Suchergebnisse

This study offers a short introduction to the development of cities in general, their types, functions, position and points of differentiation. It stresses the importance of multifarious factors that determine the importance of particular entities. The main part of the study though is concerned with Polish cities. It takes into consideration their origins, geographical location, administrative and political importance, city reforms, demographic and economic factors as well as their functions and finance to assess the role and salience of different city categories. It analyses the impact of the aforementioned factors, especially of administrative and self-government reforms on self-government reforms, reflecting the international trend towards the unification of self-government system, have not led to the homogenization of cities in Poland, but that provisions introduced allow for individualisation of their internal structures and functions.

Poland as a young democracy is supported by extensive experience of mature democratic systems. Poland is still seeking reasonable and effective solutions regarding its electoral system. The right for electing the representatives of authority bodies is one of the fundamentals of democracy. This right entitles citizens for active public participation through expressing their support (votes) for candidates, which will respectively represent their voters in certain institutions. Polish electoral law, which regulates the local self-government elections is very controversial. The existing legal rules have been changed many times since 2011. Among the subjects being discussed are electoral campaigns, and candidate registration rules and organization of elections. Frequent changes in the electoral law result in misunderstandings and an unwillingness to participate in elections. Their effect is low voter turnout and a large number of invalid votes. Regardless of the above, it is worth to consider, why the Electoral Code was prepared so chaotically and without any further discussion? Why before the forthcoming elections to the European Parliament and municipalities planned for 2014 it was not possible to be assured about the electoral regulations, which were the subject of numerous changes?

The subject of the article is an organization of local government authorities in the implementation of tasks related to security and defence. Attention is focused on issues of employment and organization of work. The issues addressed relate to the adequacy of employees' knowledge and experience within the limits of their professional duties, the adaptation of the number of employees to the purpose of the tasks and the public opinion on the activities of the security bureaus. The article is based on the results of the qualitative and quantitative studies carried out within the framework of the project "Local self-government in Polish non-military defence system" conducted by the Department of Security and Defence Systems from the Faculty of Logistics in Military, University of Technology, during 2015-2016, in Mazowieckie Province.

After the defence war in 1939 was lost, the authorities of the Third Reich forced Polish State Police offi cers to serve in the occupier's security structures in the General Government. This formation was used to implement various activities directed against the Polish nation. The policy of the Nazi authorities varied depending on the existing priorities in this regard. The Germans carried out brutal pacifi cation operations directed mainly against the Jewish population using Polish police. One should not forget about the harmful actions of Polish policemen against Jews. The tragic part of the occupation history of the Polish police was their participation in operations against the resistance movement. Collaboration in the Polish police was a part of this phenomenon in the General Government. The cooperation of Polish policemen with the resistance movement deserves attention. They made a signifi cant contribution to the preparation and implementation of subversive actions as well as the execution of attacks and sentences. They were present on almost all fronts of underground activity. Knowledge of the role of the Polish police in the dark period of the occupation is not satisfactory and requires further research.

The purpose of this paper is to outline the Polish system of real estate taxation and main problems associated with its implementation. Despite socio-economic changes, this area of the tax system has not been reformed in recent years. Consequently, real estate tax in particular is a levy that presents great difficulties in assessment and collection. This is evidenced by the numerous rulings of administrative courts, which, in quantitative terms, place real estate tax right after value added tax. The study is primarily based on an analytical research method drawing on legal acts, the literature on the subject, and the achievements of judicature.

