The Foundation is co-developed by people engaged in building the common good of all citizens in their daily lives, above all through personal responsibility, the upbringing of their own families and through conscientiousness in their professional work, simultaneously convinced that engaging oneself in public life to the greatest degree is a natural attitude and challenge for every citizen of the Republic. People involved in the work of the Foundation are united by the attitude of civic engagement in public affairs and common goals: the shaping of Polish and European legal institutions in the spirit of the primacy of the common good above private interests, increasing the sovereignty of the Polish state, both in the internal and external dimension, the shaping of Polish and European institutions of public life in a spirit consistent with the Christian conception of the person, especially in the realm of the protection of human life from natural conception to natural death.
The evident weakness of the Polish state and institutions of public life is a result of the weakness of Polish public life. For many reasons, among the most important being: the radical uprooting of tradition associated with the period of the communist dictatorship, the supremacy of the state appropriating areas traditionally filled by the voluntary associations of citizens and the relative poverty of Poles – the process of rebuilding civic institutions is still in its infancy.
Institutions of civic life – associations in which Poles organize, foundations that accumulate financial resources and carry out projects – are still few in number and weak. Poles, achieving increasingly greater professional successes, understand the necessity of caring for the education of their children, they are very generous financially towards charitable and religious purposes, at the same time they are very passive in public matters. Their involvement in this area is usually limited to participation in elections and family complaining about “politics”.
In consequence, a significant share of social activities struggle with three fundamental problems. The first of these is the problem of “haphazardness”, resulting in ineffectiveness and a lack of continuity of action of citizens striving to accomplish definite changes in the public sphere. The second problem is the ostentatiousness of non-governmental organizations, of which many in fact serve to fulfill the ambitions and activities of one person, whose personal life circumstances are directly tied to the condition of “the organization.” The third problem is the funding sources for non-governmental organizations – and so in practice their dependency on public funds or one sponsor, often treating the non-governmental organization as a tool for achieving private goals, for example for lobbying.
The improvement of this state of affairs requires radical change in Polish public life – setting in motion the process of creating strong civic institutions, which is possible above all because Poland possesses a superb tradition in this area. In the First and Second Polish Republic alike, as well as in the periods of national captivity, voluntary associations of free citizens existed and successfully achieved their goals.
Taking into consideration the current state of affairs, the Republican Foundation strives to be an effective civic institution:
The Foundation is republican. A “republic” is a common good, which all citizens care for together, united by the recognition of the rights and advantages of life in a community. In a republic the authorities are guided by the good of the whole, not their own (“res publica” contra “res privata“), and regardless of how many people are in power and the framework of formal procedures, legal institutions and those governing serve the common good. Moreover, while making decisions and formulating the law, those in power are bound to a higher law (natural law) and good judgement.
We are Republicans, because we do not have an ideologized approach to public matters – remembering the republican spirit, we are open to extremely varied propositions for institutional solutions serving to achieve our goals. At the same time we possess sufficient knowledge to recognize that certain institutional courses of action have not worked and do not have a chance of working, especially in Polish conditions.
The Republican Foundation tries to act as broadly as possible, cooperating with institutions and individuals whose goals align with ours. Narrowing the Foundation’s activities only to an intellectual or political dimension would prevent effective action aimed at achieving its goals. This activity requires the long-term mobilization of a large number of citizens and at the same time cooperation of people who possess various talents and life experiences: social activists, scientists, experts and professional politicians.
Collaborators with the Foundation are both people who do not belong to political parties and social organizations with political goals, as well as individuals who do belong to such organizations, as far as their goals do not conflict with those of the Foundation.
The social dimension of the activities of the Foundation means the involvement in its activities of both people who can only dedicate relatively little time and resources to public action, and those people who are professionally and fully engaged in social activity in non-governmental organizations, and those people professionally and directly involved in political activity.
The Foundation is political in the sense that its goals are at their essence political and their achievement requires the tremendous involvement of citizens, social activists, experts and professional politicians who share the goals of the Foundation and cooperate with one another in creating the legal framework for the functioning of our nation and state.
