In the article the main characteristics of the European Parliament elections in 2014 in relation to the characteristics of the both previous elections to the Parliament were analysed. First, the legal framework is presented, followed by the presentation of candidate lists. As it is frequently the case, the authors for the analysis employed the analytical framework presented by Reif and Schmitt (1980). Following the framework, it is obvious the elections in Slovenia again demonstrated many elements of the second-order elections framework, for example in terms of the turnout, success of the governmental parties, success of small parties, as well as almost complete absence of party programmes, Euroscepticism and European topics in the campaign. Since several important domestic events happened just before the EP elections (e.g. resignation of the government at the beginning of May and the fact the leader of the biggest opposition party was by the court found guilty of corruption activity and sent to the prison at the end of April) such developments did not come as a big surprise.

Key words:
Slovenia, European Parliament, elections, Euroscepticism

The results of the Seimas elections in 2016 year have revealed one of the greatest transformation in Lithuanian party system since its formation in1992 m. Though there are similarities between the political processes in Lithuania, Poland Hungary, the Czech Republic, however it is important to stress important differences, which enable us to speak about the unique “Lithuanian way”.

First of all, the new political group, which dominates in Lithuanian political system after the elections – Lithuanian Peasants and Green union (LPGU), not only rejected the tradition political continuum of “right-left”, but also has not fit to the main political cleavage in postcommunist political system of Lithuania between ex-communist and anti-communist.

Second, the elections revealed the huge crisis of democracy based on political parties in Lithuania. The dissatisfaction with parties, as the main actors in modern liberal democracy, constantly increases.

Third, we can speak about the decisive victory of anti-politics in Lithuania, the marginalization of the political deliberations and the political competence in the governance of the state.  This triumph of anti-politics in Lithuania is not the outcome of the cultural tradition of anti-politics which was strong in Poland and Czechoslovakia (but not in Lithuania) during the 20th century [Havelka, 2016], but rather the price which we have to pay for the invasion of the mentality of consumption in political sphere.

The main task of this article – to foster the discussion about the future of liberal democracy in Lithuania, about the prospects of political parties and the threat of the final victory of “consumer” against “citizen”, also about the lessons of political life in Lithuania for other post-communist states.

Key words:

elections, anti-politics, consumer, citizen, parties

Political careers emerge when individuals develop patterns of mobility between offices in the political realm. These patterns provide useful clues about the expected activity of an individual leader. Patterns of political tenure can be revealing because individuals who aspire to long-term service seem more committed to the autonomy of their institutions, as well as more active and effective within them. The mayoral career is created in a continuous process of mayoral position implementation where a unique combination of ambition and opportunity intertwine. A political career is therefore necessarily associated with time and defined by two key points: the starting point and the termination point of mayoral function. Between them, the mayoral career takes place. The article focuses on the career development and mayoral incumbency in post-communist countries such as Lithuania and Slovenia. Authors particularly focus on the direct mayoral elections conducted in Lithuania for the first time in 2015 and introduced in Slovenia already in 1994. Career of local leaders was analysed in terms of pre-mayoral career, where authors discovered that the largest share of mayors were municipal council members. Both countries had a relatively high proportion of political newcomers. In Lithuania, the first direct elections finally also enabled the elections of non-partisan candidates, a trend seen in Slovenia since 1994.

Key words:

pre-mayoral political career, incumbency, direct elections, non-partisans, Post-communist countries

The 2014 European elections in Romania represented a test for the political parties preparing for the presidential elections at the end of the same year. Firstly, we analyze the political context in which the European elections took place. Since 2012 the changing governing coalitions have created an unstable party system with many politicians shifting party allegiances. Several high ran- king party officials were considered suspicious for corruption acts and this affected the nomination of candidates. Secondly, we show that although the ideological allegiance of citizens and political parties increased since 2012, the match between policy preferences of political party and their supporters continues to be remarkably low. Finally we discuss several effects of the European elections, including difficulties in appointing candidates and creating electoral coalitions for the presidential elections encountered by the center right wing parties.

Key words:
EP election 2014, party system, Romania, political competition, European Parliament

Existence of free media is one of the most important feature of democratic system. Since the collapse of the communist system in 1990s, Central and Eastern European societies have been overtaken by a process of change. Media system change was part of the general process of what may be called systemic social transformation. The main goals of free media in Central and Eastern European were: introduction and legitimization of the concepts of democracy, rule of law and constitutionalism as much as concepts of political pluralism, competition and new political parties and candidates as legitimate competitors. Unfortunately in post-communist countries media have not yet reached a state of full independence from the current interests of political parties.

In this study there is case of Poland analyzed. After Polish parliamentary election in 2015 there have been changes in public television. The article presents the results of media content analysis of “Wiadomości” TVP1. In first research there is comparison how “Wiadomości” and “Fakty” coverage the same political events. In second research there is comparison how “Wiadomości” coverage politics in 2015 and after parliamentary election in 2015. The purpose of the research was to evaluate if the politics coverage became more balanced or more biased.

Key words:

media bias, coverage of politics, content analysis, eastern European media

The problem of both political and sociological backgrounds is often the quality and level of political civic competence. They point out their importance for the development and consolidation of democracy as well as the quality of public life. Research on this topic is accompanied by a lack of interest in politics, knowledge of its basic mechanisms, limited social trust, and marginal participation, which may be the turnout in individual elections. At the same time, there is a lack of reflection on the sources of such behaviors, assuming (usually a priori) that they are in the historical experience, mentality, tradition or political culture prevailing in a given society. However, the observation of public life makes it possible to argue that the quality and level of political civic competences largely depend on the practice of political parties with regard to citizens in terms of both conventional and unconventional participation. Of course, it is difficult not to notice the interplay of political parties and citizens, one can even risk the notion that the "quality of citizenship" depends on the rulers, and these reflect the "quality of citizenship."

Key words:

civil society, political civic competence, political party, democracy

The aim of the article was discuss the elections to the European Parliament in Poland in 2014, taking into consideration the political situation before the elections in particular. The influence of the parliamentary elections in 2011 on the Polish political scene, and the activity of governmental coalition of the Civic Platform and the Polish Peasant Party, as well as the emergence of new political entities actively participating in electoral competition, has been analysed. A detailed analysis was done regarding the course of election campaign, paying attention to the elements of negative campaigning as well as the course of the elections themselves. The final reflections were dedicated to the election results and their influence (consequences) on the Polish party system.

Key words:
elections, European Parliament, Polish political scene, political competition, party system

Since 2002 in Poland voters in the local government elections can directly elect the head of the rural municipality, mayor and city president. Local elections, in Polish conditions, are treated as an arena favourable for local committees, often non-party. However, it should be noted that many analyses show that the higher the level of self-government, the more important the committees of political parties are. The increase in the participation of political parties in the election competition is also noticeable in medium and large cities. The author decided to check whether the cities with poviat status of the Silesian Voivodeship favour party committees or rather a committee unrelated to any political parties. For this purpose, the participation and effectiveness of these committees in local elections of cities presidents with poviat rights of the Silesian Voivodeship in 2002-2018 was analysed. The study confirmed that the level of politicization in elections is increasing, however, the effectiveness of party committees in the election of city presidents is lower than the effectiveness of local committees. In addition, political parties are more active and influential in larger cities.

The aim of presented article is to examine regularities in the geographical distribution of support for the new political parties in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. At the beginning of the study, nationwide results of analyzed parties were compared with results achieved in territorial units. On this basis, the author created an indicator showing the average profit (or loss) of a new grouping in relation to the share of votes at the national level. Subsequently, the author calculated the Pearson's correlation coefficients to evaluate the relationship between results of new political parties in the first elections they gained parliamentary seats. The results of the analysis show that only in case of Czech Republic, it is possible to distinct the territorial units where citizens are more likely to vote for new parties. Nevertheless, most of differences in the geographical distribution of support for new parties in analyzed countries arise from three interrelated factors: the specificity of the territorial unit, ideological autoidentification of population inhabiting a particular territorial unit and popularity of party leaders.

