Political culture of local elite s in Poland 1. Abstract

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1 Anna Radiukiewicz, M.A. Pultusk School of Humanities Ph.D. student in Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences Address: ul. Baleya 6/ Warsaw Poland Political culture of local elite s in Poland 1 Abstract Democratization is one of fundamental aspects of new circumstances in Poland. For comprehensive realization of this process the culture change is needed. Only that kind of change will lead to a situation when the democratic system of government is stabilized and becomes the only place in public life available to the interplay of interests and values. What comes down this change should be complex and influences individual as well as whole institutions. One of the steps on the way of changes is authoritative, administrative reform. One of that kind of reforms - the democratic reform of public administration in Poland - was begun in 1990 with the creation of the autonomous communes and was finished in 1998 when the selfgoverning counties and voivodships came into being. What is obvious is the fact that reform is just a beginning of transformations and needs continuation. In my paper I will present one of the scopes of political life of the county an administrative unit at the local level, which is still very young and poorly examined. I will concentrate on the political culture of local governments members. I assume that this would allow me to consider if changes at the institutional level are compatible with attitudes of individuals. The empirical foundation for the research consists of six case studies made in 2004 and complemented till My main question is, if political culture of local elites facilitates democratic politics and governmental performance? Introduction One of fundamental aspects of new circumstances in Poland is democratization. It is a complex process, which leads to a situation when democratic system of the government is stabilized and becomes the only place in public life available to the interplay of interests and values. Important steps on the way of changes are authoritative, administrative reforms. One of that kind of reforms - the democratic reform of public administration in Poland - was begun in 1990 with the creation of the autonomous communes and was finished in 1998 when the 1

2 self-governing counties and voivodships came into being. What is obvious is the fact that reform is just a beginning of transformations and needs continuation. For comprehensive realization of this process the culture change is needed. This is the reason why the civic socialization may play a significant role in post-socialist countries. I strongly agree with Wnuk-Lipiński thesis that: The quality of democracy and the civic society is determined by citizen s political culture and social capital (Wnuk-Lipiński 2007). Definitions Let me start with some words about my understanding of the term political culture and its operationalization. According to Almond & Verba (1965), in the sixties of the twentieth century, the term political culture has been popularized. They have defined it as political orientations, attitudes toward the political system and its elements as well as toward the role of oneself in this system. The orientations were divided into three types: cognitive orientations knowledge of and belief in the political system, its roles and the incumbents of these roles, its inputs and its outputs; affective orientations feelings about the political system, its roles, personnel, and performance; evaluational orientations the judgments and opinions about political objects that typically involve the combination of value standards and criteria with information and feelings. Thus, that kind of culture, among other things, consists of interest in political values toward political system, evaluations of political phenomenon or patterns of behaviour in a political sphere. Gabriel Almond and his co-workers have stipulated also at different types of political cultures and the civic culture is one of them. They have characterized it as culture of an aware civic activity connected with loyalty to the system. That way of understanding of civic culture is also common for theorists who emphasize the role of active civic society for democracy (eg. Shils 1997, Putnam 1995, Śpiewak 1997, Pietrzyk-Reeves 2004). Thus, civic culture is that kind of political culture, which in the best way harmonises with democratic system. 1 In the article I used publication Political leadership in Polish counties ed. by Jacek Wasilewski, in which we present the outcomes of research project Mediating institutions between the elite and the people as the factor of Polish democracy consolidation in the joining European Union period. 2

3 In my presentation I have distinguished some indicators using Almon and Verba s works, which allow me to estimate character of political culture portrays Polish local elite. Since investigation made by Almod and Verba has slightly different nature, adaptation of their concept for using to so peculiar group as political elite was indispensable. Another factor that was important while choosing one of the mentioned indicators was character of analyzed data. As the basis of my article is secondary analysis of data, it was necessary to choose the indicator enabling separation from accumulated information. These are the reasons why I suggest to concentrate on some aspects, that will bring us to the answer to the question about the character of political culture portrays of Polish self-governmental elite (is this civic culture?) and its compatibility with democratic system: 1. Interest in local community problems; 2. Agency and feeling of having the influence on social reality; 3. Cultural and social capital of local authorities; 4. Relation government citizens: Feeling of community vs. alienation (we them); Equality; Acceptance of civic control. About investigation As I said, I would like to present a short characterization of civic culture of Polish local elite. In my presentation I will use data collected by the research team conducted by Prof. Jacek Wasilewski from The Institute of Political Studies, at the Polish Academy of Sciences. Case studies were performed in six selected counties: Limanowa (Małopolskie Province), DzierŜoniów (Dolnośląskie Province), Łuków (Lubelskie Province) Ostrowiec (Świętokrzyskie Province) Tczew and Kartuzy (Pomorskie Province). The counties were selected arbitrarily from the groups of the highest (Łuków, Limanowa, Kartuzy) and lowest (Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Tczew, DzierŜoniów) recorded turnout during the 2002 self-government elections. The research sample was defined by two 3

