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Description
The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is an independent research and analysis centre.
It has played a significant role in public debate and in the civic sector for 25 years. The Institute''s activities relate to areas such as democracy, good governance, civil society; European integration; social, migration and integration policy; climate policy and sustainable development; gender equality.
The Institute''s most important activities in recent years include research and public debate on threats to Poland''s continued membership of the EU and ways to counter anti-European narratives, publications and international debates on the state of democracy and the rule of law in the EU as part of the European Policy Institutes Network.
For the past 15 years, the IPA has been preparing annual reports for USAID on the "Index of Stability of the Civic Organisations Sector in Poland" and conducting advocacy activities based on this material. The Institute''s recommendations have contributed to USAID''s launch in 2022 of a new programme to support civil society in Central and Eastern Europe.
As part of the organisational grant, the IPA plans to establish a Centre for Constitutionalism and Legal Culture (CCLC). Its activities will serve to prepare civil society to work on the reconstruction of the rule of law in Poland and to raise the legal awareness of citizens, especially as regards knowledge of the Constitution and the ability to apply its provisions in everyday life.
CCLC will monitor the state of the rule of law, analyse proposals for changes to the law and propose corrective measures in areas where legal and constitutional standards have degraded after 2015. The work of the CCLC will be based on research, analysis of the law, educational activities, publications, exchange of knowledge on the rule of law. CCLC will create a draft law on one of the areas relevant to the state of democracy and will engage other organisations and citizens to support it.
Summary of project results
The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is an independent research and analysis centre. It has played a significant role in public debate and in the civic sector for 25 years. The Institute''s activities concern areas such as democracy, good governance, civil society; European integration; social, migration and integration policy; climate policy and sustainable development; gender equality. The Institute''s most important activities in recent years include research and public debate on threats to Poland''s continued membership of the EU and ways to counter anti-European narratives, publications and international debates on the state of democracy and the rule of law in the EU as part of the European Policy Institutes Network. For the past 15 years, the IPA has been preparing annual reports for USAID on the ‘Index of Stability of the Civic Organisations Sector in Poland’ and conducting advocacy activities based on this material. The Institute''s recommendations contributed to USAID''s launch in 2022 of a new programme to support civil society in Central and Eastern Europe.
Under an institutional grant, the PSI established the Centre for Constitutionalism and Legal Culture (CCLC), which prepared the ‘Report on the State of Democracy in Poland’, 5 law monitoring reports and legislative changes, 8 policy papers. The Centre organised 10 seminars for civic organisations dealing with the rule of law, human rights and democracy issues and 4 meetings on the rule of law for local civic organisations and civic activists (in Białystok, Łódź, Katowice and Poznań). In cooperation with other organisations, CCLC prepared assumptions for amendments to the law on free legal aid. A communication strategy for the whole organisation was also developed.
The main results of the institutional grant are the consolidation of the position of CCLC as an important expert and educational centre working for the restoration of the rule of law in Poland and the intensification of the impact of the IPA on public opinion (including a 58% increase in speeches, articles and quotations in traditional media).