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The article discusses the roots of revolutionary totalitarianism in the thought of Edmund Burke, who is considered to be the founder of Anglo-Saxon conservatism. The author of Reflections on the Revolution in France insightfully outlined the totalitarian implications of the French Revolution at its initial stage. According to the authors, Burke accurately diagnosed the most important elements of the future totalitarian state, affecting not only institutions, but also the overall social relations and the interplay between the authority and the individual. His reflections on revolutionary ideas and revolutionary practice make him a prophet of future totalitarian regimes, which operated according to the paradigm he diagnosed. Although Burke’s theses seem commonly known, a closer analysis shows not only the depth of the inquiry into the French revolution, but also the universality of the argument applicable to other similar social upheavals, a topic the authors of the text would like to present together in a separate form.

BETWEEN THE RULE OF LAW AND AUTHORITARIANISM.POLISH CONSIDERATIONS ON SEEKING THE OPTIMAL STATE SYSTEM AFTER REGAINING INDEPENDENCE IN THE THIRD REPUBLIC The article presents an analysis of selected considerations of Polish political discussions about the shortcomings of the parliamentary system and their antidote in the form of an authoritarian system. The point of departure is an analysis of the idea of a legal state Rechtsstaat, well known in Congress Kingdom even before Poland regained its independence in 1918. It is also worthwhile to research the attempt of the integration the head of state into the parliamentary system, which was successfully applied between 1918 and 1922 when the Head of State institution was personali­zed by Jozef Pilsudski. The analysis of the authoritarian thinking of Pilsudskis movement between 1926–1939 did not turn out as it had been declared, the sanation of state, and ideologically — also experienced — numerous social failures. Pilsudski’s legacy is present to some extent in contempo­rary Poland, with few exceptions e.g. the concept of the common good, but one cannot speak of the legacy of authoritarianism. The idea of authoritarianism, however, remains less or more attrac­tive as the solution to the social pains of the Third Republic. As between 1918–1922 in Poland, it has now been possible to incorporate the president’s powers into the parliamentary system, where the head of state is not a purely decorative body to a certain extent as a moderator of the empire. The list of constitutional values is also important. The underserved party system before the war and now is undoubtedly a negative political tendency, although such a system is not a developed state legal system. Paradoxically, however, it fosters anti-authoritarian tendencies.