4 principles. First group the county political elite whose membership is determined by the criterion of the positions held in formal structures of power. The second group included in the study, often overlapping with the first one, encompassed local leaders, to whom we will refer to as the county influential elite. The group was defined by means of two criteria: the office held 2 and reputation 3. Procedures applied in the research include: (1) field observation in each of the counties and preparation of county database documentation on the basis of local statistics, other formal documents, and research reconnaissance. (2) Face-to-face interviews with the political elite in all the counties 4. (3) Individual in-depth interviews (tape-recorded) with 139 members of the influential elite. (4) Focused group interviews with residents of the six counties. (5) Postal survey of county council members throughout Poland 5. In this presentation I will concentrate on local political elite. I have to underline that my analyses is made, as one may say, additionally (secondary data analyses). For better understanding of Polish circumstances it is worth to say at least few words about processes of democratization and consolidation. In research the theoretical perspective of democratic transformation has been used. From the point of view of research team: (...) consolidation of democratic system requires introducing habitual, democratic code of conduct in all actors contributing to the political process at every tier: institutionally, collectively and individually (Wasilewski 2009: 13). We may define this condition as a kind of challenge for political elite. From this point of view underlining some important attitudes of Polish local elites seems significant. First we have to underline the lack of young people in the ranks of the county political elites (there were about 15% council members under 40 in the course of the term of office). Secondly, what is consequence, is the scope of elites members political activity before Because years of their youth fell on period of the People s Republic of Poland, thus somehow naturally a vast majority of the county elite members are former participants in the political life and active supporters of the previous system (Table1). It has left its mark on 2 In terms of office the county influence elite comprises county executives (county chief executive, his/her deputies and members of the board), leading council members of the County Council (the chairman and his deputies, heads of the Council s main committees), leaders of political parties, and members of the national parliament residing in the county. 3 The reputation criterion was used while selecting individuals on the basis of in-field observations and surveys, deemed persons of particular influence in the county, the local opinion leaders. Notably, the group included people of varied backgrounds: former council members, former commune heads and mayors, leaders of civil organisations and journalists. 4 In the six counties a total of 155 interviews were done. County council members constituted a vast majority of the respondents (137 persons) as most of political party leaders were council members as well. 4

5 their minds (quite apart form the motivations of that kind of involvement). Concluding, today s political elites of the six counties are deeply rooted in the previous political system in the meaning that their political and self-governmental experience was gained before 1989 and it is most likely that much of it still influences their actions. It is worth to underline that a situation in which county authorities are dominated by activists and party members of the former political system seems to be a norm rather than an exception in Poland. Thus, their political knowledge needs to be modified and fitted to the new democratic circumstances even more. Table 1. The political involvement of the political elites of the six counties before Type of activity Percentage of respondents Members of youth organizations, 65.8 of whom: office holders (of any kind) 29.6 Members of Polish United Workers Party, United People s Party or Democratic Party of whom: 40.6 members of Polish United Workers Party office holders in any of the mentioned parties Council members of the National Councils at any level 20.0 In total: actively involved in the official (pro-governmental) political activity in the period of People s Poland (party members, office holder in youth organizations, council 63.2 members) Members of Solidarity 26.5 of whom activists 7.1 Participants in oppositionist, dissident or reformatory organizations and social movements 7.1 In total: actively involved in oppositionist or reformatory activity (Solidarity activists and/or participants in oppositionist organizations/movements) 12.2 Source: Jacek Wasilewski, Sociological portrait of the political elite in six counties, [in:] Political leadership in Polish counties. Characteristic of political culture of Polish political elite Ad 1. Interest in local community problems The main conclusion from statements of our respondents is that as local politicians they have to be well oriented in local community problems. We may say that participation in local political processes needs to be connected with knowledge about the main rules of those counties were randomly selected and all the council members in these counties (a total of 2551 individuals) were sent a short mail questionnaire comprising selected questions from the survey performed in the 5

