Building communitarian democracy in Poland

Agnieszka Pawłowska

Building communitarian democracy

in Poland

Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sectio K, Politologia 5, 189-199

A N N A L E S

U N I V E R S I T A T I S M A R I A E C U R I E - S K Ł O D O W S K A L U B L I N — P O L O N I A

V OL. V SEC TIO К 1998 Z akład S ocjologii Polityki W ydziału P olitologii UM CS

A GNIESZKA PAW ŁOW SKA

B uilding comm unitarian dem ocracy in P o la n d

B udow anie dem okracji w spólnotow ej w Polsce

SOM E T H EO R ETIC A L R EFLEC TIO N S

The contem porary dem ocratic states pass through the crisis o f trust in the political authorities. It is m anifested in the com m on conviction that the decision-m akers - although legitim ised in all elections - are no longer representatives o f com mon will but they operate in the ’’cross­ roads” o f contradictory group interests, trying to satisfy these, w hich are crucial for preserving their political power. It is no longer repre­ sentative dem ocracy but ’’interests” dem ocracy (som etim es called con- sotiational dem ocracy) w here no voters but lobbies are represented.

This conviction is strongly confirm ed by the unsatisfactory condition and operation o f public services delivered by the state and sub-state agendas. Facing this situation, societies either try to organise social services by them selves (excellent exam ples are given by D. O sborn and T. G aebler in the book R einventing G overnment) or rebel against sub-state organisations as the citizens o f European C om m unity, pow erless in front o f EC bureaucracy.

The case o f public adm inistration in US captured by the ’’local forces” means not only the change o f the pattern o f public affairs m anagem ent but it also results in the transform ation o f political pattern. A lthough in

the national politics we observe the social ’’retirem ent” or lim itation to highly organised pressure groups, on the local level the revival o f A thenian dem ocracy ideals and principles o f the New England tow n m eetings is observable. These ideals and principles might be summed up as follows: ”no citizen was excluded; all present were political equals; the m eeting held final authority; officials were accountable; m ajority rule was u n ­ lim ited; the focus was on local issues and the need for people to meet face to face” . 1

These principles establish the system o f com m unitarian and p artici­ patory dem ocracy, w here citizens determ ine their own collective identity and resolve ’’conflict in the absence o f an independent ground through the participatory process o f ongoing, proxim ate self-legislation and the creation o f a political com m unity capable o f transform ing dependent private individuals into free citizens and partial and private interests into public goods” .2 Furtherm ore, the participation takes place through dif­ ferent kinds o f institutions. The m ost im portant are:

• public debates, • civil associations, • issue groups.

P u b lic d e b a te s constitute the very existence o f the civil com m unity. On the other hand, w ithout the latter, public debate w ould be m erely a forum o f expressing individual interests. The functions o f public debate in the com m unitarian dem ocracy are: ’’the articulation o f interests; bar­ gaining and exchange, persuasion, agenda-setting, exploring m utuality, affiliation and affection, m aintaining autonom y, w itness and self-expres­ sions, reform ulation and reconceptualization, com m unity building as the creation o f public interests, com mon goods, and active citizens” .3

A lexis de Tocqueville w rites that the most dem ocratic state is the one, w here people brought into perfection the art o f collective attaining the com m on w ishes - i.e. by the civil asso ciatio n s - and they use this art m ost frequently.4 Tocqueville estim ates this ability as crucial for developm ent o f every other sphere o f social life. It is also indispensable for m aintenance o f the balance inside a dem ocratic system. Civil asso­ ciations constitute the counterbalance for dom ination o f political parties and law lessness o f political pow er.5 R obert D. Putnam puts it otherw ise

1 R. Hollander, Video Democracy, Lomond 1985, p. 34.

2 B. Barber, Strong Democracy. Participatory Politics fo r a New Age, Berkeley 1984, p. 151.

2 Ibid., pp. 178-179.

saying that efficiency o f dem ocratic governm ent is partly due to influence o f civil associations on their members and on their social environm ent. A ssociations arm their members with a sense o f solidarity and teach them how to put different aspirations together and cooperate for their achievem ent. A ssociations articulate and aggregate the social interests and make them visible for the outside w orld.6 We have to stress, that civil associations are indispensable for effective self-governm ent on local level, w hich statem ent we try to prove next.

Issu e g ro u p s - in contrast to interest groups, which ’’speak for a specific econom ic point o f view ” - ’’claim to speak for m ajority (they are concerned with the environm ent, abortion, taxes, fem inism , local problem s).7 The character o f the issue groups determ ines the way they im pose the pressure on public authorities - they do not bargain, as they fight not for solution o f the problem but for the acceptance o f certain values and principles. The presence o f issue groups in political system determ ines the redefinition o f public discussion betw en authorities and citizens.

