The author proves, that in Ukraine the level of political consolidation, when it would be possible to clearly define, whether a transition is completed or not, and what regime is firmly established in the state, is not achieved yet. Political players are far from confessing the inviolability of democratic rules of political game; there is a considerable threat of authoritarianism. Freedom House considers the Ukrainian state a free electoral state, not a liberal democracy. The judicial features of Ukraine in the democratization process are as follows: lack of fulfillment of one of the first tasks of the transition: replacement of elites; lack of legal culture of the authorities, their inability to realize the rules of governance; formal institutionalization; relative weakness of the basic opposition; slowness of the reformation and sustainable failure to perform the tasks of every stage of the transition; weakness and low legitimacy of democratic institutions, conjuncture reformation for party-group interests; gradual replacement of bits and pieces of the post-communist authoritarianism with the new oligarchic authoritarianism on the behavior level of some elite groups.

Czech experience in the field of referendums is rather limited. Only one nationwide referendum which has been held so far, took place in 2003 and concerned the membership of the Republic in the European Union. The experience of referendums at the local level is incomparably richer: decisions related to environmental matters have gained importance. The greatest interest was raised by referendums on the creation of new municipalities, storage of radioactive waste and elements of radar to be included in the anti-missile shield.

It is most probable that referendums will not be used more often than before at the state level in the Czech Republic in the future. This assumption is supported by the lack of such historical experiences as well as the unwillingness of political decision makers. Only local communities often use this kind of opportunity to express their stance on important matters. Significant support on the political scene has been obtained by groups who even call for direct democracy to play a more important role than before in the political system of the Republic. These are not the strongest parties in the Czech Parliament.

The political system of Finland and the consciousness of the Finnish society are strongly attached to the rule of law and solidified democratic principles. Strict observance of the principles of democracy and the rule of law, including individual rights and freedoms, especially in the context of their relations with the state authorities, ought to be perceived as a peculiar characteristic feature and singularity of Finland, similarly as of the other Nordic states. In fact, the substance of an individual’s status and the protection of his/her rights has always been and still remains a very significant area of these states’ functioning. Hence, the principle of democracy and the rule of law on the grounds of the Basic Law of Finland, having been in force since 1 March 2000, was included into the catalogue of the fundamental constitutional principles, forming the basics of the state’s political system. Among the Nordic traditions cultivated by Finland there can also be placed strongly preserved supervision of legality, performed not only by the judicial system, like for instance the control of the constitutionality of law and the liability of the supreme state officials, but also by the non-judicial authorities of legal protection, such as: the Chancellor of Justice of the Council of State (Government) and the Ombudsman of Eduskunta (Parliament), which are so characteristic and directly originate from the Nordic legal and constitutional culture. Therefore, a whole separate chapter of the Finnish Constitution has been devoted to the matters of the control over the legality. The hereby paper aims at conducting the analysis of the content and scope of the fundamental constitutional principle of democracy and the rule of law, as well as the questions of the supervision of legality, its comprehension and range on the grounds of the Basic Law of Finland.

The quality of life is an interdisciplinary issue. Hence, in Polish social sciences there are many different definitions for this term, which has its consequences in research. Nowadays, the topic of life quality is being analyzed through its objective and subjective indexes. The article presents results of various research on mass media usage in the context of spending free time and using modern information and communication technologies (ICT), since both these trends have dominated the field of analyzing objective and subjective dimension of life quality of Poles when it comes to using media. Unfortunately, using mass media is not regarded in research as one of the main indexes for life quality and its full utilization requires a correction of meaning and methodology.

The issue of leadership is becoming increasingly a phenomenon studied by specialists in political sciences. However, the emerging theoretical concepts call for constant changes and updates due to the political practice. This is supported by the changes in the political scene observed in many countries, generally referred to as the “populist revolution”. This phenomenon, with varying intensity, has been present on the Italian political scene for almost a quarter of a century.

The specificity of Italian populism should be expressed concerning three political leaders: Silvio Berlusconi, Beppe Grillo and Matteo Renzi. Although, there are many differences between them – the time of appearance, the scope of power and political culture, there are also common formal references regarding personal image and applied rhetoric. The distinct approach of leadership to populism has been further strengthened by the increasing use of new means of social communication. As a result, the intersection of technology and social change has had and will have a significant impact on the perception of politics in the future.

Key words:

Italy, populism, leadership, Berlusconi, Grillo, Renzi

The article concerns the analysis of the political situation in the Slovak Republic and the formation of the party system. In the analysed period, the process of decomposition of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic took place, or actually, the culmination of this process. The study is based on the assumption that in the analysed period there were many divisions observed on the political scene, which were the result of the lack of a stable political structure. In the article author uses the method of historical and institutional analysis.