Unia Europejska wobec nowych tworów państwowych (casus Kosowa, Abchazji i Osetii południowej)

W przypadku niejednolitego stanowiska państw członkowskich Unii Europejskiej wobec Kosowa, osłabieniu ulega prestiż i siła oddziaływania Unii na arenie międzynarodowej. W odniesieniu do problemu Abchazji i Osetii Południowej natomiast, działania UE obrazują, że samo wyrażenie zainteresowania określonym problemem oraz udzielanie ‘apolitycznej’ pomocy finansowej, którym nie towarzyszą wyraźnie i precyzyjnie zdefiniowane cele polityczne, działalność instytucji wyposażonych w silny mandat oraz proces aktywnych negocjacji, nie przyczynia się do rozwiązania palącego problemu międzynarodowego, narażając na szwank pozycję międzynarodową Unii Europejskiej. Po raz kolejny państwa członkowskie pokazują, iż koncepcja Wspólnej Polityki Zagranicznej i Bezpieczeństwa, wspierana między innymi przez Europejską Politykę Sąsiedztwa, jest pozbawiona stabilnych podstaw.

Metody zwiększania frekwencji wyborczej. Polska a doświadczenia innych państw

Numerous reports and analyses of voter turnout levels have recorded the global trend of declining participation by citizens in national elections. One of the most important results of poor participation of citizens in electoral processes is the serious legitimization deficit. Governments in many countries try to prevent that by taking various measures to solve the problem of falling turnout and to increase the level of the electorate’s involvement. In Poland, the low turnout level has been the subject of many scholarly discussions aimed at finding solutions to the problem of poor civic participation. The main goal of this study is to assess the various methods of increasing voter turnout which are used in different countries, including Poland.

The Iranian Foreign Policy in the Persian Gulf Region under the Rule of President Hassan Rouhani: Continuity of Change

Although Iran borders with many states and has direct access to the Caspian Sea as well as the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf region seems to be the most vital area to its security and prosperity. Yet since the 70’s Iran’s relations with the Arab states in the region have been rather strained and complex. The main reason for that had been the success of the Islamic revolution in 1979 which later resulted in a new dimension of Sunni-Shia rivalry. Moreover, post-revolutionary Iranian authorities also intended to maintain the regional hegemony from the Imperial State of Iran period. As a result, successive Iranian governments competed for hegemony in the Persian Gulf with the littoral Arab states which consolidated their regional positions due to close links and intensive cooperation with the West especially with the United States. Despite some political and economic initiatives which were undertaken by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, this rivalry was also evident between 2005–2013. The main aim of this article is to find out whether Iranian foreign policy towards the Arab states in the Persian Gulf region has undergone any significant changes since Hassan Rouhani became the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran in August 2013. According to Mohammad Reza Deshiri, the Iranian foreign policy after 1979 can be divided into so-called waves of idealism and realism. During dominance of idealism values and spirituality are more important than pragmatism while during the realistic waves political as well as economic interests prevail over spirituality. Iranian idealism is connected with export of revolutionary ideas, Shia dominance as well as the restoration of unity among all muslims (ummah). On this basis both presidential terms of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can be classified as ‘waves of idealism’, albeit some of his ideas were very pragmatic. The question is if Hassan Rouhani’s foreign policy represents a continuity or a change. Is the current Iran’s foreign policy towards the Persian Gulf region idealistic or rather realistic? The main assumption is that there will be no Arab-Iranian rapprochement in the Persian Gulf without a prior normalization of political relations between Iran and the West especially the United States.

Polska, dzieje i rzeczy jej /

--t. 2. Dzieje Polski potocznym sposobem opowiedziane --t. 20. Mowy i pisma polityczne.

Demokracja bezpośrednia a wprowadzenie praw wyborczych dla kobiet. Przykład Szwajcarii

Over the centuries, Switzerland has developed a unique and inimitable statehood that functions in peculiar geographical, social and political conditions, shaped by the tradition of exercising direct forms of power. It appears, however, that these tools of direct democracy can sometimes obstruct the changes of utmost significance for the development of modern statehood and democracy. This was the case of granting voting rights to women. Although many European and other states granted the rights to vote and stand for election to women in the 1920s and 1930s, Switzerland needed much longer to introduce this change: on the federal level, women’s suffrage was granted as late as in 1971, and the last to enjoy the right to partake in the political life of their canton were the women of Appenzell Innerrhoden, granted the right in 1990. The objective of this paper is to analyze the influence of the mechanisms of direct democracy on the introduction of voting rights for Swiss women.