The developing self-organization o f the people, m ostly on local level, their grow ing pressure to im prove the operation o f public adm inistration and the louder voice in making decisions concerning the com m unity, constitute the new pattern o f social organization and public adm inistra­ tion. This is the m uch-desired pattern o f the designers o f territorial reform in Poland. Is it attainable? This question is the subject o f my reflections.

The crisis o f trust in the political authorities is also m anifested by the post-com m unist (neo-com m unist?) societies. N evertheless, this social filling, which in its outlook resem bles the filling o f W estern societies, has different grass-roots in the East. The form er com m unist rulers had taken over the duty to deliver all social services, still they had never im proved this duty properly. Social services - cheap or cost free - were insufficient and poorly perform ed. H owever, these obligations o f the State tow ards the citizens gave the latter the substitute o f social security feeling. This substitute could not be perform ed by the post-com m unist authorities, w hich - follow ing the rules o f the m arket - refused to subsidize social services in their previous scope. Summing it up, the com m unist governm ents were not socially recognized because they could

5 Ibid., p. 152.

6 R. D. Putnam, Demokracja w działaniu. Tradycje obywatelskie we współczesnych

Włoszech, Kraków 1995, p. 137.

not cope w ith the social problem s, the post-com m unist governm ents are not recognized, either, as they refuse to perform these obligations, w hich they cannot afford.

C O M M U N ITY AN D THE SENSE OF C O M M U N ITY

C o m m u n ity - in legal term s - describes the people and area w here they live.8 As a sociological term co m m u n ity describes the higher stage o f social developm ent, characterised by the large degree o f social integ­ ration, capability o f self-organisation in the nam e o f com m on goals, the presence o f the com mon social consciousness determ ined by local con­ ditions.9 In other words, com m unity means a sense o f unity betw een people who constitute it.

W hat is the state o f this special feeling in local Poland? It depends on the particular region and locality. Poland is visibly divided into four historically determ ined regions. These are territories annexed by the neighbors o f Poland in the fall o f the 18th century: the East captured by Russia, the W est captured by Prussia and the South captured by A ustro-H ungarian Em pire. The fourth part is constituted by the territories o f N orth-W est Poland obtained after the Second W orld W ar. Regions m entioned above present their distinctiveness. The sense o f com m unity is strongly m anifested in the regions, w here the seeds o f civil society (even in a form o f cooperatives) were sawn in the 19th century. These are the W est and South-W est territories o f Poland, w here people are rich and present the creative and innovative attitude tow ards their chang­ ing social and econom ic environm ent. Such attitudes are also visible in localities placed around huge agglom erations.10 These regions reveal their distinctiveness and aspirations to self-dependence and their inhabi­ tants present a strong sense o f com mon interest. They claim for econom ic, som etim es legal autonom y (Silesia, K aszuby). They are also the cradle

8 It is important not to mix two terms: ’’com munity” and ’’local com m unity” . In the definition o f ’’com munity” the territorial aspect is not important, as there are com munities which do not occupy the defined territory (nomadic tribes, nations living in Diaspora). In these communities, the sense o f sharing the same tradition and culture is crucial. On the other hand, local community can be only identified by the territory occupied by its members, as usually other, spiritual relationships are absent.

9 A. Piekara, Sam orząd terytorialny a kreatywność społeczna i rozwój lokalny, [in:]

Sam orząd drogą do demokracji, eds. P. Buczkowski, R. Sowiński, Poznań 1994, s. 41.

o f the projects aim ed at regionalization o f Poland. N evertheless, when it comes to the sm aller localities (m unicipal or village com m unities), the sense o f com m unity disappears as the result o f ’’nationalization” o f local com m unity during the period o f building the socialism in Poland. It was a process o f expulsion o f local values and social roles by the sub-local values and sub-local authorities. The local public adm inistra­ tions was nothing more than em issary o f central adm inistration. For several decades we have w itnessed the social vacuum in the life o f local com m unities. The elem ents o f social regress on local level as well as the factors decisive for the reem ergence o f local groups are as follows:

• the absence o f the local patterns o f obligations, activity, participation in the local com m unity,

• the absence o f the true social leaders or the local com m unity, • the absence o f the group identity (local groups do not function as social organism s),

• the political structure o f local com m unities does not express the social diversity or com petition but the m onopoly o f political pow er on the local stage,