6 processes and their local specificity. Many investigations and daily news reports lead us to assumption that, despite of it, the level of self-governmental elite knowledge is still low. In our investigation we were asking about contacts with citizens. I assume that contacts allow our respondents to gain more information about local society. What is more the respondents acknowledged that, through their contacts with citizens, they are able to learn about problems and tasks important for their electorates. This allowed them to decide: (...) in what direction to go (Ł7). It happened that citizens actually enforced certain decisions through their incessant questioning and active attitudes. As one of the council members stated: (...) such activity allows them to co-govern the county, because if you keep asking you will eventually be answered. Sometimes some things are taken care of just to stop the questions (L22). The participation of residents facilitated work toward the common good and made it much easier to avoid particularisms: (...) if people are active in a large group then, rather than small individual interests, common interests can really be realised (L26). One of the ways in which local elite may debate about life of the county is by the inhabitants attending sessions of the county council. The general consensus among the elite was that there was not sufficient interest in this type of participation. It should be noted that residents right to participate in the sessions varied from county to county 6. One of the respondents openly stated that the county authorities only cared about the inhabitants involvement directly before elections and not in the process of ruling the county, as confirmed by the citizens restricted rights to participate in sessions of the council: (...) Even if a resident came to a session he would not be allowed to speak. [ ] That s how the council ruled, only invited guests [are allowed to take the floor] (L1). Participation of inhabitants in sessions was in itself, often perceived negatively, and sometimes ironically: (...) Maybe that s good that they are interested, but it s never about the right things. [ ] They say: all you do is argue in there ( ) the only thing you do well is argue, nothing more (T16). On the other hand, others complained that residents were too rarely interested in participating in sessions, despite the fact that they were only allowed to listen to the debates: The sessions are open, anyone can come in. Of course session regulations are in place, not everyone can speak, but they can come and listen. ( ) Only certain groups are really interested. For example when we discuss healthcare we invite directors from health centres and the hospital. But then doctors and nurses come as well and are really interested. ( ) six counties. We received 854 filled questionnaires, i.e. the response rate was The form of the inhabitants allowed participation in the sessions is decided in each county independently. 6

7 People only become active when things concern them personally or their social group. [Otherwise] their activity is limited to debates at home, in the park or in a pub ( ) they don t even bother coming to the sessions (O8). The other way for widen knowledge about local society by self-governmental elites is engaging Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) into activities of local movement. This is the reason why members of non-governmental organisations could participate in sessions and they were often invited as consultants. Special committees were sometimes formed to allow the participation of non-governmental circles in the decision-making process 7. Developing contacts with local NGOs was one of the basic ways in which self-governments cooperated with citizens. Such relations were legally regulated 8. Another possible solution for encouraging contact between authorities and citizens might be introduction of duty hours for council members when they would be freely available to meet with the general public. The idea s reception varied from person to person. Some respondents saw the need for such meetings, others retorted that duty hours would be a waste of time as no-one ever came to such meetings: I don t know where this tragically low interest comes from. ( ) Unless you invite someone, nobody will come to a meeting like that. ( ) Everyone here agrees that duty hours for council members would be pointless because [the inhabitants] won t come (T16). Established duty hours for council members, however, were particularly important in counties where citizens had no other way of getting their proposals across than via their representatives. Moreover, legislation allows for the possibility of consulting on a county s governmental decisions with individual citizens, members of the self-governmental community as well as other social partners at local level. In reality, however, such practices have been rare (Długosz, Wygnański 2005, p. 29). The members of the local elite who participated in our study did not make a single reference to this formula of civic participation. The question was how local politicians find local society and are they really interested in realization of local community postulates? The above analysis shows that contacts with citizens are not at the higher level. In turn investigation made by Pańków and Gonciarz (2004) brings proves that the main source of knowledge about local societies of nearly 15% of Polish self-governmental elite is party and organization s structure which supports them as 7 Such committees are formed to deal with specific problems and matters important for the community. They comprise council members and (if they decide so) representatives of the interested circles. 8 In 2004, new regulations were introduced in Poland, obliging local governments to cooperate with nongovernmental organizations in tasks concerning education, healthcare, culture, etc. See the Act on Public Benefit Organizations and Volunteering of April 24 th

