Odpowiedzialność a współczesna demokracja

In this article, in the form of an essay, I raise the issue of responsibility of the government to the public. This analysis is limited to the democratic system, as in the undemocratic regimes power is arbitrary and there are no institutionalized mechanisms of enforcing the authorities’ responsibility. In democracy the elections should be the basic procedure of enforcing the authorities’ responsibility. In practice this does not happen for a number of reasons, in particular because citizens are incompetent and not interested in politics. Moreover, politicians learned how to effectively manage electors’ emotions and conduct. Elections are rather the guise the authorities’ accountability. The legal system to a greater extent guarantees enforcing responsibility, provided that law quite well reflects the interests of the most important social groups, which must be diverse and capable of protecting their interests. Usually in democratic systems these conditions are met.