• the conflicts o f group interests are not articulated enough (they are actually blurred) and assum e the pathological form by concentration in family m ake-up, coteries connected w ith posts occupied form ally,

• thinking and acting in local categories were replaced by the pretense attitude tow ards central authority,

• the ethos o f professions, which traditionally anim ated local activities were reduced in their social rank (for exam ple teachers, doctors),

• the prim ary socialization does not create the sense o f group identity and w h at’s more, it is not a way o f transm itting local history and tradition - this role was overtaken by the organizations controlled from above,

• the ethos o f work and enterpreneurship for local com m unity has fa lle n .11

The after-w ar m igrations determ ined the lack o f locations inhabited through generations by the same social milieu. This aspect was further on increased by the em ergance o f the urban society in Poland (constant m igrations from villages and small tow ns to big cities) and the labor-trade fragm entation o f Polish society. It results in personal identification with rather labor than neighbor group which m eans that the civil behavior is

11 A. Turska, Wzorce normatywne ja k o czynnik kreacji lokalnych działań zbiorowych, [in:]

Społeczności lokalne w życiu publicznym, Warszawa 1991, pp. 220-222; A. Turska, Kreatywne i destrukcyjne czynniki aktywności grup lokalnych, [in:] Społeczności lokalne. Teraźniejszość i przyszłość, eds. B. Jałowiecki, K. Z. Sowa, P. Dudkiewicz, Warszawa 1989, p. 117.

determ ined by the labor-trade orientation, not the orientation tow ards the local com m unity.12 All this resulted in the lack o f stable local social structure and absence o f group identity. The long years o f the direct attachm ent o f individuals to the central authorities precluded the em er­ gence o f the local leaders and local patterns o f social cooperation. The post-com m unist societies inherited the special attitude tow ards central authority - the m ixture o f contradictory feelings that only the central authority is in pow er to settle their problem s or supply their needs with the negative attitude tow ards it as ineffective and dishonest.

C O M M U N ITA R IA N D EM O CRA CY A N D TH E REFO RM S OF LO CA L A D M IN ISTR A TIO N

It is difficult to estim ate w hat social changes w ere brought about by the reform o f local adm inistration itself. I w ould be rather reserved in assessm ent o f the results o f the reform . Firstly, because it was exactly the reform o f the local adm inistration and not the local m entality. Sec­ ondly, social innovations are the hardest to initiate. It does not mean that the hitherto transform ation o f local stuctures was indifferent for the perception o f the com m unity and local governm ent by the people. During the last six years (since M ay 27th 1990, w hen - for the first tim e after a fifty y e a rs’ break - we had chosen local com m unity authorities), we observe slow but regular decrease o f confidence in the central governm ent and constant grow th o f confidence in local governm ents.13 Transform ing legal institutions and econom ic environm ent o f the people m eans much to their consciousness o f living in a place. Still, w ithout proper education stressing the identity and values o f com m unity we w ill not reach the upper stage o f social and political developm ent - the com m unity itself.

The reform o f adm inistration in Poland is aim ed at the decentralization o f the political system . In the further perspective it also m eans the decentralization o f the interests as w ell as social conflicts. Is local com m unity sufficiently prepared to articulate these interests and resolve conflicts?

12 Z. Gilowska, Polska lokalna, „Przegląd Polityczny” 1995, no 29, p. 56.

13 In 1994, every thirteenth person believed that (s)he had an influence on matters concerning the whole country, while every sixth person believed (s)he could influence the matters o f local community (R. Cichocki, Świadomość reformy ustrojowej mieszkańców gm in [in:] Sam orząd

C O M M U N ITA R IA N D EM O CRA CY AND SO C IA L IN TER ESTS

I have already said that the sense o f com m on interest is crucial for the existence o f the local com m unity. Still, this statem ent is not based on the presum ption that the local com m unity has all interests in common. In reality the local self-governm ent is the scene o f encountering demands o f different social groups. The m ost visible are the econom ic interests o f the enterprises rendering services to the local population, managed by the com m unity itself. Feeling responsible for rendering local services, local governm ents subsidize the unprofitable activities o f com munal enterprises. They protect their econom ic interests as their ow ners and em ployers o f many workers who, at the same time, are the m em bers o f com m unities. The persuasion o f the com m unal enterprises is strong enough to accom plish their particular interests against the interests o f the w hole com m unity, w hich dem ands both efficiency and low prices. In this case, com m unal enterprises act as the interest groups tow ards local public adm inistration using so-called clientela relations (explained below) or, if this way o f affecting local governm ent does not work, they refer to extrem e forms o f pressure (strikes).