8 candidates in elections. We will back to the problem of membership in a party in the next chapter. Now it is worth to pay attention to the danger connected with that associations. The knowledge of party may be very general and not fitted to specific local conditions of every county. This assumption is significant because collected data seems to prove that local politics is party politics (Table 2 and 3). Table 2. Political involvement of the six counties political elites after 1989 Type of activity Membership in political parties: - not a member of a political party after used to be a member of a political party after 1989, but not anymore - currently (2004) a member of a political party of whom: currently party office holder Percentage of respondents Source: Jacek Wasilewski, Sociological portrait of the political elite in six counties, [in:] Political leadership in Polish counties. Table 3. Current party membership of the political elites in the six counties Percentage of party members in the county Among them party office holders consist elite (%) Limanowa Łuków Kartuzy Tczew Ostrowiec DzierŜoniów Total Source: Jacek Wasilewski, Sociological portrait of the political elite in six counties, [in:] Political leadership in Polish counties. Even considering the fact that party members consist of less than 50% of all county elite members, one should not forget that as many as 2/3 of all current members of the county political elites have been members of at least one political party since If we also consider party membership before 1989 we will arrive at the conclusion that 74% of the entire county elite have been in one way or another involved in party politics in their lives. To sum up the data indicates that self-governmental county authorities are and have been strongly involved in party politics, however, political parties are not the only centres of political life in a community. 8

9 Ad 2. Agency As Almond and Verba wrote, from the point of view of political culture, kind of selfconfidence is one of the most important people s attitudes. It determines other significant qualities, which allow us to identify what type of political culture characterized a given person. I will use the concept of agency proposed by Emirbayer and Mische (1998) as process of social commitment or by Sewell (1992), who proves that agency is ability to exercise control over social relations in which agent is involved. It also means that these relations have ability to transform. Thus, agency is a result of the knowledge about set patterns what allows the agent to use them in new contexts. As Wnuk-Lipiński (2005: 85) writes, agency is usually connected with such analytical categories as: intentional acting, free choice, initiative, creativeness, feeling of having influence on reality or even feeling control over self-conducting. This concept allows us to take wider perspective on competencies, which were important for Almond and Verba. Question is how to estimate agency of our respondents? I have to concentrate on several aspects of this phenomenon. First is the activity. I assume that the self-confidence, initiative and belief that one may change the reality is a kind of base on which activity may rise. Secondly, this is the level of independence from party or local political organization structure, that indicates the ability of making an independent choice and creativeness with finding solution of local problems. Activity in non-political groups plays very important role and has significance for political culture of people. From the point of view of Almond and Verba (chapter X), thanks to the participation in voluntary associations, people gain sense of political competence and capability to aggregate one s demands with others. One of the aspects of political competence is citizen s self-confidence, which is higher among members of associations. Another are: ability to conduct political discussion, willingness to express opinions on a variety of political questions. Thus, an organizational member is more likely to be close to the model of democratic citizen (considers himself competent as citizen, is active participant in politics, and knows and cares about politics). From the collected data analysis we may draw a conclusion that our respondents are quite active. 42, 8% of them is active in one non-political organization and 21,1 % participate in more then one (rest is not active 36,2%). As I wrote, next important issue in the measurement of agency over our respondents is the independence from party or local political organization. To strong commitment to 9

