliament, (2) nominated more women to promising ballot positions, and (3) that voters of PiS were more likely to support women in the elections compared to leftists parties. We disagree with all three findings. While the first finding is due to an error in the descriptive statistics, we argue that the other two findings are the result of an inappropriate research design. We replicate the analysis based on an altered research design and show that PiS did not elect more women to parliament, did not nominate more women to promising ballot positions and that voters of PiS were not more likely to vote for female candidates.

Парламентские партии Польши о конфликте в Украине (2013/2014)

The main purpose of this article is to present the position of the Polish parliamentary parties in relation to specific events Ukrainian conflict at the turn of 2013/2014. From the very beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, most politicians of parliamentary parties in Poland watched and commented on the events in Ukraine 2013/2014, on the one hand, it seems – the absolute support of the European aspirations and Defending the freedom, democracy and sovereignty of Ukraine. This does not mean that there was no difference of opinion. First of all, the ideological issues that lie at the basis of party differences, as well as in traditional political struggle between the two major parties.

Glos polskich i niemieckich nacjonalistów w debacie na temat integracji europejskiej

The subject of this paper is nationalism as a direction of political thinking, where the idea of the nation is the dominant principle. The main Polish nationalist political parties of the recent 25 years include: National Revival of Poland, Polish National Community and National Party „Szczerbiec”. The main German nationalist political parties include: National Democratic Party of Germany, The Republicans, The Right, Pro NRW (North Rhine-Westphalia). Far-right parties in Poland and in Germany are against the European Union and the process of European integration. The nationalist parties in Europe fear economic and cultural globalisation, multicultural- ism, immigrants, Islam, materialism and consumerism that – in their opinion – threaten their respective nations.

Najnowsze propozycje zmian w Konstytucji RP

The proposal presented by the United Poland party (Solidarna Polska) and defined as a new constitution cannot be considered as a complete proposal of the new fundamental law. A significant number of solutions, which are a copy of the RP Constitution is decisive in this regard. Special attention should be paid to the replication of the scheme of chapters of the fundamental law of 1997. Besides, a majority of chapters was adopted without meaningful changes and the content of most articles was simply repeated. The proposal is not original, based mostly on the existing construction of the fundamental law. Nevertheless the proposed changes could be defined as significant. The most important is a modification of the executive power, expressed in the abolishment of the office of the Prime Minister and placement of the RP President as the head of the Council of Prime Ministers. A meaningful change refers to the abolishment of the Senate and return to one chamber – the Sejm. A visible and highly original is the proposal of electing the Prosecutor General in general elections. Additionally the following can be considered as original: the establishment of the Court of State Responsibility instead of the State Tribunal, the return to the verdicts of the Constitutional Tribunal which are not final, and making a referendum upon the motion of a group of citizens. These proposals include solutions both replicated but also new and interesting and in some cases also controversial.

Blog a językowy obraz świata partii politycznej. Analiza kwantytatywno-korpusowa na przykładzie komunikacji Platformy Obywatelskiej

This text is an empirical reconstruction of communication specific to channels/tools – such as blogs run by politicians of the leading party in Poland – Civic Platform. Indirectly, the author tries to answer the question of whether the language of political blogging is a phenomenon specific to the general background of political communication? Moreover, this article allows the reader to look through the quantitative‚ insights‚ in the Linguistic Picture of the World which is perpetuated and deposited in political blogs of the Civic Platform members, during 2007-2011. It is also a description of what is being communicated, through diversified communication platforms, by politicians belonging to a particular political party. The research material, which is fundamental for this publication consists of texts collected, categorized, lemmatized and subjected to a preliminary interpretation by the author himself. Text corpus constructed from the politician blogging has 75 000 tokens and it is was analyzed using a reference corpus, which consists of media statements of the Civic Platform members,containing a total of 500 000 tokens (the population of the texts studied in the collective.

Typologia polskich partii politycznych według kryterium programowego

The author of the paper presents a typology of parliamentary parties in Poland on the basis of what he deems to be the key element when establishing a party, namely its political platform. He outlines social-democratic, liberal, Christian-democratic, conservative, people’s parties, independence parties and the parties he terms as non-standard ones. He concludes by presenting a table with an interesting list of all the parliamentary parties from the first to the seventh term.