We could define com m unity as the corporation o f the interest groups provided that they are properly represented. A lthough there are institu­ tional representatives o f local interests (as enterprises and trade cham bers, real-estate ow ners’ associations, organizations o f retired people, unions o f tax-payers), they either reveal low activity or do not act as public actors - they are not quite visible for the local com m unity. The most active are the groups o f urban residents. They are usually organised in non-form al interest groups according to the area w here they live, irre­ spective o f all other social divisions (econom ic, cultural, political). This situation is an outcom e o f the poor organisation o f political parties and social organisations, as well as m istrust tow ards the form al institutions. O bviously, inhabitants organise them selves to find solutions o f the prob­ lems connected with the place o f their living.

On the other hand we have to adm it that, w hen it com es to the crucial issue for local social needs, i.e. to the expenses from the local budget, the decisive voice belongs to the com m unal governm ent. An interesting thing is that in the hierarchy o f the m ost active subjects in exertion o f own preferences concerning the expenses from the local budget, barely the sixth place is taken by the subject, w hich does not belong to the local set o f power, i.e. the groups o f resid en ts.14

14

Władza i społeczności lokalne w procesie przebrażeń ustrojowych, ed. P. Dobrowolski,

The lack o f visible representation o f the interest groups is the reason why they are perceived as coteries, accom plishing their interests through inform al ties w ith public officials. Som etim es we m eet the pluralism o f interest groups (the same interests are represented by many groups), which acts against these groups and these interests. In this case we observe the phenom enon o f clientela relations, w here authorities choose one interest group among m any. It is follow ed by the w eakening position o f all interest groups, their inability to influence the process o f deci­ sion-m aking.15 Rarely the representatives o f interest groups try to refer their interests to the interests o f other groups or the w hole com m unity. This is the reason o f the negative perception o f the interest groups as such.

Does it mean that the group’s interests - except the interests o f residents - are not represented on local level at all? Why o f course, they are frequently represented by political parties, w hich at least try to take a role o f an institutional m ediator o f group interests. Even more often, political parties engage them selves in p a rantela relations - inform al and individual cooperation betw een party m em bers (represented in par­ liam ent or com m unity council) and individuals representing own interests o f the particular group. The parantela relations take a form o f negotiations resulting in fulfilling the interests o f both sid es.16

The local level o f policy-m aking gives a great chance to party m em ­ bers, who - using inform al bonds - take profitable posts in business. It also gives profit to party leaders, who constantly gather financial and moral support for the com ing elections. The local com m unity gives also a chance to party itse lf to ’’translate” its political language (i.e. political platform ) into a real life (i.e. activities undertaken in the interest o f defined social groups). Local political parties, if deeply rooted in the com m unity (w hich at present occurs very seldom ), may create a stable electoral clientele, w hich also stabilize the dem ocratic system on all levels o f policy-m aking.17

Still, political parties bring the elem ent o f political fight to the public life, w hich is especially destructive on the local level, as frequently it

15 G. B. Peters, Polityka i biurokracja państw owa, [in:] Władza i społeczeństwo, ed. J. Szczupaczyński, W arszawa 1995, pp. 159-160.

16 Ibid., p. 161.

17 Such a stable political clientele is in disposal o f the Association o f Democratic Left and the Polish Peasant’s Party due to the high organisation o f both political parties (inherited after their predecessors, i.e. parties governing Poland before 1989) and social reluctance to bear the costs o f economic transformation.

makes unable the creation o f local governm ent or negotiation o f the local budget. On the other hand we cannot blame political parties that they try to m anage the social vacuum w hich exists on local level - this is their role and duty in dem ocratic system.

H owever, analysing the role o f political parties on the local level, we must not overestim ate their role. The low num ber o f local leaders revealing their political affiliations is sym ptom atic for the changes going on in local politics. The m ajority o f them are reputations lea d ers18 com ing from the outisde o f the local pow er structure. Probably we face the process o f form ing the stable social group o f local civil serv an ts.19 We also need to stress the overactivity o f adm inistration in the local political process. The dom ination o f local gevernm ent limits other forms and channels o f articulation o f social interests. This situation bothers, if we keep in mind the process o f form ing the civil society.