10 political institutions may be negative syndrome for many reasons. Firstly, as our respondents admitted, parties become active only during electoral campaigns and disappear for the remaining time. Thus, they are merely tools in the hands of party national headquarters, useful only when running a campaign: Parties are virtually invisible in everyday life. They all are very loud but only just before elections. After it s all done you don t hear them anymore (69) 9. Similar objections were formulated over the local political organizations. Secondly, as it was mentioned earlier, parties naturally are propagators of wide, ideological ideas. The danger is that this general ideas and solutions will not fit well the local problems. As Ewa Nalewajko (2009) writes, loyalty to party and even so-called party discipline 10 shall be binding upon members of party (although in various scope). However, one may say more optimistic analysis of styles of political representation of local elite made by Dudzińska and Post (2009) indicates that county representatives are more inclined toward the model of a trustee 11 whose decisions are based on his/her own judgement. Authors point out specifics of these process, which is not so optimistic, because: (...) council members were usually happy to hear opinions of their voters, but the real decision-making took place during meetings of narrow bodies (committees) and the endorsement of particular decisions by the council was often merely a formality (Dudzińska, Post 2009: 177). The other style o representation (model of delegate 12 ) dominates only when appointment to key position came into play. In that situations instructions came from party (or organization) caucuses. Ad 3. Cultural and social capital of local authorities Almond and Verba stress also the role of political socialization in the process of creating individual political culture. They focused on three institutions in which the process of socialization is mainly conducted: family, school and workplace. As they prove, participation in these institutions has influence on patterns of behaviours in civic and political contexts (r. XI). From that point of view one may say that character of cultural and social capital of these institutions plays significant role. James S. Coleman (1988) defining social capital wrote: 9 On closer inspection, however, this point of view seems somewhat simplified. Apart from their subjective opinion, our respondents had little actual evidence to support their claims that party life dies out once elections are over. Naturally, it most certainly becomes less intensive and not nearly as spectacular, it is also oriented at other, more focussed goals, but it does continue. 10 Party discipline means obligation to voting in conformity with instructions. 11 This model of representation means that representatives follow their own judgement and maintains a decisionmaking autonomy. 12 This model of representation means that representatives adhere to the judgements of their voters and base their decisions on their instructions. 10

11 (...) It is the «natural resource» found in internal family relations and the organisation of the community as a whole, very important for the cognitive development of children and teenagers. Thus, social capital is: (...) the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition or in other words, to membership in a group which provides each of its members with the backing of the collectivity-owned capital, a "credential" which entitles them to credit, in the various senses of the word (Bourdieu 1986: ). Whereas cultural capital can exist in three forms: (...) in the embodied state, i.e., in the form of long-lasting dispositions of the mind and body; in the objectified state, in the form of cultural goods (pictures, books, dictionaries, instruments, machines, etc.), which are the trace or realization of theories or critiques of these theories, problematics, etc.; and in the institutionalized state, a form of objectification which must be set apart because, (...) it confers entirely original properties on the cultural capital which it is presumed to guarantee (Bourdieu 1986: 243). From that point of view we could speak of intergenerational transmission of social activity patterns and public virtues via socialisation process. In our investigation we have devoted wide part of work to the question of background of respondents. Members of county elites come from families of greater than average social capital. This background makes it easier for them to assume positions of leadership in local communities. It is important to underline, that family s social capital is much easier to utilise in smaller communities, where most people know each other personally. Thus, today it serves strengthening their position and auto-presentation of a public person against the background of a well-known and respected family. The reason why members of these families find it easier to play leadership roles and act for the common good is also that traditions of acting for the good of community are always alive, if something can be done together, it has to be done. Thus, specific cultural capital exists in these families The member of our research team, Irena Pańków (2009) writes: The strictly political resources utilised by members of the county elites are not particularly rich. Much greater potential is found in the family social capital revoking the historical and cultural dimensions. The most willingly emphasized, most common in the auto-presentations, and at the same time the most illusive (measured via activeness) is the capital of social activism. Thus, we may also talk of the family ethos of activeness and involvement in the lives of others, as well as in public matters: This is the kind of upbringing I received, to always be on the side of the needy, to help (D6); It was undoubtedly my home and my parents that taught me 11

