The Role of the Principle of Subsidiarity in the Third Sector in the Republic of Poland

The principle of subsidiarity not only has formed many of provisions in the act on Public Benefit and Volunteer Work (particularly those related to social consultations and transferring of public tasks), but is also a directive forming the cooperative habits between the public and non-public sectors. This is a matter of great importance taking into account that the subsidiarity in Poland is not effectively implemented as it could be because of limited autonomy of the self-government and frequently occurring interference of the State. Unfortunately it results in limiting of ability to decide on the type and methods of performing tasks. In addition, financial resources usually are not sufficient. It would be desirable to maintain and develop this course because about 61% of the polish society finds the third sector more effective than the public one. More and more often (43%) the contribution of the non-governmental organisations on solution of local problems is perceived, although still near the half of respondents (48%) doubt that they would have an important impact on the solution of important social problems. There are also real concerns about corruption, other law abuses, or giving priority to private interest instead of communal one.