Państwo i Społeczeństwo / State and Society

In a democratic system we are used to the media reporting on various demonstrations and social protests. Thanks to the media’s interest protesters have the opportunity to express their position regarding actions that they consider to be unjust. On one occasion, Polish media took advantage of this situation when they expressed their own opposition to a state of affairs by ceasing to publish media content. Instead of the scheduled programmes there appeared the messages: “This used to be your favourite show” and “Media without choice”. In view of this, the aim of this article is to describe this one-day protest by part of the media on 10th February 2021, which was motivated by a proposed bill that would introduce a tax on advertisements. The reactions of the political sphere, the media and society, which constitute how the protest was perceived, are analysed with reference to how the reception of the media protest was portrayed. Use is made of an analysis of the content of selected media in relation to these analytical categories, a comparative method and a case study.

The murder of the mayor of Gdańsk Paweł Adamowicz in 2019 and its circumstances formed the topic of many media reports. These events released strong emotions and reactions. The image of Adamowicz constructed by the media immediately following his death was virtually irreproachable, these positive reports being connected with the so-called taboo of death. Over the following years, one of the main topics of the discourse became the question of the moral responsibility for the mayor’s death. The authors of this article concentrate on rhetorical strategies of portraying the protagonists in the media coverage, utilising concepts including those of Robert Rowland. The daily press (“Gazeta Wyborcza”, “Rzeczpospolita” and “Dziennik Zachodni”) and socio-political weekly publications (“Wprost”, “Newsweek”, “Polityka”, “Sieci” and “Do Rzeczy”) are analysed.

In an era defined by growing sustainability challenges, public administration has a pivotal role in addressing these issues. The convergence of public administration, blockchain technology, and sustainable development initiatives and challenges is at the forefront of smart governance practices. This article explores the intricate interconnections between these domains, shedding light on the transformative potential of blockchain technology in enhancing the transparency, efficiency, and accountability of public administration while promoting, at the same time, main sustainability goals. Through an analysis of scholarly insights and some practical implementations, the article highlights the benefits, challenges and strategic considerations associated with this synergy. It underscores the need for collaborative, cross-sectoral efforts and comprehensive policy frameworks to leverage blockchain’s potential for fostering smart governance practices. The crucial questions that should be answered concern how the digitalisation of public information and use of advanced ICT have reshaped the public administration sphere, and how they influence the implementation of the idea of sustainable development. Ultimately, the article emphasises the pivotal role of blockchain – public administration interdependence in shaping a more resilient, accountable, and environmentally conscious model of public management, aligned with the global sustainable development agenda.

Civic engagement and the civil society remain essential components of a democratic system. Using the theories of Karl Mannheim concerning the existence of generations, the authors of this text have undertaken to develop a research tool (a questionnaire), which will enable them to verify the extent to which civic engagement is prevalent among representatives of generation Z, that is, individuals born between 1995 and 2008. The text contains information about how the questionnaire was created, describing the process of selecting the questions in detail, and presents the results of pilot studies conducted in June 2023.

This article refers to selected narrative axes surrounding the teaching profession. Against the background of organisational and legal aspects as well as the social perspective, the opinions of preschool and early school teachers about their professional work are presented. In order to gain insight into teachers’ points of view, in 2022 a diagnostic survey was conducted in which 63 teachers of preschool and early school education participated. For the purposes of this research, hypotheses were formulated relating to the level of teachers’ satisfaction with their work, remuneration as one of the key factors of job satisfaction, the phenomenon of professional burnout and teachers’ perception of their profession in terms of social mission. The results did not confirm the dominance of low professional satisfaction among teachers. They also indicated that the remuneration is not a factor determining its occurrence. The assumption that professional burnout is a common phenomenon among teachers was not confirmed, and furthermore, it is not a problem that only affects teachers with great professional experience. At the same time, most of the teachers surveyed agreed with the statement that their profession was a vocation.

The topic of socio-political activity as a factor that proves the dynamic development of civil society and the political maturity of society is an issue that is always topical in research. When we add the issue of changing the forms of expression and rhetoric of protest in connection with the political involvement of subsequent generations, we see that it enriches and forever changes the narrative about the actions of those in power. This article focuses on events related to the announcement of the Constitutional Tribunal’s judgement of 22nd October, 2020, regarding the unconstitutionality of some provisions of the so-called “abortion compromise”. This led to a wave of protests by Polish society. Thanks to the involvement of young Poles, the radicalisation of language, but also the creativity of slogans, the protests became much more visible and media-related. They permanently changed and enriched the repertoire previously used by demonstrators.