Key words:

new parties, political parties, electoral geography, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia

This article focuses on the issue of equality of elections, in the context of the 2014 European Parliament election in Poland. Most often the definition of principles of elections' equality comes down to emphasizing its two aspects: the formal one and the material one. The first of them refers to guaranteeing each person with the active voting right the same number of votes. The material aspect of the equality principle is connected with striving to guarantee the same "voting power" to the election participants. Most briefly, it means that a given number of people elect as many representatives as another group with the same numerical strength. The main aim of this article is focus on the material aspect of implementing the principle of equality in EP elections. In the article will be emphasized three issues decisive for the specific features of the electoral system (electoral districts, election threshold and electoral formula), at the same time influencing the range of implementation of the material equality of elections. General findings will be confronted with empirical data, which will allow to formulate conclusions about the degree to which the European Parliament election conducted in Poland on 25th May 2014 met the principle of material equality.

Corruption is not just a problem ofdeveloping countries, corruption scandals arise and developin Western democracies, and only the perception and assessment of corruption differ. As scientists state corruptionis a phenomenon that is determined by the country's democratic (state) traditions, and culture, dominant values and behaviour standards, etc.

Most of the time corruption is analysed in the context of political, business, health care, media systems, that are interrelated. By far talking about the understanding and reaction to corruption in politics, are based on public perception of corruption. Corruption in political arena is related not only with actions of politicians, or public officers, but depends on the understanding and tolerating it in society. The cases of political corruption are rare, but still happening in various countries, in no relation are those developing countries, the newly established democracy, or so called western democracies. The phenomenon of political corruption is based on political culture, or even more broadly on national culture, traditions. And because of that cases of political corruption and their evaluation and reaction by the participants of political system (political actors, media and citizens) in general demonstrates the level of tolerance of such actions. As the mirror of perception of political corruption in political system the result of political election campaigncould be taken to account, because it demonstrates the activities of all participants of political system and their their attitude toward the case.

This article aims to analyze conception of political corruption in order to identify main determinants of it and to investigate potential influence ofthe case of corruption of political actortothe outcome of the political elections.

In this paper the quantitative media content analysis is presented to show the coverage of the political party in relation to political election campaign during the political election period and political corruption event in search for the factors to determine the presentation and possible impact of political corruption event to the results of political elections. In the research the media content of the political actor, that was accused for corruptive activities (for bribe) was analysed. Also article discusses whether the political corruption of political party leaderand its presentation in media may affect the political election results.

Key words:

corruption, political corruption, bribery, corruption scandal, media, elections

The 2014 European Parliament elections in Lithuania were successful for mainstream political parties: no new-born political movement came up in the political scene; no open Euro-sceptic party was able to gain any seats. But such a victory came at a price: the major European topics (joining the euro-zone, land-ownership by the foreigners) were left aside; the EP electoral campaign was overshadowed by Presidential elections with populist discussions about Russian threats and national security. The coincidence of two political campaigns boosted the voter turnout and made a significant impact on the distribution of MEP seats; because of the higher turnout, smaller parties were able to enter the EP, while two established parties with devoted core voters suffered some losses compared to the 2009 EP elections.

Key words:
European Parliament, Lithuania, elections, campaign, electoral slogan, populism

The article presents the determinants of creating candidate lists in European Parliament elections in Poland. Its subject context is the evaluation of importance of selected factors with reference to the effect obtained in the election. The main study hypothesis assumes different patterns of creating candidate lists in EP elections in comparison to parliamentary elections, involving the combined occurrence of several determinants. The first of them is the tendency to fill the highest positions in candidate lists with popular people well-known in the media, who have an advantage over anonymous ones. The second factor is territorial bonds connecting candidates with the electoral district where they stand for election. Another determinant taken into consideration is the territorial form of the candidate list. The last important element of analysis is the concentration of support, determined by the position on the candidate list.

Key words:
party candidate selection, European parliamentary election, candidate list position, Polish party system

European Parliamentary election 2014 were the third elections for countries that joined European Union in 2004, including Poland. As we may observe from the very beginning of the EP's history, elections suffer constant drop in voter turnout, and since 1999 the turnout total for less than 50%. There are many theories explaining this state of affairs, with most notable “second-order elections" and democracy deficit theories. Polish profile of voter turnout in EP elections seems to fit into frameworks of these theories, and is positioned among EU's members with the lowest turnout. What is specific for electoral behaviour in Poland is stability: the turnout and support for political parties seems to stable and even petrified. This assessment seems to be supported by the results of election within past four years, both on aggregate and individual levels of data.

Key words:
EP elections, voter turnout, electoral behaviour in Poland, petrification of political scene

The aim of the article was to present factors that determined voting behaviour of citizens in national elections in 2015 in the perspective of party and personal attitudes of the interviewees. Except for presenting conclusions that result from the course of the research process in the aforementioned range, also the elements that could have affected eventual responses of the interviewees were indicated. These include changes at the position of PO (civic platform) leaders, appearance of new political entities (Ryszard Petru’s Nowoczesna, Together Party, Kukiz 15), or unification processes on the political right, and partially on the left. Personal conflicts and ways of conducting the campaign that could have affected attitudes of voters were also indicated.

A complement to logical conclusions from the conducted research in the perspective of party and personal determinants of voting preferences were also analyses of whether election posters and billboards should be put in the areas that belong to churches. From the perspective of political options supported by citizens, and their attitudes towards the role of Church during electoral campaigns, the analysis of this phenomenon led to interesting conclusions.

Key words:

elections behaviour, presidential elections, parliamentary elections, personalization, electoral, Poland

The joint publication edited by Danuta Plecka and Zuzanna Osmólska entitled “Public Administration. Local elections in 2014” is still a current experience in 2016. The reviewed book, that was released last year, is the latest entry in the “Local government in the 21^st century” series, which was published by Adam Marszałek Publishing House under the direction of professor Joanna Marszałek-Kawa from Toruń.

The thesis edited by Danuta Plecka and Zuzanna Osmólska consists of 21 articles and as editors in the appropriate to the entire book introduction indicate it is the result of successive thoughts and analysis on public administration.

The article is an analysis of the local elections, from the perspective of the actors taking part in it. The study involved the election committees taking part in elections in 2006, 2010, and 2014. Exploration statistical data and results of the election was preceded by theoretical observations concerning the discussed issues. It outlines the legal basis for election to local government and made a typology of electoral committees, in accordance with the electoral laws in force during the specified election. It shows the level of participation of each type of election committees. In the analysis, the number of registered electoral committees, the number of candidates each gained votes and seats obtained. The model analyzes afflicting a number of key statistical data allowed to create a picture that revealed the definite advantage of election committees of political parties in electoral competition at the local government level. In addition, the cross-section analysis gave the word Stagnation scenery election, in respect of the entities competing election. The survey covered a national and provincial level. Data were analyzed in the whole country, as well as the division into 16 voivodeships. Information and data on issues taken taken from literature, existing normative acts and the data of the State Electoral Commission. We conducted a descriptive considerations of a comparative analysis using descriptive statistics methods.

