THE QUALITY OF GOVERNANCE AND THE POLITICAL CAPACITY OF A COUNTRY: CONTEMPORARY POLISH POLITICAL PARTIES AND THE IDEA OF GOOD GOVERNANCE

Abstract

The capacity of a state in political terms is a relatively new area of political thought. In the debate on the condition of the state, Polish political parties agree on which areas of governance require specific actions on the part of public administration. Politicians have described the desired ways of governing and have formulated concepts of good governance and methods for their implementation. The objective behind this article is to analyze contemporary Polish political thought from two angles – the capacity of a state and its relationship with governance quality. Political thought is analyzed from the perspectives of the system and the problem. The general objective has two sub-goals: (1) to determine the definition and meaning of the term capacity of a state in political thought across various ideological currents (conservative, liberal, people’s, social democratic, and nationalist), and (2) to investigate how good governance is defined in the political debate and how it is linked with state capacity.