C O M M U N ITA R IA N D EM O C R A C Y AND SOC IA L CO N FLICTS

D ecentralization o f the state means the decentralization o f the huge interest groups w hich used to operate on the central level, directing their claim s to the central governm ent (trade unions, associations o f em ployers etc.). Econom ic transform ation - the em ergence o f the com m unal property and com m unal services - forces these interest groups to search for their point o f reference on the local level. This is the reason why the decen­ tralization o f decision-m aking should be strongly supported by the central authorities as it takes o ff them the burden o f negotiation in the large part o f social conflicts. This reform creates the situation, w here the claim s are addressed to agendas o f local public adm inistration, not to the w hole state. This situation w ould give the larger possibilities o f resolving social conflicts, w here the state is an ultim ate m ediator. M ean­ w hile, neither the central governm ent accepts its deprivation o f certain prerogatives, nor the large interest groups perceive the local authority as a partner for negotiations. We must also adm it that the local self­ governm ent is not ready to perform the role o f m ediator betw een opposite interests. H ere the basic problem o f local authorities is the inability o f resolving conflicts - no proper negotiation procedures nor adequate sources to fulfil social dem ands in a conflict situation if necessary. On

18 Their leadership is formed on the public support. 19 Władza i społeczności..., p. 102.

the other hand, interests are poorly expressed or screened and the conflict goes around substitute problem s, as personal issues. Again, this is a simple outcom e o f the absence o f institutionalized and open lobbies.20

The attitude o f central authorities tow ards local self-governm ents is determ ined by two reasons: the reason o f central public adm inistration, w hich w ould - with good grace - give up many troubles it cannot cope with and the reason o f bureaucrats and politicians who are evidently not ready yet to reform their public role — from the role o f public disposers to the role o f public servants. The interests o f localities do not sound loudly enough on the central level o f decision-m aking. It is partly due to the lack o f the institution representing com m unities set in the structure o f the state organs. Although there are some organisations aiding the com m unal works (K rajow y Sejm ik Sam orządow y, Zw iązek M iast P ol­ skich, U nia M etropolii Polskich, U nia M iasteczek Polskich, Zw iązek Gmin W iejskich RP), they are rather part o f local than central structures, having neither legal nor political power. There was a w hole spectrum o f propositions, how to ’’insert” local interests in the structure o f central authorities (the farthest proposition concerned the establishm ent o f the com m unal parliam entary cham ber). This problem will not be solved till the reform o f territorial adm inistration is enacted.

The recent politically unfriendly aura tow ards the reform s o f local adm inistration dam aged one o f its most im portant aspects. The idea o f the local reform had its sym bolic m eaning - giving pow er back to the people, who, at the same tim e, were provided w ith legal and m aterial means o f exercising their pow er, which, in turn, had its very practical meaning. The new legal and econom ic conditions allow ed local govern­ ments to establish new order in the provincial Poland. This order have already gone through the test o f econom ic efficiency. W hen and if it gets the shape o f com m unitarian dem ocracy, hopefully it will also go through the test o f social efficiency.

STR ESZC ZEN IE

M alejące zaufanie do w ładz centralnych rosnące zaś - do w ładz lokalnych, je s t p o d staw ą kształtow ania się dem okracji w spólnotow ej i uczestniczącej w państw ach o ustabilizow anych system ach dem okratycznych. Ź ródła h istoryczne dem okracji w sp ó l­ notow ej tk w ią w tradycji ateńskiej i północnoam erykańskiej, źró d ła teo rety czn e zaś

w koncepcjach p olitycznych A lexisa de T ocquevilla, rozw ijanych w spółcześnie przez R oberta D. Putnam a. Elem entam i konstytutyw nym i dem okracji w spólnotow ej są: debaty publiczne, stow arzyszenia obyw atelskie i celow e grupy nacisku. P odstaw ą kreow ania w spólnoty lokalnej je s t w spólnie zam ieszkiw ane terytorium oraz poczucie w spólnoty interesów je g o m ieszkańców .

W Polsce stopień identyfikow ania się ze w sp ó ln o tą lo k aln ą je s t różny - zależny od regionu kraju. W okresie pow ojennym obserw ujem y regres w spólnot lokalnych spow odow any m igracjam i ludności oraz w ypieraniem czynnika lokalnego przez czynnik ogólnopaństw ow y. U stanow ienie sam orządów lokalnych buduje na now o lokalne w ięzi.

W spólnoty lokalne są sc e n ą ścierających się interesów społecznych. K ontakty m iędzy grupam i interesu a ad m in istra cją lo k aln ą p rzy jm u ją postać klientelizm u lub/i paran- telizm u. W sytuacji dalszej decentralizacji prerogatyw w ładzy, sam orządy lokalne stan ą w obliczu konieczności rozw iązyw ania konfliktów społecznych, które rów nież p o dlegają decentralizacji.