In July 2011 the whole state of Peru celebrated 100th anniversary of the Inca city Machupicchu in the Department of Cusco. The preparations took a long time and involved the highest authorities of the Republic. Festivities, shows and fireworks that lighted up the sky over Cusco and Machupicchu on 7th July were only one part of the celebrations. In the background of the celebrations bitter questions were asked about what was it exactly that Peru celebrated? Archaeologists, journalists and residents of Cusco discredited achievements and working methods of American explorer Hiram Bingham, in the first place highlighting the role of Agustin Lizárraga – discoverer of Machupicchu from 1902. The debate that took place in the background of the anniversary celebrations was not limited only to the question who really deserves the honoured name of the discoverer. Some inhabitants of Cusco protested on Plaza de Armas against using the site of Machupicchu by some institutions from Lima that are driven only by financial profits. The anniversary has also been used by academic institutions to publicize the problem of inadequate protection of the Inca site and draw attention to threats, which brings excessive, uncontrolled tourism to Machupicchu.
The paper attempts to find the answer to a question for the opposition nature of so-cial movements. The main question is: can we call social movements the opposition? If yes, are all types of movements deserving of this name? Consequently, issues of this paper are regarding the non-institutional politics which is becoming at present more and more significant. Used argumentation in the paper allows for the formulation of the statement that in accepting the appropriate definition of both politics and a social move-ment, we can treat every social movement as an entity belonging to the institutional politics; an entity which meets the conditions of being an opposition. This statement is trying to meet contemporary understanding the politics, and is a response to the ongoing changes in the womb of democratic systems.
In the contemporary world, the development of education is given special importance. Education is considered as a basic force of civilization changes. Interdisciplinary education, focused on innovation, is seen as a necessary challenge to cultural changes. Th e level of education is becoming an increasingly important factor in determining the economic, political and social behaviour as well as values shaping systems.
The article undertakes an attempt of answering the question whether there is a place for politics in homily? The author starts with defining terms: homily and politics. In his reasoning he refers to the teaching of the Church. Politics in its strict meaning, which embraces struggling for power and exercising authority, or opting for any political party, can not be present in homilies. In its wide sense, however, as the concern for the common good, politics is fully implementable in homily. This also results from the definition of homily, which should actualize the word of God in the current human existence. Naturally, this requires a mature approach to the matter. The author sees a problem not so much in the possible preaching of socio-political affairs, as to its manner of communication, language and tone.
The article is an attempt to present the growing importance of feud politics as an area beyond institutional politics. The issue discussed in the article seems to be up to date, especially in the context of modern day representative democracy crisis. It is possible to say that contestation policy is a connection of sorts between institutional politics and the society and it is a sign of taking public action parallel to traditional politics. The validity of this thesis is dependent, though, on the acceptance of the specific definition of politics itself, as well as definitions of feud and protest politics. The most accurate approach in this matter seems to be the subjectoriented one. It can be said without doubt that contestation politics is becoming an important part of institutional politics which cannot be omitted. This can be seen not only in the growing number of contestation actions, but also in the engagement of the country in this kind of politics. It seems that the perspective accepted in the article allows for further analysis of the subject, which would include such elements as: political behavior and actions, political process, or some models of group politics.
6
Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
The paper discusses the area of Political Science as a discipline and its borders. The four chapters include: terminology and its practical consequences, genesis and development of Political Science, research methods of Political Science and the position of Political Science in comparison to Social and Human Sciences.
The article aims to draw attention to the political character of the category of national minorities and the consequences this has for sociological reflection. The political character of the national minority category consists, among others, in the method of officially distinguishing them, their institutionalization and legitimization. Sociologists dealing with ethnic issues to a greater or lesser degree, more or less consciously – in the process of creating theory and empirical practice – succumb to categories developed in the sphere of politics. The examples of a thus problematized relation discussed in the article pertain on the one hand to the sociological distinguishing of the category of minorities, while on the other hand, concern the usage of data gathered in the National Census with his all political implications.
9
Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
The article deals with the concept of “agenda setting” in media as well as focuses on the first level of this process (a selection and a prioritization of the particular events that are presented in the television news). Namely, these events become a basic source of information about the contemporary political world. Any bias manifestations have been omitted deliberately as it goes in tandem with manipulation techniques (such as assessment, for instance). Moreover, it has been assumed that the degree of bias is an inherent feature of the media as it constitutes the crucial element of the central-level politics. Moreover, not only has been stated that this bias may be resulted in the pressure of politicians, but also that this phenomenon is downright an unavoidable feature of media. Thus, the differences between agendas of the various television news were analyzed and presented on the basis of both the data and the own research.