Key words:
Local government, elections, electoral committees, electoral law

Through a democratically set system of state functioning, political parties are given space for their establishment and subsequent functioning. Nowadays, registering new parties is not an issue in Slovakia, but another issue arises - most political parties cannot attract voters, and as a result they lose general sympathy and also necessary votes in elections. For a political party to become known to its voters, it needs to address and subsequently implement techniques of political marketing. Reaching and gaining voters is essential for a political party to continue to exist. By using marketing communication in its election campaign, a political party can succeed more than the one that has not used them. Therefore to adequately address its voters, a political party has to know their social, cultural, economic as well as religious background. The political party must also pay attention to the creation of an election program that appeals to voters. However, a political party should choose such proper communication channels through which it will be able to attract its supporters. The presented paper deals with the issue of using / not using marketing communication before the parliamentary elections in 2020 in selected Slovak conservatively and liberally oriented political parties in the Trenčín region. The authors present their findings on the basis of the analysis of marketing communication tools, as well as formuate research questions that helped them meet the research goal, in particular, whether selected political parties used/did not use specific marketing communication tools in their election campaign in 2020.

The Determinants of Electoral System Change

Elections are a tool for the competing entities to achieve political goals. Therefore, electoral procedures are a significant element affecting their political perspectives. A change in the electoral system depends on balance of power in the parliament. In practice, two models of electoral reforms are possible. In the first of them, political parties collaborate to reform the system. Thus, they protect the interests of as many parties as possible. In the second one, the majority can force others to accept the solutions that are beneficial for them. The majority promote the institutional patterns and procedures that give them a chance to consolidate or increase the relative power of influence of elections. The presented paper includes the analysis of social preferences concerning a reform of the electoral system in Poland. The study revealed the preference for the cooperative model of changing the electoral system. Only the respondents who identified themselves as having right-wing inclinations approved of the competitive model.

Key words:

change of the electoral system, electoral system in Poland, electoral crisis, reforms of the election law

Subcarpathian voivodeship that was formed in 1999 in result of the administrative reform preserved voting traditions from all former voivodeships that comprise the current territorial unit of the country. It is noteworthy that the most important factors that significantly influenced electoral preferences of the Subcarpathia voivodeship were dominating electoral habits after 1989; electoral system elements, selected socio-economic indicators, as well as historical and religious determinants. The abovementioned factors are also supported by the positively verified partitions hypothesis, according to which it is assumed that in each partition area different patterns of political culture as well as various dominating political and ideological orientations were formed. This process was determined by policies of partitioning powers towards Polish citizens in the annexed areas, as well as the character and way of organising state by partitioning powers, the level of their economic and cultural development. It was by means of following tradition that the above patterns are passed from generation to generation, which firstly confirms its timelessness, and secondly finds its reflection in election results in Subcarpathia.

Key words:

elections behaviour, parliamentary elections, electoral, Poland, Subcarpathian Voivodeship

The objective of this paper is to analyse the political activity of the local community of the Opolskie Province in the local government elections in 2018 and to identify the characteristic features determining its specificity. The attempt to identify the electoral specificity of the region will consist in presenting a characterization of the region in terms of its size and population as well as its administrative and social aspects. An analysis of the elements inseparably connected with the election process, such as geography, voting turnout, the number of electoral registers and candidates, the types of electoral committees, is equally important. And finally, comments on the election results are significant as well. The local government elections of 2018 were held in a specific atmosphere, largely related to the amendment of the election law. Undoubtedly, the most characteristic aspect for the Opolskie Region is its last position among other provinces with regard to size and population, but it should not be forgotten that it is a borderland region inhabited by a high percentage of the German national minority, which actively shapes the image of not only the local communities at every level, but also the entire Opolskie Region as such.

The article analyzes the problem of immigrants' participation in the elections on a local level as a display of political activity and the means of integration of the country and its migrants. Assuming the European-wide perspective it is noticeable that given countries differentiate in the level of enabling immigrants to participate in the political life. In Scandinavia and several north European countries there is the highest rate of immigrants' participation, on the other hand, in the countries that joined the EU in 2004 the rate is the lowest. In 20l0 immigrants without the EU citizenship were able to run for the local elections in l3 European countries and they had the voting right in l9 countries. In Poland only the EU citizens are allowed to participate in the elections. The research into the legal solutions enabling immigrants (especially those who are not from the EU) to acquire more voting rights proved to have interesting results. The research has shown that over a half of the people willing to parti- cipate in the parliamentary elections is for granting the voting rights to immigrants. According to the research among the electorates, the substantial percen- tage of the Platforma Obywatelska voters proved to be in favor of granting the voting rights to immigrants. Less support is displayed by the potential voters of SLD and Ruch Palikota. Furthermore, the majority of the PiS voters is against the immigrants' participation in the local elections. Finally, the results of the research show that voters perceive differently the problem of granting immi- grants the right to vote versus the right to stand for the elections. Although the first one is accepted by the majority of voters, the latter - not so much.

The strength of celebrities in the election campaign

The article presents analysis of perceptions of electoral chances of celebrity candidates, and opinions about influence of celebrity endorsements on voters decisions among voters in the 2014 European Parliament elections and local elections in the same year in Poland.From 30% up to 50% of electorates of all except one party agree with the preposition that celebrities have bigger chances to win elections than traditional politicians. The only exception are voters of New Right of Janusz Korwin-Mikke. Up to 57% of electorates tend to agree with claims that celebrity endorsement have significant influence on voters decision. In this case neither party identification nor declared ideology is significant differentiator. These findings interpreted in terms of the low information rationality theory suggest that utilisation of celebrity in electoral campaings my serve as an important cue for a low information voters.

Key words:
celebrity politician, celebritization, celebrities, election campaign

In most studies of voting behavior, political preferences are explained at the level of the “country, election, electoral cohort or individual voter” (Franklin 2004). Notably absent from these studies is the impact of voters living abroad. Their importance is not to be neglected, especially in democratizing states.

This research targets the predictions that lie behind the turnout and preferences of Romanian emigrants. Romanian Diaspora consistently votes for parties and candidates that promise reforms. This vote is associated with liberal economic policy preferences and support for minority groups. I test these hypotheses with elections results data from 2000 to 2016 coupled with data collected from Votulmeu.com an online Voting Advice Application from the 2012 parliamentary and 2014 presidential elections in Romania.

Key words:

emigrants, voting, policy preferences, Romania, Voting Advice Applications

There is a common belief that the pro-regulatory approach of Democrats, makes them more determined in the fight against big money in campaign elections, whereas Republicans, supporting recent Supreme Court decisions in Citizens United v. F.E.C. and McCutcheon v. F.E.C., benefit from the system more than their political counterparts. The aim of the article is to analyze the real character of the U.S. campaign finance regulations, both from legislative and judicial perspective, and to determine which political party benefits from the system: Republican or Democratic? By underlining the Buckley rule that ‘money is speech’ the Author suggests that campaign contributions and spending are deeply rooted in the character of American political system determining the political future of candidates of both political parties. The article refers to election cycles since 1970s, but it mainly focuses on recent election cycles, including the 2016 presidential election.

Key words:

campaign finance, Republicans and Democrats, U.S. politics and law

Polish local elections in 2018, many months before their commencement, became one of the main elements of the political discourse. Due to the specificity of the electoral calendar, for the first time since the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2015, voters had to assess the actions taken by the Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) in the electoral act. Of course, this could only happen indirectly, precisely through local  elections, which due to their specificity, are not able to fully reflect the balance of powers that operates on the national arena. However, also in this way voters could refer to national events. Expressing support for them by voting on PiS, or by showing negations of their actions by voting for groups remaining in opposition. The aim of the paper is to check whether, in the perception of voters, events on the national political arena determine the behavior of two types of participants in local elections: local politicians  and voters.

European Parliament elections are a special area for the analysis of electoral volatility understood as changes of electoral support for individual parties occurring in time. Firstly, it is so because they are referred to as second-order elections. Secondly, because despite their supranational character, voting behaviours occurring in them are to a considerable extent moderated by the national context. The article discusses the qualities of European elections which generate electoral volatility at various analysis levels.

