The post-war evolution of the constitution of Poland as well as several other Central and East European countries is characterised by a marked departure from the national traditions towards a form of Government known as the "People's Democracy". This state of affairs resulted from the interplay of alliances during the last war and the political expansion of Soviet Russia. Notwithstanding the treaty obligations and declarations such as the celebrated Atlantic Charter, the Western Allies, in face of protests by the Polish Government in Exile, agreed on an arbitrary fixing of the Polish-Russian frontier along the lines of Soviet demands, and the abrogation of the existing Polish constitution. Parallel to this reversal of the international situation developed the Soviet-sponsored nucleus of the post-war Polish political regime. Upon the advance of the Red Army this body established itself on Polish soil and was recognised by the "Grand Alliance" as the basis of the Polish Provisional Government. Before achieving this position the Soviet-sponsored regime effected a considerable amount of "legislation", which purported to preclude any other body from attaining power, and determined the future constitution to be based on Marxism-Leninism- Stalinism. General Elections were delayed for two years, but they did not bring any change in the regime. In such conditions the Constitution of 1947 was. nothing else but an interim measure designed to serve as a device to facilitate transition from the parliamentary "capitalist" state into the "socialist" state as understood in Soviet Russia. For this purpose the whole authority of the state became concentrated in an unprecedented body - the Council of State, Parliament declined and the position of the individual became circumscribed by the ideas of the so-called "dictatorship of the proletariat". The Constitution of 1952,modelled on the pattern of the Soviet Constitution of 1936, transferred the point of gravity from the Council of State onto the Government and proclaimed a "State of People's Democracy governed by the working people of towns and villages". The Polish People’s Democracy only during its infancy showed signs of originality, the later development faithfully following the pattern of the Soviet state evolved during the Stalinist era. The doctrine of the People's Democracy as well as its practical features represent, therefore, an application of the Stalinist Marxism on the institutions of the former Republic of Poland.

This study provides a detailed, empirically based examination of the institutional dynamics of the new parties and political groupings that have emerged Poland, the largest country of the former Soviet bloc, since the collapse of communist rule in 1989. It draws upon and utilises the models developed in the contemporary West European party literature as an analytical framework with which to examine the main parties from a structural and organisational perspective and considers how they approximate to these taxonomical ideals. It examines the six main parties and political groupings around which the Polish party system appeared to be consolidating in the run up to the 1997 parliamentary elections. The study considers: the internal distribution of power and modes of representation with the parties; the role of the party bureaucracy; the relationship between the parties and their electorates; the development of parties as membership organisations; and the relationship between parties and the state. It concludes that the new Polish parties are strong at the level of state institutions and appear capable of fulfilling their role in terms of structuring elections, institutions and recruiting elites. However, they are also likely to develop as remote and somewhat distant institutions that are weak at the societal level. Given that the nature of the links between parties and their electorates are likely to remain fairly shallow, the new parties are likely to prove less successful at aggregating societal interests and relatively ineffective in mobilising the citizenry and integrating them into the political process. The study, therefore, draws broader conclusions about the process of party development in post-communist Eastern Europe at the same time as augmenting the relatively undeveloped literature on internal party dynamics.

This thesis aims to examine both the extent to which political opinion polling can contribute to democratic processes in different countries, and the degree to which polling is tied to the developing processes of restructuring and transition which contemporary advanced societies are tending to undergo. Specifically, the examination will focus on political opinion polling in both 'late-capitalist' and 'post-communist' societies. In doing so, it will consider two key related issues: firstly, how shifting political contexts impact upon the ability of polls to carry out their perceived tasks of measuring public opinion and contributing to political democratisation; and secondly, whether polls extend or inhibit democratic processes. The principal concept around which this analysis is organised is that of 'Complex Politics'. This has as its core an analytical framework which focuses upon those aspects of political systems similar to both late-capitalist and post-communist societies, which impinge directly upon political opinion polling. These are Political Culture, Party Systems, Mechanisms for Political Participation, and the Policy Process. It is argued that, despite the obvious differences in context and recent history, the complexity of contemporary political envirorunents in which polls operate in both types of political system are such as to display broadly similar problems for pollsters. In order to project the course of development of polling, the likely issues that pollsters will need to address in the future, and the shape and nature of the links between polling and the processes of democratisation in late-capitalist societies, it is instructive to refer to the current experiences of pollsters and polling in the transitional states of Central and Eastern Europe. As the processes of political pluralisation and restructuring take place in these former communist societies, this will help to identify the major problems which pollsters are likely to face in countries such as Britain and elsewhere in continental Europe when attempting to gauge political opinions, beliefs, orientations and behaviour as their own societies become more variable and complex.

The purpose of this research is to shed light on the question of the origin of pig domestication, at least as regards the Near East. To find out when and where the domestication of this animal first occurred, whether the origin of its domestication was a single event occurring in one part of the world and spreading from there to other regions, or whether it was an event which occurred several times in several places in the world, is clearly an interesting matter for debate. In order to be able to answer these questions in relation to the Near East, large numbers of modern samples of known age and sex are first examined and discriminating criteria elucidated for application to archaeological material. Then, pig remains from a large archaeological sequence are examined on the basis of these well tested criteria. Metrical studies based on a large modern wild pig sample from Hakel in East Germany show that some measurements are more variable than others and suggest which measurements to select to investigate the origin of pig domestication. Among the measurements tried in this current research, tooth width measurements are the most reliable dimensions since they show low sexual dimorphism, low age-related variation and low individual variability. The examination of modern populations from various parts of the world on the basis of the well tested criteria shows that there is a range of variation in size between the samples of wild pig (Sus scrofa). Reliable measurements from several archaeological sites of different periods and regions are compared with those of modern wild pig samples and pig remains from different archaeological periods from the same region. The result of the comparisons suggests that pigs were domesticated during the 7th millennium BC in different regions of the Old World; at least in the Near East, in eastern Europe and in the Far East. The present research draws special attention to the southeastern Taurus in Turkey as this area provides the earliest evidence for the domestication of this animal, possibly sometime between 7250-6750 BC at Çayönü and certainly around 6500-6250 BC at Gritille and Hayaz.