A priority task of the Foundation is to carry out formative work among high-school youth and college students with the goal of dynamically developing human potential, key to carrying out planned projects.
The second key task in the activities of the Foundation is introducing people associated with the Foundation, identifying with its goals, into the public debate, within the framework of “think tank” activities.
The third priority of the Foundation is the building of an intellectual base for social activity in the form of a scholarly-research institute, involved in monitoring the activities of public officials and preparing proposals for institutional changes.
A supplement to these three priorities is carrying out cultural and publishing activities. A fundamental project in this area is the publication of the Republican quarterly Rzeczy Wspólne (Common Affairs).
Expert/Foundation Council
Experienced in management, an enthusiast of economic patriotism, he combines corporate, consulting and entrepreneurial experience. He is a…
Chairman of the Board/Foundation Council
Graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration as well as the Faculty of Journalism and Political Studies…
Foundation Council
Graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. He also obtained…
Foundation Council
Graduate of the Faculty of Management of the University of Warsaw (studies completed with high marks). Since 1997…
Member of the Board/Project Coordinator
A graduate in political studies of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University. He has been involved with The Republican…
Chairman of the Board/Foundation Council
Graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration as well as the Faculty of Journalism and Political Studies…
Project Manager
Adviser for Non-Governmental Organizations with many years of experience gained in organizations such us: Instytut Suwerennej, Stowarzyszenie KoLiber,…
Office Manager
A graduate of the University of Customs and Logistics and the Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Education in…
Analyst
A graduate of internal security and a student of security in the digital economy at the Cardinal Stefan…
Development Director / International Project Coordinator
Expert on international affairs (specialization: journalism and media), manager of international projects, including EU projects with many years…
Read and signed by the initiators of the Republican Foundation and the Republikanie.org Foundation in Warsaw on 14 November 2009.
We are Republicans, even though we differ in many matters, we have different life callings, we have different occupations and pursuits, together we seek to care for our common good – Poland. We want her to be a Republic – a common good, which is cared for together by all citizens, united by the recognition for the rights and advantages of life in a community.
We are bound above all by faith in the inalienable dignity of every person, because of which human life should be unconditionally protected from natural conception to natural death.
We are also heartily convinced that public life should be shaped in the spirit of the primacy of the common good above private interests, and the law should serve all citizens, and not organized groups of particular interests.
We are patriots. We believe that the Polish state – the fruit of the labor and battles of generations of Poles – should be formally sovereign, and indeed sovereign in relation to national and international interest groups, countries and organizations.
We agree that the authorities who create the law and make decisions about the life of citizens are bound to a higher law and good judgement.
Although our fundamental responsibilities are the care for the multifaceted upbringing of the family and conscientiousness in professional work, we are convinced that civic responsibility – the basis for involvement in public affairs, is the natural fulfilment of these duties. The battle for the broadest range of public activism, developed in harmony with family and professional life, is a basic challenge for every Republican.
We are Republicans because we do not have an ideologized approach to public affairs – keeping in mind the republican spirit, we are open to various proposals for institutional solutions serving to defend life, the common good and the sovereign of Poland. We want to discuss and work on them together.
Alongside respect for common values, we believe that public activity should be carried out in the spirit of optimism and with conviction in the value of shared efforts. That is why we avoid ideological obstinance, talk that does not lead to action, idle nit-picking and theorizing that is not supported by experience.
We strive to become increasingly better citizens of the Republic – respecting the law, enjoying our own freedom and respecting the freedom of others. Believing that the strength of the Republic, the justice of her laws and prosperity depend on the virtues of her citizens, we treat self-education and work on shaping the republican spirit of our fellow citizens as a priority.
We are also convinced that fruitful involvement in public life for the Republic – holding those in power accountable and carrying out sensible changes in the law serving the common good – requires us to unceasingly increase our knowledge about the workings of the state and economy.