Without any doubt since 1989 one may observe increasing women’s role in Polish political life. One of proofs for it is higher number of women registered as candidates before parliamentary elections, as well as higher percentage of women in Polish Sejm. In spite of this, Polish women are still less active in the political life than men, which results from existence of several barriers hindering their participation and involvement in politics. The main aim of this article is to analyze the opinion of Poles on the activity of women in political life and on the introduction of additional mechanisms having the potential to increase women’s participation in political bodies.
The main object of analyses found in the paper are ideological concepts of Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice) with particular emphasis on the description and explanation of “the political” in accordance with political beliefs of the party. PiS is a political party which based their ideology-creation function on two political criteria: projection of means in order to reshape the reality according to their own political thought and differentiating between national and international opponents and allies. The two criteria mentioned have their roots in four assumptions. First, political goals may be realized only as long-term commitments. Second, each political entity strives for securing their access to new resources strengthening their potential. Third, political thinking has been strongly determined by geopolitics. Fourth, the division into allies and opponents cannot be reduced to rivalry of other kinds, e.g. economic or social.
Recently, researchers have shown an increased interest in examining the impact of individual characteristics of voters (personality traits, attitudes and personal values) on a political choice. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationships between voters› basic values, their political orientation and voting behavior in Polish national election in 2011. Personal values were treated as a cognitive representations of desirable, abstract goals. According to Schwartz's theory, there are 10 basic, universal values (power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, selfdirection, universalism, benevolence, tradition, conformity, and security), organized into four higher-level types (conservation, openness to change, self-transcendence and self-enhancement). To assess the participants› basic values, the Schwartz's Portrait Value Questionnaire was used. Comparisons between the groups of voters were made using the ANOVA method and the Tukey's post-hoc tests. The results of the study indicate that right-wing voters scored higher in tradition, conformity and benevolence and lower in self-direction, achievement, stimulation and hedonism than left-wing and centre voters. Voters' political party preferences were associated with distinct value profiles. According to the results of the research, voters' personal values can be important for understanding and predicting voting behavior.
13
Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
The submitted article reconstructs the interactions between Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi as the originator of the Pan-Europe idea, and the Prague newspaper Prager Presse, during the time from August 1921 until autumn 1926. The account notes and comments not only upon Coudenhove-Kalergi writings published in the paper, but also the reviews of his books and reports on his public appearances. Thus the article traces, how the philosopher, who comes up with a particular interpretation of the situation in Europe after the World War I, becomes a leader of the international movement, a politician and a diplomat striving to gain support for a specific model of European organisation. The final section of this article deals with how the Czech translation of Coudenhove’s book Pan-Europa originated and the circumstances it was accompanied by.
The main object of the analysis was to answer whether contemporary Poland faces a crisis of authority. The notion is considered in two dimensions: authority of power and power of authority. It needs to be determined whether we are experiencing a deep reformulation of the very idea of authority, its meaning and function. Another key issue analyzed was whether role models are still needed and if Poles still need them in a democratic system. On the basis of available research it is possible to conclude that in fact role models are still of importance or even much desired in times of crisis. It is also worth mentioning that the authority of truth and role models of science and its practitioners are particularly worth preserving. The correlation between the level of education and the level of trust, willingness to cooperate and the need for authority is present in numerous studies. The conclusion appears to be obvious: if there is an area, in which the need for revival of authority and the master-apprentice relation is particularly dire, that area would be the authority of truth, knowledge and education.
Politics of the memory implies formal, normative activities in the public sphere, which are undertook by representative institutions, i.e. the parliament, the government, or local administration. They are intended to create desirable attitudes and hierarchy of values within citizens, in order to maintain the community cohesion. By official frames are understood, above all, legal acts passed by the parliament or local administration, commemorations and celebration of national holidays. Croatian case shows how the official politics creates a narrative which can be seen as a point of reference for every discourse about the past, and in that way it defines the current political scene. The paper shows that in Croatian official narrative dominating categories are the stateness, the idea of continuity of the Croatian state, but an interpretation of the last war is disputable.