One of the basic features of a democratic state are cyclical and competitive elections. They are an instrument through which the ideas of political representation are implemented, while being also a factor of creation of various authorities. The specificity of the distribution of power in a democracy is founded on the causative position of the general elections, as a form of granting the most important powers to the institutions of the political system. The present article text presents the results of research on the issue of the social significance of the various elections held in Poland and the factors influencing the perception of their importance. In the course of the study were revealed both the social preferences for the function of distribution of power and influence on the lives of citizens as the most important factors in the perception of the importance a given election. In the case of the least important elections, a key reason for such their perception was the location of the decision-making in other bodies of the political system than the one on which the opinions were expressed.

The parliamentary elections in Poland, held on 25^th October 2015, were, according to many experts and media pundits, influenced by the greatest influx of refugees in the modern history of Europe, the so-called migratory crisis. It acted as a catalyst for numerous pre-election discussions and debates in Poland.

This article aims at analysing the messages of the political leaders in Poland concerning the migratory crisis, whether they were given publicly, while meeting with the electors, or to the media. The subject of the analysis are the messages that can be found in archives or on the internet.

Key words:

parliamentary campaign in Poland 2015, migratory crisis, party leaders

Civil political competency and chosen reasons when taking electoral decisions

Civil political competency, but especially public trust are the basis of development of the civil society. Level of civil political competency also influence the electoral behaviour. In a research made in the end of 2014 we asked about Polish people civil political competency and about chosen reasons when taking electoral decisions. The group who declares an absence in the election or not taking big care about their electoral decisions and also have lack of skills to determine on which place on the left-right line they are, give evidence of a very low level of civil political competencies. Less important for them are programs and future plans presented by the politicians and political parties and also how they realize them (or not). When taking an electoral decision on the local level, this group take a lesser degree of care then other voters about the local elections candidates (for mayors, council member etc.) memberships to the political parties.

Key words:
political competences, electoral behavior, electoral decisions, political parties, parliamentary elections, local elections

Individual characteristics of voters and candidates assume greater importance in politi- cal discourse. Personality traits of voters become decisive for political choice. It is possible that people vote for candidates whose personality traits match their own traits. The main aim of the investigation was to test the relationship between voters' Machiavellianism and self-reported voting behavior in presidential and municipal elections in 2010, and between voters' Machiavellianism and voting preferences in national elections. The evidence confirms that Ma- chiavellianism is associated with voting and preferences for particular parties and candidates. There is a relationship between Machiavellianism and electorial participation.

The article deals with an interesting - from the marketing perspective - form of electoral rivalry, realised with the participation of politicians described as the "substitute candidates". It was taken into consideration that while discussing the issue of "substitute candidate" it is necessary to settle two key questions: which politicians and based on what criteria could be classified as such candidates and what strategic grounds convince rivalry subjects to choose such campaign option. Assuming that the notion "substitute candidate" could be analysed from at least two different points of view: actual substitution or apparent substitution, some issues of creating the electoral campaign and realising the campaign with the parti- cipation of "substitute candidate" can be pointed out: from the candidate selection stage, through the stage of creating and developing the candidate's image, to the stage of implementing project. Moreover, some conclusions from the electoral campaign preceding the presidential elections in Katowice were presented.

Key words:
electoral strategy, electoral campaign, process of selecting candidates, political image

The aim of the article is to identify cleavages that have been in Czech and Polish party system located since 1989. These cleavages are compared to determine the hierarchy and degree of their importance. It is also demonstrated the effort to determine the potential future development of the cleavages in the- se two countries. In this article as key for the formation of cleavages are considered elections to the lower houses of parliament. Elections to the upper houses of parliament and European elections are not relevant for the purpose of this work, because they are considered as second-order elections, thus they have no direct impact on the formation of cleavages.

Economic factor as a predictor of voting behaviour

The article seeks to answer the question of whether, and if yes - to what extent, voters are guided by economic issues in their decisions about electoral participation (activity or passivity in the elections). The analysis of this question was carried out in the context of declared electoral behavior of the respon- dents in elections which took place in 2014, namely to the European Parliament and the Polish regional (voivodship) parliaments. Detailed analysis was aimed at verifying the sociodemographic variables that could significantly differentiate the subjective importance of the economic factor in decisions taken on electoral participation. These empirical considerations took into account variables such as sex, age, education, marital status, financial situation, professional status and place of residence.

Key words:
electoral behavior, economic issues, electoral participation

Selecting the person? Determinants of voting behavior inhabitants of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship in elections to the European Parliament in 2014 in the light of empirical research

The aim of the article was to present factors influencing voting behaviours of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship citizens during European Parliament elections in 2014, in the light of the conducted empirical research. The indicators that guided voters when casting votes to ballot boxes were analysed on the basis of a set of variables, such as: the attractiveness of election programmes and political parties, competences of candidates, the role of the Catholic Church during the election campaign, or the awareness of voters (self-reliance in making electoral decisions or its lack). The analysis and interpretations from the conducted research were preceded by a voting description of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, treated, on a electoral map of Poland, as a specific region due to its above average support given to candidates and parties of right-wing provenance. In the final part conclusions drawn from the analytical process were presented.

Key words:
personalization, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, European Parliament elections, voting behaviour

Polish political parties voters and social stratification problem

Among all the elections organized in Poland, presidential ones are not only the most frequently attended by the voters, but also most eagerly investigated by the researchers. However, the studies concerning the importance of this particular voting is not often examined. On the one hand, there are arguments to classify it as first-order election, on the other, for certain reasons they ought to be regarded as second-order.The aim of this article is to answer the question whether 2015 Polish presidential election were of first or rather second-order importance. In his analysis, the author focused on the following issues: personal strategies, programme strategies, the course of the campaign in the traditional and new media, the level of electoral participation and the influence of the election on the course and outcome of the parliamentary campaign.

Key words:

Polish presidential election 2015, first order election, second order election

Elections are a procedure typical for democratic systems, but also sys- tems which do not respect the principles of democracy often employ them. However, due to their different functional positioning, they fulfill various func- tions. The presented text is an attempt to present the most important functions performed by the elections in democratic systems. The adopted model of ge- neralization has allowed for separation of seven basic functions, present in all elections: delegation of political representation; selection of the political elite; legitimisation of those in power; control over authorities; political accountabi- lity; creation of political programmes; recreation of public opinion image. The presented typology allows for its use both in different types of elec- tions (parliamentary, presidential, local, regional and European Parliament) as well as in relation to different electoral systems. The general nature of the de- scribed types of functions allows the separation of specific categories within its framework, but the objective of the present study has determined that the focus remains on the description and analysis of the presented types.

Apart from persuasive function, TV political ads play also important role in obtaining information about candidates and political parties. The cognitive effect of TV political advertising is proved in American and West-European conditions. Presented article is aimed at examining whether TV political spots influenced on voters’ knowledge of candidates and parties contesting in 2015 elections in Poland. The results of research will be presented with reference to sociodemographic characteristics of electorate, political preferences and auto-identifications on left-right scale.

Key words:

political advertising, TV political ads, cognitive effect of TV political ads, 2015 presidential election in Poland, 2015 parliamentary election in Poland

Knowledge of the behavior of the electorate has both its social context, as well as eco- nomic. It identifies the social interaction on the behavior of politicians and the effects of their management, moreover reveals the motivations and determines of political sensitivity, the de- gree of social disapproval and indifference. Rationalize the cost of election campaigns, influ- ences the electoral strategies and the consequent publicity and promotion mechanisms. It also affects the way services are involved in the electoral processes of individuals and businesses. It has a number of theoretical ways of using its wide but especially a practical context. The municipal elections which are the subject of growing interest are identified in the broader electoral context, the connection with other acts of election: elections to the parliament, the European Union and in the end of the presidential elections. The media of social life more and more influence on the behavior of voters, receiving daily spectacle of self-presentation, per-manent verbalization of ideas and references to public opinion polls. Voter is willed or not to participate. This causes the increasing consistency of its behavior in the different types of elections.

