Local authorities are the only democratically elected public institution in Poland that has been enjoying stably positive opinions of the residents since the very moment of its formation. At the same time, however, elections to local councils are characterised by a very low turn-out. The article presents a brief description of the history of formation of local governments and the evolution of opinions about local authorities, and characterizes all the local elections held so far: in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002. Against the background of the general political situation the article presents changes in the principles governing the elections, turn-out at the polls and the results of elections. The final part of the article deals with the reasons for low turn-out and the role of political parties in the development of local democracy.

In agriculture of the EU-15 countries a steady decline is observable in the overall number of farms and a simultaneous growth in the number of economically and territorially large farms. The character of agriculture in the EU-15 countries, with which Polish agriculture will be competing on the Common Agricultural Market of the European Union, is already now determined by economically large and, as a rule, also territorially large farms. Economically large Polish farms are able to compete with farms operating in the EU-15 countries. However, the share of such farms in Polish agriculture is minimal. Therefore, in the coming years family farms in Polish agriculture will have to undergo thorough restructuring connected with transition from peasant establishments to family farms producing goods for the market. In the present macroeconomic conditions a rapid growth in the number and share of economically large farms is hard to achieve. Thus, in the next few years a fast increase is more probable in the number and share of economically medium-sized farms in Poland. A further growth of such farms may become the basis for a rapid development of economically large farms.

The article presents an evaluation of the SAPARD Programme in the context of human factor as well as changes in employment connected with the implementation of this programme, the characteristics of preparatory activities of the employed and their role in carrying out the programme. The results of conducted analyses show that actions launched to prepare people for the utilisation of funds available under the SAPARD Programme did not have the features of systemic solutions. The employment and development of personnel dealing with the programme were not based on methods designed to shape human capital and did not have a comprehensive, coherent or strategic character. A positive aspect of the launched efforts concerning the development of employed personnel was attention given to training at home and abroad.

The aim of the article is to indicate some conditions that may exert an influence on the implementation of the Pilot Leader+ Programme in the rural areas of Poland. One of the Programme's most important tasks is to stimulate the activity of local communities and the formation of local partner ties. In analysing the possibilities of achieving the earlier described objectives with the help of the Leader initiative it is necessary to take into account several factors connected with the specific character of the Polish countryside. These factors may be decisive for the chances of and threats to the Programme's animation.

The author of the article concentrates her attention and research on social and economic changes occurring in one of the villages situated in the Mazury lake district. The historical perspective and micro-scale have allowed the author to show the dynamic of changes and to identify its main actors. The process of losing agrarian character proceeded from specialisation of production to economic activities not related to agriculture. Vocational diversification, intensifying for 30 years and, consequently, the diversification of incomes, have been accompanied by the weakening of local social ties and the loss of features characteristic for peasant communities.

The aim of the article is to analyse the development priorities of rural communes. The basis for identifying these priorities was research carried out late in 2004 in more than 400 Polish communes1) that differed in many respects and that represented various types of rural areas. The conducted research provided information about the implemented and planned investments as well as actions launched by local governments to improve the financial situation of the analysed communes. The author of the article also refers to the results of the first analyses concerning the implementation of some EU programmes, especially those arousing the greatest interest of local governments. It turns out that regardless of the type of environment the principal direction of activities launched by local authorities is the development of communal infrastructure and mainly the construction of roads, sewage systems, sewage treatment plants and water supply systems. Another important sphere of activity is the development of educational infrastructure (construction and modernisation of educational facilities).

The article deals with the phenomenon of a new type of settlement in the Polish countryside, which is described as an alternative settlement. It is the phenomenon of more than 25-year long history of town dwellers moving to live in villages. Their system of values is linked to notions connected with ecology. The contact between two, greatly different culture groups - urban intelligentsia with counter-culture roots and native peasant population, results in a variety of interesting relations, including the adoption of peasant values and attitudes as well as their adaptation to the new settlers' own values. The article describes these peasant rules and attitudes that have been accepted by the settlers as valuable and that find application in their life. This, in turn, becomes a reason for considerations concerning similarities between the ecological philosophy and novel ideas of the peasant movement of the interwar period i.e. agrarianism.

The aim of this paper is to establish the pace and directions of changes in the components of the rural population's real growth. In the preparation of the typology of communes the relations between the birth-rate and the balance of migrations have been taken into account, in accordance with Webb's method. It has been shown that in the 1990s there disappeared the monotonic character of the development of rural population of the region not covered yet by systemic transformation, which was reflected in the high birth-rate consumed by the high outflow of population in the result of migration. It was replaced by the development of diverse character which found expression in the large number of development types and a general downward tendency in the birth-rate and a considerable decline in spatial mobility. The pace of changes taking place in the rural areas of Zachodniopomorskie province of Poland exceed the average dynamics for the whole country. Although the average real increase in the country's rural population is lower than that recorded in the province the main component of this increase is the balance of migrations. In the analysed region, however, the real increase in the population is largely attributable to the birth-rate since the balance of migrations is similar to that recorded in other regions of Poland. Undeniably the most significant demographic changes in the rural areas of Poland have been determined by the socio-economic situation that prevailed in the 1990s. The decline in the level of emigration from rural areas is even now largely determined by the economic situation and only to a minimal degree by decisions taken freely by individuals. The decline in the birth-rate cannot be seen exclusively as the result of the earlier recorded depopulation processes and the ageing of the rural population but also as the result of changes in the social sphere that lead to transformations described in the context of the concept of the second demographic transition.

The development of horizontal ties among agricultural producers is the indispensable condition for the efficient functioning of the food chain because of the need to strengthen the bargaining power of the highly fragmented sphere of production. The small scale of production diminishes the chances for effective co-operation between the suppliers of raw materials and the processing entities, increases the costs of distribution and leads to considerable differences in the prices and quality of products. Judging by the experience of many EU-15 countries the co-operation of farms within the framework of formal groups of producers engaging in cultivation, storage, packaging, marketing and sale is an effective method of strengthening the bargaining position of producers having small batches of commodities at their disposal. The development of horizontal ties in Polish agriculture is progressing at a very slow rate. At present the largest number of producer groups is registered on the market of fruit and vegetables and the market of pigs. This is the reason why an analysis has been conducted to assess the process of horizontal integration of farmers in these two sectors.

The Little Poland region (voivodeship) concentrates 11% of rural population in Poland. More than a half of inhabitants dwell in the countryside. In terms of population development the rural areas under study, in contrast with the other region of Poland, are characterized by constant population growth. In the years 1995-2004 population number increased by over 2%. However, Little Poland, like the other Polish regions, have gone through great demographic changes in the last decade. This demographic changes are connected with the general modernization process started with the transformation of the political system. The aim of this paper is to identify and evaluate the population processes and phenomena in the rural areas. The deliberation refer to the subject of natural movement, migration, as well as rural population vitality and ageing process. The analysis refers to the Little Poland countryside, a territory extremely diversified in terms of socio-economics and demographic factors. It indicates the socio-economic consequences of changeability of rural population from regional policy point of view.

The article deals with the problem of social insurance of farmers as an instrument used by the state to exert an influence on the economic situation of farms. Since premiums and benefits are particularly important factors of this influence an analysis has been conducted of these two elements of the farmers' social insurance system. The results of the conducted analysis show that insurance premiums are a burden of a character resembling taxes and that the greater part of this burden is borne by small farms. On the other hand, the group of small farms also has the highest share in the benefits stemming from the insurance system. Since small farms are only weakly linked to the market it can be stated that welfare function is the most important function of the farmers' social insurance system.