Kryzys instytucji w polskim współczesnym dyskursie politycznym

Abstract

Social sciences literature poses the question “how do institutions think?”. The aim of the
author of the present paper is to present the way media shape the perception of institutions,
in particular institutions of political character, such as constitutions, states, governments.
It was adopted, by referring to social theories, that processes of political socialization are
equally important as institutionalization processes. The former group includes creating the
perception of the surrounding world of norms and political organizations. The analysis deals
with Polish political discourse, its object being statements, press titles and leads, as long as
their topic is related to the functioning of political institutions. It needs to be remembered
that statements from the politicians are of instrumental character (their purpose being
boosting the chance for a re-election). It is more common for them to criticize the institutions
they are part of and they co-create than to approve of their actions. Linguistic structures are
used to convey emotions and they illustrate the perceived crisis of the institution, which does
not have to reflect the real situation.
Key words: political institutions, political discourse, media, political emotions, constitution,
state