THE PLANNING AND PROGRAMMATIC FUNCTIONS OF THE VOIVODESHIP SELF-GOVERNMENT - A FAÇADE OR REAL IMPACT? (Planistyczne i programowe funkcje samorzadu wojewódzkiego. Fasada czy realne oddzialywanie?)

The reflections undertaken in this article concern the issue of strategic planning of regional social policy. Due to the changes to the political system in Poland, initiated in 1989 and continued in 1999, local and regional authorities have been transformed into a kind of independent organizations pursuing their own policies based on long-term action plans - strategies. The requirement to draw up voivodeship strategies results not only from legal provisions, but also from a number of other motives, such as the wish to obtain funding from the EU structural funds, the necessity to integrate actions that are taken locally or to identify basic needs, resources and problems arising in the region. The article focuses on this area of regional strategic planning which relates to the wider social policy. The main aim of the article is an attempt at assessing the planning function performed by the voivodeship self-government. It looks into the principles and stages of strategic planning, the legal conditions for the development of voivodeship strategies relating to wider social policy issues and presents the results of empirical studies on regional strategies.