Współczesna doktryna administracyjna zwraca coraz większą uwagę na znaczenie społeczeństwa w administrowaniu i kształtowaniu polityk publicznych w rozumieniu administracji partycypacyjnej. Ten typ administracji jest najskuteczniejszy w samorządach lokalnych, gdzie można uczestniczyć osobiście lub grupowo lub bezpośrednio rozwiązywać problemy lokalne. Warunkiem realizacji pełnego zaangażowania społeczności lokalnych są określone działania administracji publicznej, polegające w szczególności na identyfikowaniu najważniejszych problemów, z jakimi borykają się jej mieszkańcy, poznaniu preferencji mieszkańców co do sposobu rozwiązywania tych problemów oraz angażując się w ich rozwiązywanie. Jedną z form udziału społeczeństwa w tworzeniu decyzji dla jednostek samorządu terytorialnego są konsultacje społeczne. Konsultacje społeczne przeprowadzane w ustawach samorządowych mają charakter opiniotwórczy i niewiążący. Mają one znaczenie legitymizujące dla specyficznego kształtu decyzji podejmowanych przez władzę, a także wzmacniają zadania stawiane obywatelom przez władze samorządowe. Celem artykułu jest analiza instytucji konsultacji społecznych w samorządzie terytorialnym jako jednej z form partycypacji społecznej w polskim systemie prawnym oraz przedstawienie ich roli w procesach podejmowania decyzji administracyjnych.

Poland is undergoing important political changes. The evolution of legal, political, and financial resources of local government since 1950 is discussed in this paper. In the last section are presented the Solidarity programme and governmental response at the historic 'Round Table' talks between the ruling Communist Party and the Polish opposition, which opened the way to the opposition's magnificent victory in the parliamentary elections in June 1989. In 1950 a very centralized organization of the state was imposed. But the postwar history shows expansions and limitations of local government power. These shifts and their causation are analyzed. The poor quality of the urban fabric, the need of social support for the ruling party, and important economic tasks of local government call for decentralization. Its implementation requires overcoming the barriers, which result from resistance by political and bureaucratic structures, bad economic situation, and lack of public interest in local democracy. Recently a decentralization policy is being implemented. Many legal openings have been made, but the political organization is still very centralized. It is argued that a deconcentration of tasks and means cannot be effective without changes in political structures. Therefore Solidarity asks for full self-government at the communal level, but the ruling Party has strong reservations against this.

The main aim of the research is to evaluate the innovativeness of Polish municipalities in the field of energy. The study was carried out as a part of the First National Competition for the Most Innovative Local Government in Poland, taking into account the original method of assessing the innovativeness of local governments. From all over Poland, 30 communes participated in the research: 14 urban communes, 8 rural communes, and 8 urban–rural communes. The study analyzes the activities of municipalities in the field of energy-related construction and transport innovations and inventories innovative social campaigns in the area of climate and energy policy implementation. The second part of the article presents a case study of innovations recognized as exemplary. As a result of the conducted research, it was found that 50% of the surveyed local governments are innovative and the remaining are moderately innovative. No commune has been assigned to the non-innovative category. In terms of the type and size of the local government, it has been observed that smaller municipalities, mainly rural local governments, allocate much higher financial resources per capita to the implementation of modern solutions in the field of climate and energy policy implementation. In some cases, commune heads spend several times higher funds per capita than mayors and city presidents. The use of the developed innovation research method in practice may motivate local government authorities to increase innovative activities for energy transformation.

Abstract
This article presents the role of clusters in the Polish innovation system. This role has evolved in recent years due to maturing of cluster organisations and the expansion of their ability not just to provide services for cluster members but also to perform selected public tasks. This study aims to provide a better understanding of the nature and extent to which clusters can contribute to the objectives of development policies and thus to the economic development of the Polish economy and answer the question what role clusters can play in the innovation system. Based on a survey of 44 cluster organisations in Poland and interviews with cluster managers, the study explores the possibility of engaging Polish cluster organisations in the implementation of public policies. The results confirm that many of the Polish clusters achieved such a level of development that they themselves see the possibility of engaging in public tasks, for example education and specialised training, helping enterprises in digital transformation, monitoring technological trends, and so on. Therefore, it is justified pursuing a dual cluster policy. This duality means focus on two objectives: supporting cluster organisations on the one hand and implementing cluster-based development policies on the other hand.

Cooperation between neighboring countries, Polish and Ukraine has a rich history. If you want to talk about the cooperation of local government units between the two countries you must also make a comparison of the legal systemsof both countries in this field. The aim of the article is therefore the analysis of the legislation governing the functioning of local government units in the crossborder cooperation and also attempt to compare them and draw conclusions andassessment of cooperation between local Polish and Ukrainian .