The present article aims to describe the relationship between political preferences of voters in different types of Polish elections (local, parliamentary, presidential) or of citizens inactive in the elections and their opinion on the integration of Poland with the EU as positive or negative. The results are based on a poll carried out at the end of 2010. The voters were asked about the political parties and groups they support in different elections (or specific persons

The aim of the article was to present electoral activities diversification as well as political preferences of the citizens of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship in years 1989-2014. The measure of the conducted analyses were the results of parliamentary and European Parliament elections, by means of which it was possible to indicate recurring cyclicality of right-wing political sympathies of the citizens of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, as well as noticable, with regards to the whole country, election turnout. The primary part of the conducted analysis was an attempt to answer the question of what determined the change of political preferences and if contemporary electoral activity and political sympathies reflect historical and cultural determinants.

Key words:
Subcarpathian Voivodeship, elections, electoral, political parties

Electronic voting as an alternative method of participation in the elections – opinions of Poles

The research subject of this paper are the opinions of Poles on the implementation of one of the alternative methods of voting in elections and referendums - an electronically assisted voting. The main aim of the author is the analysis of the attitudes of Poles on the idea of establishment of e-voting in Poland, and their declarations regarding the use of e-voting (if such possibility). The findings would be supplemented with selected data from the public opinion polls realized by the Office of Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman).

Key words:
electronic voting, e-voting, Internet voting, opinions of Poles

The article is an attempt to answer the question what role in political communication of the Catholic Church in Poland play the most important Polish Catholic opinion weekly magazines (Gość Niedzielny, Niedziela, Tygodnik Powszechny). Span of the analysis covers last 15 years. The research included the presidential campaign period in 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. The analysis was conducted with regard to the articles published during the period of one month prior to the presidential elections. The author assesses to what extent the analyzed press titles were convergent with the official announcements of the Polish Bishops' Conference regarding the political involvement of the Catholic Church. It is important to find an answer to the question of how the Catholic press supported one of the candidates for the office of President of the Republic. Another important question that needs clarification is whether and to what extent journalists discussed electoral programs of individual candidates. According to the author, the results of research regarding political engagement of Catholic press in the four presidential campaigns are a representative sample to determine the role of the analysed Catholic press in political communication of the Catholic Church in Poland.

Key words:

political communication, Catholic Church, presidential election, catholic press

In 2012 and 2013, in Poland, did not take place any national election. It was excellent perspective to lead comparison research. The subject of this article is presidentialization of electoral preferences. This process depends on situation, when style of parliamentary campaign has become similarly like presidential election and people focus on parties leaders competition. Usually presidentialisation increased without any changes of election rules. The Author focuses on two aspects: determinantes of decisions in potential parliamentary elections and opinion connected with organizing television debates during campaigns. In the article were compared preferences among electoral five main Polish parties. Results of the polls were compared with effects previous surveys (in 2012), which included two the same questions about presidentialisation. First question (about presidentialisation) apply to determinates of decision in potential parliamentary election. In every parties electoral more respondents choose 'party option' than 'leader variant'. The most questioned, who show party leader, find among Law and Justice (PiS) electoral (26,2 per cent). It could be predicted, because Jarosław Kaczyński (PiS president) is main party symbol and predominant person inside the organization. As surprise can be treated preferences of Civil Platform (PO) electoral. Here value of this ratings reveal 18,3 per cent. In comparison to previous survey (in 2012) it signifies decline about 2,4 per cent. Donald Tusk (the prime minister and PO leader) is the most important component of this party and his attitude was main factor of the winning of two last parliamentary elections (2007 and 2011). Second question apply to organization television debates in every elections. Among electoral every parties find more followers than oppositionists this solution. However in comparison this results to previous polls we can conclude about decrease amount of supporter this postulate. In reality, debatesbecame important element of campaign if politicians understand a role of this issues. But presently political parties and public opinion are not interested in this issue.

The article presents Hungarian electorate's preferences in the time of transition and democratic consolidation beginning in 1990. The preferences are confrontated with results of parliamentary elections held in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010. Author tries to show how the left and right preference division developed on the basis of socioeconomic cleavages. The evolution of Hungarian electorate preferences has moved toward bidimensional "left - ri- ght" structure since the elections in 1998, yet first symptoms appeared in 1994 when post-socialis party MSzP won the elections. Since then only this party and rightist Fidesz were able to succeed and create Hungarian governments.

What are the consequences of Syriza coming to power in Greece in 2015? Did it become a new Weimar Germany for the future Europe? In this article we test the hypothesis that winning two consecutive parliamentary elections in 2015 and forming a government contributed to a farther institutionalisation of this party within the rules of Greek democracy. This article is based on data from the Greek Ministry of Interior and the website of the Greek parliament. This text aims at presenting the process of transformation of Syriza - a radical, left-wing, anti-establishment and anti-austerity party into a governmental entity, pro systemic and accepting the principle of the democratic state of law. All this was due to the establishing of the governmental coalition with ANEL, a nationalist party; social-economic reforms; the reform of the electoral system for parliamentary elections; the proposal of a constitutional reform and the ending of the nearly 30-year dispute with Macedonia. The electoral failure during the parliamentary elections on the 7th of July 2019 finishes a 4-year governance of Syriza and enables us to try to evaluate this experiment for the first time. A key finding of our investigation is the need to highlight the respect for the democratic rules by Syriza during its government and its further institutionalisation as one of the main groupings of the contemporary party system in Greece.

Many political scientists treat Poland as a democracy that confront the challenges from the "tyranny of the majority", since Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) party gained parliamentary majority in 2015. It is also considered that using constitutional amendments, institutional arrangements and new legislation PiS has deeply divided Polish society.

The aim of the paper is to examine the multidimensional nature of hidden social divisions that strongly reapear in Poland after 2015. In the paper authors analyze their historical aspects, visualize them and try to disclose direct impact that political narration of the winning party has on them. By analyzing PiS stance – presented at the official PiS YouTube channel – in the light of classical Lipset-Rokkan theory of socio-political cleavages we are trying to show that discursive strategies adopting by parties might go against existing deep-rooted social divisions due to historical narration adopted by the party.

Key words:

Post-Rokkanian analysis, Semantic Network Analysis, cleavages

Support the candidate by the party leader and the decisions of voters. Electoral study

Competition in the elections makes it necessary for the participants to seek different ways of standing out from the others. One of the ways is to utilize the rule of the authority. The mechanism of the irradiation technique causes positive feelings to radiate from a person well-known to and respected byan electorate onto a less well-known person but connected with the former even through having a photo together. The aim of the paper is to show what position those polled took on the issue of using the rule of the authority in the election campaigns in 2014. The results of surveys conducted in the autumn of 2014 clearly show which party electorates are prone to be influenced by this type of advertising, whether by being directly told by the party leader which candidate should be voted for, or by the candidate's photo together with the party leader or chairman.

Key words:
election campaign, election advertising, irradiation technique

Political relevance is one of the most essential elements of political subjectivity. The process of its acquisition by political parties is not only a factor of their success, but also the foundation of their ability to influence the sphere of current politics. The political relevance of political parties combines both the institutional dimension of political processes and the practice of competition in three dimensions: electoral, parliamentary and cabinet. Only when parties are able to participate in all the three dimensions will they be able to perform the most important functions. The following article presents a specific dimension of acquiring political relevance, which is the management of political change.