The author undertakes the problem of the identity of Western civilization in the light of a correlation between politics and religion. First, he traces the theoretical debates about the mutual correspondence of politics and religion in ancient Greece. Following two extreme errors depicted by Sophocles in his “Antigone,” and by Plato in his “Apology of Socrates,” he infers that the “Golden Mean” is necessary in resolving the problem of politics and religion. Then, he examines the underlying errors put forward in the history. His investigations show the erroneousness of endowing either politics or religion with sovereign status in culture. There is always a conflict between politics and religion unless man regains his own sovereignty from them. Ultimately the author arrives at the conclusion that the “Golden Mean” correlating politics and religion distinctly strengthens the identity of the Western Civilization, and consists in respecting all real and universal parameters of human person life, such as cognition, freedom (and responsibility), love, agency in law, ontological sovereignty, and religious dignity.
Autorka zajmuje się istotą ironii, która jest jednym z najbardziej interesujących zjawisk w języku współczesnej polityki. Ze względu na swą złożoność zjawisko to jest jednocześnie wyjątkowo trudne do opisania. Na podstawie wybranych przykładów zaczerpniętych z języka polityki oraz w odniesieniu do literatury przedmiotu autorka stara się przedstawić, w jaki sposób w przytoczonych wypowiedziach wyraża się ich charakter ironiczny. Artykuł pokazuje, że ironia, ukrywająca się pod nie zawsze oczywistymi i łatwymi do rozpoznania postaciami, może przybrać formę wyjątkowo agresywnej retoryki. Sięganie po tę zjadliwą odmianę ironii, zawierającą w swej istocie typ wartościowania negatywnego, okazuje się wyjątkowo skutecznym narzędziem, służącym obrażeniu, ośmieszeniu oraz pokazaniu co najmniej lekceważącego stosunku do rywala na scenie politycznej.
EN
The article analyses the use of irony in contemporary political discourse. Referring to selected examples taken from the discourse of politics, the author shows how the cited statements express their ironic characteristics. The article demonstrates that hidden irony is not always obvious and easy to recognize, and it may take a form of an extremely aggressive rhetoric. Using this virulent form of irony containing the type of negative evaluation proves to be extremely effective tool for insulting, expressing at least disrespect for the rival on the political scene.
18
Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
First of all, the study differentiates between the concepts of “modernism” and “progress”, emphasizing that modernism is always linked to disruption of existing values and discovery of “low realness of reality” (Lyotard), while progress is based on the idea of a continuing upward process. Th e Czech Modernism in 1880’s and early 1890’s crystallized in heated polemic clashes that passed from science into politics. Literary works set the ideological sphere in motion, the art turbulently reflected political events, the science destructed national mythology, which had been so far perceived as constitutive for the whole national community. Literature and criticism experienced a radical turning point, which was obvious for instance in the shift toward the image of an individual losing identity and being exposed to destructive pressure of society. The Czech Modernism Manifest of October 1895 marks the end of mutual influence of oppositional forces. The extensive proclamation attempted to summarize the up-to-date literary, social and political debate and accentuated the social progress of different forces. The study explores individual streams that mingled in the proclamation: the Masaryk-type criticism (realism), cultural and social attempts of progressive movement and position of young literary critics. The common platform emerged from weaknesses of individual streams but as soon as some relative point of consolidation of the Czech society was reached, the specific features of various spheres came forth.
The present study shows the process of shaping the concept of local leadership in Poland, which concerns mayors of rural communes, mayors and presidents of cities, directly elected by citizens − and their role as local government executive leaders. Particular attention is paid to legal and political mechanisms of their election and political (democratic) responsibility towards the citizens. In these mechanisms, there have been detected factors which substantially weaken social trustworthiness of the role of the leader and its democratic advantages. These factors especially include a low rate of vote turnout (both in local election and in referenda for dismissal from any of the offices listed above) and various informational manipulations aimed at distorting the true picture of public opinion in these matters. The author has pointed to dysfunction of regulations and political phenomena, which cause that the concept of a local leader in Poland has met very serious difficulties in practice and is not trusted by the community.
The lecture engages the debate concerning the relation between politics and ethics. Ethics is the guardian of good practice and policy the guardian of the quality of life in the community. The author discusses their mutual historical development paying special attention to two dates. First in 1789, when the Bastille was demolished and the Republic founded with a slogan of ethical content (“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”), but only in order to control it. The second date is 1989, the year in which the Berlin Wall fell, constitutes a turning point and the dominance of ethics over politics promoted by the triad: democracy, accountability, and human rights, which undoubtedly belong to the highest value. The problem with this is that ethical values can be used in an ideological way. In the final section, the Christian position on the proper relationship between ethics and policy and vice versa is discussed.
JavaScript jest wyłączony w Twojej przeglądarce internetowej. Włącz go, a następnie odśwież stronę, aby móc w pełni z niej korzystać.