Rywale włodarzy. Doświadczenia i szanse samorządowych pretendentów.

In the Polish political thought after 1989, the usefulness and value of local self-government were associated with the possibility to perform the democratisation of the system; to ensure the stability of order and the possibility to correct dysfunctions and respond to civilization challenges. Among many proposals, attention should be paid to the attempts to use the potential of self-government officials in the work of political institutions, including parliament. The aim of the article is to present and analyze the discussions appearing in the Polish political thought concerning the use of the potential of supporters of the local governance to optimize the political shape of the Senate. The catalogue of research questions related to the concept of a nationwide self-government chamber concerned the method of justifying the need for its establishment, determining its composition and competences, as well as the opportunities for increasing social participation through it. It is also important to answer the question about the place of the concept of the self-government chamber in the Polish discussion about self-governance. It is worth recalling that the idea of a self-government chamber as an important element of Polish bicameralism has been present in Polish political thought since the interwar period. Post-1989 demands can be grouped as follows: 1) the concept of the self-government chamber with competence similar to the Senate or amended; 2) a concept for changing the way in which members of the Senate are elected, taking into account the role of the self-government; 3) increase in cooperation between the Senate and the-self-government without significant political changes. However, the concept of the Self-Government Chamber never took a definite form and other groups have not attempted to implement it, apart from the PSL party. The idea was rather a contribution to the discussion on the legitimacy of the existence of bicameralism. However, the concept itself did not disappear from the public debate and was most often raised, which seems understandable, by the circles seeking to change the existing constitutional status quo