Abstract:

The main axis of the article is the participation of women in Poland in the decision-making process analyzed through their involvement in political structures over the last few decades. The following considerations concern the degree of women’s political involvement in certain areas of the political sphere – in the legislative body (the parliament – in the decision-making body of the Parliament, Parliament committees), in the executive body (the government – a woman as the Prime Minister and as a Minister) after 1989. The decision-making process is an integral part of human existence. An individual makes decisions almost from the beginning of its existence in each field of its functioning. Along with social development, the decision-making process was moved from the individual level to the group level, when people began to form communities (including political communities). Thomas Hobbes points out that along with the creation of the idea of the state, competences shifted from the private to the public sphere. As a result of the transfer of decision-making power, a significant social problem arose: decisions made by the community are largely unable to satisfy each member of a given community (regardless of how they make decisions within the community; whether in the form of an authoritarian decree of the ruler or through democratic voting). The degree of participation of an individual or group representing the interests of a particular environment in the political decision-making process implies their superior-subordinate relationship towards other individuals and groups. Subordinate position of one group and the superiority of another in the political sphere were explained by numerous researchers of the political activity aspect. Lester W. Milbrath and others emphasized the need to have certain means to undertake political activity. Milbrath also pointed to the time that should be devoted to political activity as one of the main elements determining political commitment. Pierre Bourdieu believed that by having or lacking political capital we determine the degree of political participation: the smaller the political capital one has, the less influence on the sphere of political action they can have.