Research on economic voting in Poland have been carried out from the beginning of the democratic transformation, focusing on isolating and testing of the transition model specific to the countries of Central Europe. Its differen- tiating feature is a novel way of simultaneously joining the retrospective and prospective motivations in the behavior of voters, compared to the conven- tional model present in consolidated democracies. The purpose of the present article is to attempt to determine the relationship between the two types of elec- toral motivations identified above in the parliamentary elections, starting with the election of 1991 and ending with the 2011 elections. Based on analysis and constructive criticism of findings of other researchers and own research, the presented paper evidences that the validity of applying the transitional model in the study of economic voting in Poland has been exhausted, as the prospective motivation is nowadays predominant in the decisions of voters.

The main aim of the paper is the theoretical analysis of the concept of the territorial heteronomy. Conclusions concerning the idea of territorial autonomy, regionalism or federalism easily can be found in the scientific literature. But they are useless to investigate and explain many political processes and political preferences in states of the Central and Eastern Europe. It is because states of this part of the continent did not have a chance to create and develop their own models of classic administration institutions in the nineteenth century, inter alia the local and regional government. Their only experience in this area is limited to the interwar period between 1918 and 1939.  They have gained a new chance for a democratic division of public tasks after the collapse of the communist system in the very end of the twentieth  century. But in that period they have focused more on the horizontal division of powers than on the vertical one. For that reason up till today political phenomena in the political centre have more importance than the regional policy impact attempts. The inspiration for such a research were electoral results obtained by two regional parties at elections to the Śląskie Voivodeship Assembly in 2018.

The main way of citizen's participation are elections. Elections at local level, espe- cially to local government, are very important for contemporary democracy. The key issue for developing democracy is activity of citizens which is very often called as civil society. Hence, the aim of the article is to find what is the citizen's participation at local level. The most popular form of activity at local level are: inhabitant consultation; country meeting; district meeting; local referendum. Supporters of SLD (39% of them) declared par- ticipation in country meetings. In other parties this indicator was at lower level, for example in PSL (33,3%) and PiS (28%). It looks different when the question is related to participation in an inhabitant consultation. In this case, the majority of supporters of PO (29,6%) take part in this kind of activity. Similar percents are in Ruch Palikota (29,6%) and PSL (29,3%). Sup- porters of PiS (28,8%) and PO (27,8%) attend actively in local referendum. To sum up, we can conclude that the participation at local level is not very optimistic or pessimistic. Unfortunately, we are not able to indicate clear conclusions, but only find some helpful notes for a further research. Presented study allows us to find many positive aspects and encourage us to continue this subject.

The article reflects on the diagnosis the levels of a sense of alienation in the context of voting behavior in elections to parliament in 2011. Social functioning, mental condition and the perception of the political scene are important primarily in the plane of the possibility of mobilization of individual electorates. It can be assumed that those who feel a sense of im- pact on the socio-political environment, recognizing the link between the actions taken by them and their effects are more likely to take part in elections. It is difficult to determine in which di- rection will influence the level of a sense of political alienation, as dissatisfaction with the cur- rent political scene, lack of trust in political leaders, the lack of any effect on its shape can result in one hand and the consequent withdrawal of political passivity, on the other - raise motivation to change the status quo through activity and voting for another party. A sense of an external anchor, the integration of values and other people may also be affected in two ways - firstly to provide the individual a sense of strength, support, and identification with a group of committed and interested in the election could translate into a significant mobilizing force, on the other, be- ing in a safe place among the cherished values and loved ones can focus enough attention to the individual, that active participation of socio-political recedes into the background. The author's research tool was used in the study - the Scale of Alienation "Z". It consists of measurements of three factors: a sense of powerlessness-power, a sense of political alienation-self-significant, sense of isolation-integration.

This part of the report discusses three questions, included in the questionnaire about electoral behavior during presidential and local elections in 2010. First question asks about the time, when the voter made his decision for which candidate he would vote for in the First round in the Presidential election. Second question is about the factors, that decide in choos- ing particular electoral committee in Local elections and third - about the problem of how big and stable is negative electorate of Polish political parties. As can be seen from presented data, majority of voters was sure of their political preferences long before the beginning of Presi- dential campaign and those, who made their decision during it, in most cases, in it's first phase. The mobility of Polish electorate is reduced, also because of the largeness and mutual pen- etration of negative electorate and effectiveness of political agitation is also limited. Because of that voters political preferences are relatively stable, despite the Smoleńsk Crash and in- creasingly intense competition of party elites.

The role of social media in the communication of political parties and the impact of them on voters’ decisions

The role of using of social media by the Polish political parties to communicate with internet users is still growing. Aricticle shows how voters are assessing credibility of political parties’ communication in social media and how they evaluate the impact of this communication on their decisions on election day. Article is based on polle results which was conducted after the parliamentary elections in 2015. The voter assessed communiation of political parties such as: Civic Platform, Law and Justice, Kukiz’15, Polisch People’s Party, United Left, .Modern, Together.

Key words:

social media, election campaign, parliamentary elections, website

The article presents the results of field research conducted among Poles inhabiting Bukovina in autumn 2016. The main goal and subject of the research conducted by means of an In-Depth Interview (IDI) was the political activity (especially electoral activity) and political views of local Poles. The article analyzes closely such issues as: (a) the degree of interest in politics; (b) support for particular political parties; (c) motivation behind support for particular parties; (d) activities of Poles in local government elections; (e) ways of choosing local leaders; (f) comparison of political activities shown by Poles and Romanians; (g) the role of a Polish member of parliament in Bucharest; (h) political activities of Poles outside the Association of Poles. The article presents synthetic conclusions from the conducted research and quotes selected fragments of respondents’ statements.

This part of the report describes two problems, which were included in both question- naires from 2010 and 2011. First issue asks about the time, when the voter made his decision for which political option he would vote for. Second problem concerns about factors, which determines for which candidate, he would choose. In 2010 we research this problem in refer- ence to Local election. This time our questions refers to candidates in elections to Sejm and Senate. We wanted to verify the trends we observed in Local and Presidential elections in Par- liamentary election. Obtained data in great part confirms conclusions from previous researches. Once again it turned out that majority voters was sure of their political preferences long before the voting, so they weren't susceptible to electioneering. Another observation, which was con- firm by the researches made in the end of 2011, relates to limited effectiveness of electioneering on voter. Our researches don't show any greater differences in factors, by which voter made his decision for which candidate he vote for in Parliamentary election.

The main category in this article is electoral presidentialization, understood as a tendency of voters’ behavior to mirror the decisions typical for presidential elections. Here, the category under consideration is analyzed in two dimensions: leader effect and social approval for the organization of television debates of the leaders of two most important parties. The author explains the process in question on the basis of quantitative and percentage distribution of answers to two questions to be found in three editions of the nation-wide electorate study “Political Preferences”. This article concerns voters’ preferences in a survey that was conducted just after the self-government election in 2018. In order to grasp the specificity of electoral behavior in this particular voting, the analysis was conducted in a comparative manner, and the subject of comparison was the 2015 election to the Sejm. The results of studies organized in 2012 and 2013, when no election was organized in Poland, were also referred to in a necessary scope.

