President of all Poles. The difference between the office and the person elected to the role of President of Poland

Abstract

In this article, the author analyzes the concept of President of all Poles. He points to the need to distinguish between the constitutional office of the President of the Republic of Poland and the person holding this office. In his work, he refers to the realities of post-truth, while emphasizing the importance of the constitutional and legal foundations of public authority and discussing the formal legal legitimacy of the President resulting from the Polish Constitution and electoral procedures. The analysis of data from presidential elections since 1989 shows the strength of the presidential mandate, but at the same time points to the persistent polarization of the electorate and the fact that support for the winning candidate refers to the majority of voters, not the total number of eligible citizens. The author also addresses the issue of social and political legitimacy, which depends both on the built President’s relationship with citizens and on choosing the system of cooperation or conflict with the government, especially in conditions of the so-called difficult cohabitation. In this context, the term President of all Poles can be a tool of political struggle. The author also points to its symbolic dimension as a normative ideal of a president acting as an integrator of the political community above divisions.