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The article aims to define the role of institutions in shaping competitiveness in certain European states. The research problem to be addressed through this study is to what extent does the level of competitiveness in world economy depends on Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) in particular countries. The study was conducted using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods of data analysis. A cross-country comparative analysis, based on data from 32 European states in 2021, revealed that the level of competitiveness is determined by institutional environment. The higher the WGI percentile ranks, the better place in the World Competitiveness Ranking. The results of the study enabled to fully confirm the 1st hypothesis, i.e. the institutional governance quality and control of corruption have a noticeably positive impact on competitiveness. It was revealed that the 2nd hypothesis could not be confirmed because of statistical insignificance, i.e. countries with political stability, absence of violence/terrorism and quality of law are typically more competitive among world economies. Meanwhile, the 3rd one was partially confirmed, i.e. the quality of regulations leads to higher competitiveness of economies, while freedom of expression, free media and ability to participate in national elections have not a significant impact on competitiveness.

The article contains a thorough analysis of the European active labour market policies in the face of the influx of Ukrainians following the outbreak of the Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine. An overview of the temporary protection regulations for Ukrainians adopted by the EU states made it possible to determine the conditions of legal residence and labour market access. Statistical data and surveys conducted by international institutions became the basis for identification the Ukrainian refugee's profile on the EU labour market. Thus, the vast majority of Ukrainian citizens staying in EU states are women with higher-than-average educational level; good or high proficiency in English; who used to work before the war with a non-negligible share in the health and education sectors; and who often work below their qualification. In addition, an analytical comparison was undertaken to highlight the image of migrants who came to Poland before February 24, 2022 and that of war refugees who have arrived following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Acceptance of Ukrainians by Poles, remarkable similarities between countries in terms of culture, favourable access to the labour market and healthcare are of the utmost significance for both economic migrants and war refugees.

The full-scale war in Ukraine caused the largest refugee crisis in Europe after World War II. Poland was the initial destination for people fleeing the war, causing a rapid influx of several million refugees in just a few weeks. An unprecedented and rapid response of the Polish society in terms of providing assistance to refugees enabled the acceptance of those who decided to stay in Poland Social action that began at the local level and translated into commonly known non-governmental assistance provided the basis and impetus for fostering beneficial connections between Poland and Ukraine, not only on the state level, but especially within the respective populations. The purpose of the article was to explore the forms of assistance offered by the Polish society, the scope of aspects of the refugees' lives it addressed, and how this was reflected in the mutual perception of Poles and Ukrainians. As a hypothesis, it was assumed that a direct involvement of the Polish society in helping refugees from Ukraine decreased over the course of a year of the full-blown war in Ukraine, with simultaneous high social support for the state's systemic solutions in this regard. In order to verify the hypothesis, a combination of descriptive, analysis of existing data, comparative and statistical methods were employed.

This paper is the first step to fill a gap in the studies on the position of mayors in European local government systems. The first part of the paper will be devoted to critical analysis of theoretical and methodological studies on the position and selection of mayors. The second part will focus on verifying the proposed hypotheses. In the conclusions, an attempt will be made to present a profile of local democracy in CEE countries.

In December 2017 and January 2018, the Sejm and Senate, thanks to the votes of the deputies of ruling party Law and Justice, passed hugely controversial law amending inter alia Polish Electoral Code. Its adoption was opposed by the parliamentary opposition, by the electoral administration bodies and by many experts, however unsuccessfully. The enactment of this law destabilises the electoral system without a clear or evident need and treats the electoral code as a political instrument. Secondly, it does not provide the sufficient time for adaptation (vacatio legis), which may jeopardise free and fair local elections and the stability of the political system. Thirdly, the bill contains numerous unclear provisions and is in many parts written in a careless and contradictory way. Such amendments do not correspond with the European standards, described in the Venice Commission's Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters.

One of the most important aspects of academic life is cooperation between researchers from different centres. Different levels of experience, approaches and paradigms enable researchers to observe the complete image of categories. The Political Leadership Section of the Polish Political Science Association has been formed during the Second Nationwide Congress of Political Science in Poznań (2012). The Association's Board has established it on February 7, 2013. Since that day the section integrates scholars from different universities interested in issues of political leadership, it supports development of this research field in Poland, it collects published monographs, editions and papers relevant to this field and it coordinates development of teaching standards in education on political leadership. The section's activity and its role in Polish academic community proves that this topic has become a significant aspect of social sciences in the country.

The Article reflects on the influence and distortion of mass media in modern days. Its original role of a bearer of truth, accurate information and its role, nowadays, used mainly to manipulate the audience to achieve a specific reaction. The overwhelming forces of media are illustrated on the examples of the American conflict with Iraq from 2003 to 2010 starting with the World Trade Centre Attack and ending with the opinion of the polish audience concerning the American-Iraqi confl ict. Th e article is divided in two parts, analyzing mass media and the foreign policy of George W. Bush over Iraq aft er September 11, 2001 and the role of US and Polish media in the process of citizens' preparation for the conflict in Iraq. Th e first part approaches the importance of mass media for U.S. foreign policy against Iraq, created by President George W. Bush, especially after the September 11, 2001. It shows also how far society is involved in the maintaining of this policy. The article focuses on the influence of media during conflicts and how the public opinion and military actions influence one another. The second part focused on the supposed role of media to inform and prepare the people for conflicts. Instead, the society is overwhelmed with information so the risk shows, that the necessary news get partially lost. To prove this distortion a survey was made showing an accordance to the given information with different newspapers, radio and TV stations. Regarding the increasing of fear and misleading public opinion the Polish media did not react differently than the American. This process resulted in the opinion of polish society that their military forces should join the conflict in order to protect their freedom and safety.

Terrorist violence has a long history in the United Kingdom and the Government has a long experience in adopting the legal measures to counter the danger. It was the Irish terrorist activity, which started in the XIX century and continued almost till the end of the XX century, that caused the developing of a well – regarded competency in counter – terrorism in the UK. Nevertheless, the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001 and attacks in Great Britain on 7 and 21 of July 2005 compiled the UK Government to change its counter – terrorism policy. The UK had to provide legislation which could deal with the new terror provided by extreme radical Islamic networks waging a global jihad. The UK Government started to deal with this new international terrorism, by introducing the new anti – terrorist acts in 2001, 2005 and 2006. The Islamic terrorist treat started to reform the institutions for domestic counter – terrorism and create new international relations among the CT activities of national governments.