The article concerns the attitudes of parties and their voters towards democracy and support for a "strong-arm government". The research included the five largest Polish civil parties Platforma Obywatelska RP (Civic Platform RP), Prawo I Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice), Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej (Democratic Left Alliance), Twój Ruch (Your Movement), and Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe (Polish People's Party). The results confirmed that, on the one hand, voters acknowledge democracy as the best political system for Poland; however, on the other hand, a substantial part of them longs for strong authorities. Supporting democracy, they advocate a "strong-arm government". Among left-wing voters, there is three times more proponents of such governments than persons acknowledging another political system as better than democratic one. In the case of political scene centre voters, the number of "strong-arm government" proponents amounts to over four times the number of democracy critics. Nearly half of the right-wing voters supported the "strong-arm government", and every fifth of them did not acknowledge democracy as the best political system. Proponents of democracy dominate in electorates of all parties. Groups in which their advantage over opponents is clearly the smallest include: PiS-voters, persons who declared the will to vote for another formation, and persons who did not want to participate in the elections. Among the PiS-voters, nearly three times more supported "strong-arm government" than opposed it. Among the voters of PO, SLD, and Your Movement, there were more opponents of a "strong-arm government" than its proponents. One may assume that a formation critical towards democracy and favorable towards reinforcement of authority of a strong, charismatic leader could gain among the right-wing voters. It may partially explain why did the KongresNowejPrawicy (Congress of the New Right) receive substantial support in the elections to the European Parliament. KNP criticizes the modern democracy and its leader favorably talked about activities of politicians who apply the methods of a "strong-arm government". On the left side of the political scene there are no premises for the emergence of a political force based on similar views and having greater support.

Deputy as a mayor, councilor as a deputy. The public opinion on the phenomenon of termination of mandate in elective bodies

The main issue dealt with in this article pertains to a certain aspect of democratic rules, understood at large, occurring presently in Poland, which are: not serving full terms by various levels local government elected officials and members of parliaments (UE parliament included) due to running for other offices. Statistics of these practices are not reported by the State Board of Election, consequently estimating the level of this phenomenon is hard, for it requires following particular cases, which may lead to errors. While considering this author undertook an attempt to estimate this phenomenon. I will examine the issue of cutting short term due to candidacy for another position, from the legal point of view and then from the ethical and philosophical evaluation of such action with focus on the statistics of not fulfilling electoral term due to taking another preferred position. Finally I will examine how this affects public opinion according to Poland wide surveys conducted on representative samples at the turn of 2015 and 2016.

Key words:

local government, cadences, elections, party electoral politics

Disloyal followers? About the study on political base of the mayor in spe using modified method of AHP

W artykule zawarto część wyników badań preferencji politycznych kandydatów do rady miasta w Szczecinie. Badanie ankietowe zostało wykonane tuż przed wyborami samorządowymi w 2014 roku. Głównym celem publikowanej tutaj części wyników było określenie stosunku kandydatów na radnych do rywalizacji na prezydenta Szczecina. Analiza koncentruje się na kwestiach potencjalnych atrybutów prezydenta, takich jak: dotychczasowe osiągnięcia, kompetencje osobowe, wizerunek, przynależność partyjna oraz program działania w przyszłości. Ponadto skoncentrowano się również na preferencjach wobec pretendentów do fotela prezydenckiego: porównano odpowiedzi na pytanie, kto byłby lepszym prezydentem Szczecina. W badaniach wykorzystano zmodyfikowaną metodę AHP. Po pierwsze, jej modyfikacja, określona jako metoda ważenia preferencji wyboru, pokazała, że Piotr Krzystek (prezydent Szczecina od 2006) był najbardziej preferowanym kandydatem na prezydenta w 2014 roku - większość respondentów z partyjnych komitetów wyborczych wskazywała właśnie jego jako kandydata drugiego wyboru. Po drugie, analiza pokazała, że każdy komitet wyborczy miał nielojalnych zwolenników.

Key words:

mayor, political preferences, AHP, method of weighting the selection preferences, local elections

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 realization of the journalistic principle of truth and objectivity during the Polish parliamentary election of 2015

The purpose of the paper was the evaluation of the way of respecting the journalistic principles of truth and objectivity by nationwide newspapers „Rzeczpospolita” and „Gazeta Wyborcza” in the context of the method of reporting the program assumptions of the two largest parties of the Polish political scene, Law and Justice (PiS) and Civic Platform (PO) during the Polish parliamentary campaign in 2015. The author used the method of content analysis of press, analysis method and synthesis method.

Key words:

media agenda setting, elections, newspapers, truth, objectivity

In many modern democracies, the leaders who make important influential political decisions are highly likely to be party politicians or indeed party leaders. Very often they cannot prepare an adequate strategy for their political parties because it is usually impossible to find out all necessary elements for projecting the goals. It is not surprising that political parties are the most important organizations in modern politics and in the contemporary world, only a few states do without them. The reason that political parties are well-nigh ubiquitous is that they perform functions that are valuable to many political actors. Political parties play a major role in the recruitment of top politicians, on whom the momentous and painful political decisions often fall. With very few exceptions, political chief executives are elected on the slate of some established political party, and very often the head of government continues to serve as the head of the political party that propelled him or her into office. Democracy may be conceived as a process by which voters delegate policy-making authority to a set of representatives, and political parties are the main organizational vehicle by which such delegation takes place. The main aim of this article is focus on the minority government, which are especially common in the Scandinavian countries. They can be more easily formed and maintained where the party system makes it difficult to secure support for an alternative majority coalition to be formed, a vote of investiture is not required, and a government can stay in office unless there is an absolute majority against it. In the article will be emphasized some case studies of Denmark minority government formation and durability. General findings will be confronted with empirical data, which will allow to formulate conclusions about the specific of minority cabinet in Denmark.

Key words:
party leaders, minority government, coalition, Nordic States, Denmark, party behavior, elections, majority, parliamentary members

It is the first time when the edition of social research 'Political Preference', was carried in a year without election. It determines certain electoral attitudes, because the mass media do not influence society and voters do not take tactical decision. In consequence, the results of this research are different from the ones during real election, because these decisions have to be treated like potential ones. The author decided to continue research, which began in 2010. Therefore, electorate behavior could be compared between campaign period and 'off year election'. Apart from party leaders influencing the campaign, this article includes research results concerning television debate. Both problems are the main components of presidentialization. In the first issue prominent majority of questioned chose the party ideology as the main determinant of potential deci- sions. This conclusion is different from the previous research. This can be the main information in explaining political phenomena or processes. However, what is needed here is an appropriate distance, because in this survey the author changed answers rotation. Apart from that we have to remember about research period - 'off year election'. Although television debates have not been perma- nent component all campaigns, Polish electorate supports this idea. Over 78 per cent of researches would like to organize a debate between two main parties leaders before every elections. However, we cannot look foreword to lead this idea in the Election Code, because neither society nor politicians will insist on institutionalizing this idea.

The article concerns an analysis of the types of positioning an electoral agenda adopted by the Polish political parties during the political campaign before the elections to the European Parliament in 2014. Positioning the electoral offer has been treated as one of the main elements of the electoral strategies of political parties, as the way of defining their electoral goals and identifying their strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats. The scope of analysis assumes main Polish political parties represented in the Polish parliament in the years 2011 - 2014 and additionally the party that managed to cross the entry barrier into the parliamentary market in the EP election in 2014.

2018 midterm elections in the United States allowed more ethnically and racially diverse candidates to become members of the Congress. The use of social media tools helped them to reach out to their community and get out the vote, which is especially important in Democratic campaign tactics. The article, by focusing on Colin Allred's and Andy Kim's Congressional bids, focuses on how their issue-oriented campaigns helped to mobilize the liberal voters. Furthermore, by analysing the rapidly changing demographics, it tackles the crucial question: do they mean the doom of the Republican Party?

The aim of the presented text is an attempt to verify the most popular in the political science literature hypotheses about the emergence of new political movements, potential sourc- es of their electoral success and the prospects for a permanent presence on the political scene. The primary reference is a theoretical model of the Political Opportunity Structure, which is a complex description concept for the success sources of the new political movements. The context for the presented text are the parliamentary elections in 2011 and the success of a new political party - "Ruch Palikota".