12 responsibility and thinking of moiré than only myself (T15). Therefore members of county political elites are characterised by above average level of capital. They inherit their social and cultural-activist capital from their fathers and grandfathers, in the form of a code of conduct. They also inherit, at least to a certain extent, a network of acquaintances their fathers and grandfathers created in their politically active lives 13. Last important think, which is worth to mention is the fact that the fathers activity took place mainly during the period of the People s Republic. They were local social activists and at the same time, local politicians. As it was said before, also most of our respondents themselves took their first steps in the world of public service in those days. Ad 4. Relation government citizens Methods available to the local elites for contacts with residents discussed at the beginning of this charter are..are also very significant as instruments of influence on local representatives by citizens. Almod and Verba find that kind of influence essential for democratic system. This impact in great measure depends on attitudes of elites. Thus, describing interactions between these two groups seems very important. Especially, that in the analysis of Almond and Verba we may find many references to the significance of openness and willingness to cooperation with others. Feeling of community vs. alienation (we them) First of all we should pay attention to reciprocal perception of elites and residents. As it is emphasised by many Polish scientists concentrated on changes in society (...), attitudes of Poles towards the authorities are still affected by inherited sentiments toward power. It occurs that our analyses allow us to conclude that the county elites and the residents assume two, completely different perspectives. There is a deep dissonance between the two. Typically, they hold completely opposing views and their mutual relations are those of distrust and lack of communication. The dichotomy between division into us and them is clearly visible. From the point of view of the elites, they (i.e. inhabitants) are a passive, constantly demanding group of people easy to manipulate because of their ignorance. At the same time, we (the authorities) are an active group, working for the common good and highly 13 The mothers attitudes were not without importance, however, the general conclusion remains the same: prosocial attitudes are inherited mainly from fathers. 12

13 underestimated by the citizens. From the perspective of the residents, on the other hand, the most significant difference between us and them is their involvement in dirty politics. They are a group of corrupt schemers and we are outside the rotten system, but still suffer the consequences of their actions. It ought to be stressed that each of the groups also made reference to certain positive aspects of the situation. Local politicians mentioned some active citizens, and despite everything, residents do have respect for certain members of the elite. However, the antagonism, distance and distrust go deep enough to significantly thwart communication and cooperation. The dominant belief is that there is no possibility of establishing common goals and working toward them together, which by principle contradicts the very idea of selfgovernment. However, activity of citizens used to be criticized. Comments of our respondents seem to indicate that council members, first of all, did not approve of the residents focus on everyday matters. Indeed, it was one of the most commonly raised objections mentioned by elites. One of the council members stated that he saw no activity in public life whatsoever and added that residents were only capable of getting organised when the matter at hand concerned solely their own interests (D4). The complete lack of faith in the citizens ability to act pro publico bono was common among members of county elites: I think we can t make them [the residents] more active unless the mater concerns them directly. That s simply how it is in our society. If anyone is asked to get up and fight for someone else s sake, they won t. Until it touches them personally, until they have something to gain from it, they will not be any more active (T 9). Equality Secondly, many members of the county seemed to believe that society was basically an uneducated and gullible mass: They protest and enforce but have no real plan for solving the problem, because they cannot have one, because they are simply unable to create one. They know too little (D4). The general public were seen as not aware of the principles of self-government: People don t know how it all functions. ( ) They don t know who their council member is ( ) they maybe know some of the most active ones (T16). Many people don t even know what organs of public administration there are (L16). Jacek Wódz (2004: 238) recalls the words of Alexis de Toqueville when he states that ( ) the sense of equality in general, and equality at the local level in particular, encourages various forms of civic 13

14 cooperation. Therefore, one might assume that attitude of the authorities toward local communities, as described above, does not facilitate the general public s participation in public life. Outside short periods of electoral campaigns, residents claimed to be treated as annoying intruders rather than partners. In order to speak of partnership relations co-operation between local governments and non-governmental organizations should be once more raised. Our investigation proves that it be more comprehensive and based on continuous contact rather than one-time initiatives and subsidies. It was therefore of primary importance to institutionalise the cooperation between self-governments and NGOs and to prepare a comprehensive program of such cooperation (Frączak 2004). Moreover, the actual content of the program was essential. Websites of some counties presented programs for such cooperation, but they focused mainly on specifying the tasks that the local government was willing to subsidize. Acceptance of civic control Thirdly, the primary organizational function of civil society in respect to public authority is that control. As observed by Wnuk-Lipiński (2007: 681): The Control function refers to the activity of the various watchdog NGOs which monitor whether state power is kept within legal limits and that the commonly shared rules of the game are observed in public life. The performance of this function is connected to the initially mentioned, growing interest of people in Western societies with the public sphere and consequently, the increasing importance of civil society as the mouthpiece of citizens. It aggregates aspirations, objectives, needs, and values, which at the level of micro-structure are quite diffused, into broader agendas. It also includes the representation of those agendas vis-à-vis both the state and the public opinion (Wnuk-Lipiński 2007: 681). For politicians and civil servants, these results reflect the need to take opinions of independent groups and organizations into consideration. These civic tasks were also mentioned by our respondents and were not the only ones. They also referred to supportive-informative roles and the function of a safety valve. Many respondents, while describing role of the general public, emphasized the fact that the authorities were aware of civic control and acted accordingly. They stressed that the pressure of civic activity in public life was what ensured that those in power abided by the law: 14