On the political dimension of political science – a few words about political dimension as the final judgment and reasoning

The subject of the text is the issue of the "political", which is defined as the nature and level of the final judgment and ultimate reasoning. The issues of this kind of the "political" has been attempted to distinguish in political sciences. The text focuses on: (1) the scientist as an agent for the final judgment and reasoning, (2) the subject of study of political science, (3) "theoretical strategies" in the science of politics. The latter problem has been discussed mainly on the example of Polish political science. Discussed were among others: (1) "the dilemma of scale", (2) limited operational capacity (methodological and theoretical), (3) aesthetic imagery of political life, (4) structural ignorance in the field of ontology, epistemology and methodology.

The Polish EU presidency in Polish press: Did we actually notice it?

The aim of this paper is to present the findings of a quantitative content analysis of the Polish print media. Sharing the codebook and procedures with an international team, we were able to gain a broad perspective on the media coverage of the first Polish EU presidency. In particular, we focused on: (1) the number of items covering events related to the presidency, (2) the prominence of the topic, (3) genres, (4) main topics, (5) authors of news, (6) authors of opinions, and (7) the way Polish journalists evaluated Poland’s performance during the EU presidency. The findings showed that although Polish print press reported the first Polish EU presidency, the topic’s prominence was not very high. Media organizations rather rarely presented the topic on the front page and they did not change their regular editorial policy. Most of the news items, as well as opinions and comments, were written by staff members. Furthermore, journalists seemed to be more interested in the opinions of national politicians, rather than experts. As a result, the framework of the coverage was predominantly domestic. Journalists working for daily newspapers focused mostly on providing news and their own interpretations of the reported events. On the contrary weekly magazines provided comments and interviews, but again, most of the opinions were expressed by their own journalists and editors.

Panika moralna w dyskursie publicznym. Rosjanie wobec współczesnej imigracji z Chińskiej Republiki Ludowej.

Wydział Nauk Społecznych: Instytut Socjologii

Integracja europejska w mikroperspektywie. Graniczne miasta blizniacze w Europie Zachodniej i Srodkowo-Wschodniej

The dynamization of integration processes in Europe has generated numerous research topics for political analysis. Border integration is an expression of the broader unification processes of certain structures. It is also a manifestation of the observation that people think globally, but function locally. The European integration perspective is therefore practically implemented in micro structures, exemplified by border twin towns. The objective of this paper is to revive the micro perspective as a useful approach in the investigation of integration processes. This perspective is applied in the field of border studies, which focus on research into the transformation of European borders resulting from integration processes, as well as on the transformations of the concepts of statehood, territoriality and sovereignty. It is assumed that these phenomena are definitely more observable at the outskirts of states than in their centers. Theoretical and empirical considerations are based on the example of border twin towns, as the European units of local government that integrate across borders. The main differences between the integration of towns in Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe are also indicated in the analysis.

Na granicy Unii Europejskiej – pozycja europejskich terytoriów autonomicznych w dobie globalizacji i integracji. Przypadek Wysp Alandzkich

The model of autonomy developed by the Aland Isles can provide a number of interesting solutions applicable in other territories. Territorial autonomy as a manner of ensuring the political and economic rights of the minority involves facing up to the challenges of European integration and globalization. It seems that the Aland Isles have successfully coped with this challenge. Firstly, they were able to present and promote their own interests during the accession negotiations in an efficient manner. Secondly, they maintained (and additionally strengthened by including it in the aquis communitaire) their separate, autonomous status and the guarantees of identity protection by virtue of limiting the rights of persons without domicile rights to purchase land and run business activity. Thirdly, they managed to obtain a special status excluding them from the process of indirect tax harmonization, thus ensuring considerable economic benefits. Fourthly, both Finland and the European Union confirmed their autonomy, demilitarization and neutrality allowing the Isles to retain their former status under the new circumstances. Fifthly, they obtained representation in the Committee of the Regions and a defined position on European matters in Finland. The skillful application of the existing solutions and the winning of an advantageous set of derogations and exceptions strengthened the position of the Isles both with respect to Finland and the international surroundings. The Isles’ economic, cultural and political protection was augmented. Alongside their participation in international organizations, such as The Nordic Board, the Aland Isles have remained active and discernible on the international arena.