Meeting the needs of the voters is the primary responsibility of politicians. Political activity organize social life through the interaction of political institutions, which are the foundation of the democratic process of electing representatives mandated by society and legitimized in the elections. Well- conceived mission of serving the public is the foundation of a well-functioning relationship politician-voter. It is a way to meet the expectations that allows voters to build everyday life and faith in the future. It is worth to know the extent in which politicians meet the expectations of their constituents.

The paper refers to the essential problem of the European political space, namely the insufficient implementation scale of accountability standards, which has a direct effect on the democratization of the European political system, spe- cifically on the democracy deficit. The paper was presented the accountability standard on the background on the EP election in 2014, with the strong focus on the relations between the voters and the EP candidates. In the analyses the factors characterizing the quality of political discourse were considered taking into ac- count both, the electorate political activity (principal - in the meaning Principal- Agent-Theory), as well as the offer of the running politicians (as the agents).

This article serves as an introductory note to the “Lithuanian chapter” of the journal. A brief description of the electoral history after the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990 is provided, the most important political parties are introduced and their interactions shortly explained. The article also describes basic research on electoral topics in Lithuania.

Key words:

Elections, campaigning, Lithuania

The main aim of this article is to identify current issues in the field of local government in Poland, especially the local political elites in the context of their political affiliation. The decentralization process and the gradual transfer of the responsibilities of the national regional and local dimension has led to the development of self-government. This in turn enabled the participation in the process of governance every citizen of the inhabited area. Recent local elections show that localism is a relative term and greatly simplified. Each of the local politician has own connections with a specific option. Those behavior leads to a kind of self-governance crisis that manifests itself among other things: a decrease of public trust, low voter turnout and increase the sense of social alienation.

This article describes and evaluates 2014 Czech European Parliament (EP) election. Starting with the context of the election, it goes through all relevant party actors participating in the election and introduces them both in general ideological terms as well as in relation towards the European integration. After results of election are discussed, the article concludes that 2014 EP election confirmed recent changes in the Czech party system - inter alia destabilization of the system as a whole, reconfiguration on its right wing and emergence of populism. Concerning the European message of the election, their results confirmed their second-order character.

Key words:
EP  election  2014,  Czech  Republic,  ANO  2011,  party  system,  second  order  elections, ODS

Local democracy and the idea of term limits voits (mayors)

For some time there is a debate on the term of office mayor sand presidents of cities. Subject of the article is to analyze views on democracy and indicators of democracy, including the local dimension in the context of the controversy over the long cadence reeves impact on the functioning of local government. The author also extends to public opinion polls on the issue of limiting the cadence of mayors. We are analyzing the arguments of supporters and opponents of limiting the cadence of executive power in municipalities, as well as the dilemmas associated with the consequences of such restrictions for the quality of democracy. Limiting cadence has as many supporters as opponents - both sides have serious arguments for their positions.

Key words:
democracy, local democracy, local elections, cadences mayors and presidents of cities

Poland held its first ever popular presidential election at the end of 1990. Since then four such elections have been held i.e. in 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010. In the meantime the position of the president gradually evolved hence gi- ving rise to the question about which method for the election of the head of sta- te is most "appropriate". However, this issue was not an object of political de- liberation for the major Polish political parties of the last 20 years. Firstly, this resulted from the popularity of the presidential election within society, which was reflected in high turnouts (considering Polish reality). Secondly, especial- ly until the enactment of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997, no party wanted to run the risk of being accused of returning to the po- litical transition solutions adopted at the Round Table. Thirdly, until the be- ginning of 2010, the competition for the office of president was "reserved" for charismatic leaders or party leaders. lt was finally Donald Tusk, who decided not to contend for the presidential election of 2010 thus wanting to change the perception of the institution of president in the system of power and draw atten- tion and emphasize the role and the importance of a government with a strong (normatively and factually) prime minister as the leader.

In Poland, the way to make the constitutional basis of freedom of speech and freedom of the media opened up with breakthrough systemic taking place in 1989. Today it is sanctioned under the Constitution of 1997 (article 14 expresses the freedom of media and article 54 regulates freedom of expression) and a matter of law on the National Council of Radio and Television. The need for free media market, free flow of information and opinions and the need to protect it with a functioning system of judicial instruments - domestic and international - is now the standard functioning of democratic states. If what is more free speech - mainly imple- mented by means of mass communication is a real value and perform proper function in society - the mass media must be able to operate without restrictions or influence by external actors. Only then they will be able to inform the public about the socio-political events in the most objective way. Everyone has the right to express their thoughts, whether in private life, whether in public life. In addition, each sentence of the people must be respected, even if someone disa-grees with him. This rule is reflected not only in Polish law (both in terms of the Constitution and ordinary laws) but also in the program documents, demands and actions of all major Polish political scene at the party. On the basis of the current legal regulations, political parties have the ability to access public radio and television, which have an impact on the implementation of the constitutional right of freedom of expression in practice. For this example, an object of study focused on two levels of analysis, in relation to the parliamentary elections of 2011 and in the context of political ideology. The analysis of em- pirical data on two key issues: the use of freedom of speech by the media in Poland and protec- tion of the constitutional right of free speech by the Polish political parties.

Polish voter in the perspective of retrospective voting model

The idea of retrospective voting refers to voting decisions that are based on an evaluation of how the government has managed the economy. Research on economic voting in Poland have been carried out from the beginning of the democratic transformation, focusing on isolating and testing of the transition model specific to the countries of Central Europe. Its differentiating feature is a novel way of simultaneously joining the retrospective and prospective motivations in the behaviour of voters, compared to the conventional model present in consolidated democracies. The retrospective voting model is defined as deciding whether to reward or punish the incumbent party on the basis of past policy performance. Based on analysis and own research, the presented paper evidences that the validity of applying the transitional model in the study of economic voting in Poland has been exhausted, as the retrospective motivation is nowadays predominant in the decisions of voters.

Key words:
elections, economic voting, retrospective voting, prospective voting

The objective of the article is to examine whether corruption scandals involving members of the ruling party lead to changes in support for the government. It will also explore the extent to which the eruption of such scandals and reporting on them leads to an increase in the number of those opposed to the government, and whether in the long run this leads to the activation of the carrot-and-stick mechanism in respect of the governing political party, reflected in increased voting instability during subsequent elections.

Participatory Budgeting – a New Tool in the Hands of Citizens

The main objective of the study is to show the willingness of citizens to act, through the prism of opportunities offered by participation at the local level. Mainly, they concern the potential allocation of financial resources at the municipal level, in various aspects of local life such as improving safety, investments, culture, sport and recreation. The study shows that issues related to investments, infrastructure and local security are more important for the respondents than those relating to culture, art and sport and recreation. It is also noted that the supporters of Bronisław Komorowski in the first and second round of the elections for the office of the President of the Republic of Poland (in 2015) form the most active electorate. However, in the case of declared political views the leftish electorate slightly prevails. Taking into consideration particular age groups, middle-aged persons (aged 35-44 and 45-54) appeared to show bigger engagement, while the least active were persons above 65 years of age.

Key words:

participation, Poland, participatory budgeting, local government

The main purpose of this article is to present the role of public opinion polls and political consulting on Polish political scene. The article contains results of surveys made in most Polish regions in 2013 and 2014 years. Firstly, there is described theory of public opinion poll before elections and after them based on the literature of public opinion polls.. In this part reader either can find some information about how the public opinion polls are perceived from Polish citizens' perspective. Secondly, there is presented the role of political consul- ting on Polish political scene. The conclusion confirms that Polish citizens have perceived considerable influence of public opinion polls and political consulting in Polish public policy.