Polityka społeczna a więzi społeczne. Przypadek III Rzeczpospolitej
Social Policy and the Social Bond. The Case of the Third Republic

Summary/Abstract: The author discusses the bonding aspects of social policy, arguing thatthe strenghtening (and, less frequently, the weakening) of social bonds may be both the basic goal of social policy and a side effect of implementing social programs focused on other goals. Social bonds are used to legitimase social policy; selective programs implemented within the general policy relate to vertical bonds (social welfare for the weakest), whereas universal programs, particularily social insurance, refer to horizontal bonds (the reciprocity principle). The search for ways to reinforce social bonds is a characteristic feature of European tradition in the sphere of social policy and is present in both the conservative model and the social democratic model. The present analysis addresses the following question: to what extent is the social policy in post-1989 Poland oriented towards the development of social bonds? The author suggests that, on the one hand, the experience of the "First Solidarity" movement (1980-1981) should facilitate this policy's bonding orientation, while the "Second Solidarity" (the nineteen-nineties) concentarted primarily on the development of the institutions of market economy, promotion of competitive attitudes and individual success. Hence the evident inconsistency in state social policy with respect to its function of constructing social order, which the author illustrates with four examples: organization of the social welfare system, institutionalism of social dialogue, old age pension reform and introduction of so-called "one percent mechanism" whereby citizens may donate 1% of their income tax to selected non-government organisations.

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