15 (...) I believe that NGOs, if they are strong here ( ) will be able to force the authorities ( ) to do what it should, obey the law. They already have that strength, that ability (K12). The society now is much better educated and it is no longer possible for a group of officials to do some sort of a scam so that no-one notices or says anything (L18). Opinions were also expressed that the authorities needed to feel the society s control to be able to rule well: If such mechanisms were lacking, it leads to tardiness, the comfort of inaction, and it is very dangerous. It can be very harmful for the economy and democracy as such (L19). The council members expressed opinions suggesting that the authorities had a sense of being controlled by the public; but, the opinion was hardly consistent with the inhabitants sense of utter helplessness. Summary Nowadays, one of the interesting things is relation between civic culture and democracy. One may say that there is still no theory which gives strong evidence of individuals culture influence on the system s character. However, from my point of view, in accordance such theories like the theory of structuration or morphogenessis (Archer 1982), it may be said that there is a non-stop influence, interaction between actions of individuals and the shape of structures or cultures. On the ground of it, I claim that citizens attitudes or mentalities are not meaningless for forms of democracy in which they live. Additionally, if we accept that democracy is not only a method of choosing the government and ruling but also it is a politically-social system based on the rule of freedom, which can be wilfully realized, then the meaning of citizens attitudes appears to be more important for an assessment of democracy forms. Supplementary support for dependence between a political system and citizens can be found in the considerations of theorists interested in an issue of democratic system s legitimization. Finally, it is worth mentioning similar conceptions concerning the consolidation of democracy which also connect political system with citizens attitudes. In Polish circumstances it is essential to be aware of the past (especially PRL) which can be seen as one of barriers of culture s modifications. For many decades the normative system of real socialism was shaped carefully. As a result of the mechanisms of the socialistic system, which characterised the lives of individuals in PRL, social reality divided between the official and non-official world governed by different norms. Together propaganda and 15

16 conditions of life created a characteristic culture syndrome which can be named homo sovieticus. In other words, personality of individuals living in a socialistic system was shaped as an authoritarian one (not adequate for a democratic system) willingly subjected to the power of authority, depends on the system and working for its reinforcement (Sztompka 2003). The collapse of the system caused an overnight diametrical change of the cultural expectations. The new democratic system based on a capitalistic market and democratic politics as well as the freedom of thinking introduced totally different rules and began to demand choices (how to act in the social reality). To take advantage of new possibilities and rights fully, which were created for citizens in a democratic system, Polish people had to learn the rules of its functioning and also absorb new culture. Experience of the third wave of democratization allows new glance on the issue of stability, cultural change and role of political culture as the democratic transformation factor. As it arises form many investigations and observations of transformation process, the kind of political culture of elites, which seizes power in the first free elections and conducts further reforms, is very significant for the success of transition to democracy. Analysis of the same aspects of these Polish local elites culture that I presented in my article indicates the need of its further modifications. As it appears from the investigation, political elites are more and more conscious of expectations, which have citizens and democratic system at all. Realisation of these expectations leaves a lot to be desired. One of the remedies seems to be opening to local society in the way, which allows to fully meet of self-governing idea. In this presentation I have concentrated, among other things, on the relation between the power (representatives) and citizens. In my point of view, consolidation of democracy in Poland needs elites, which will realise the specific dependency and start to do something to accomplish it. Larry Diamond wrote, in his conclusions from the comparative investigations on democratic states political cultures, about this dependency with the words: In the process of consolidation of new democracies the mass public plays significant role. Similarly to previous waves of democratisation, it seems, that democracy may be established without active role of mass, however, it can not be consolidated without its engagement (from Shin 1994: 154). 16

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