Search Results for: abuse of power

Nudge Without Evidence: The Hidden Risks of Behavioural Policy

Mgr Maria Pawińska

University of Silesia

English abstract: Nudge interventions have risen to prominence as ostensibly evidence-based regulatory tools, predicated on empirical insights into human decision-making. In theory, successful nudges require rigorous preparation, including carefully designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and pilot studies, to ensure they achieve their anticipated effects. In practice, however, many nudges fail to deliver the intended outcomes. This article explores the key determinants of such failures, with particular attention to issues in trial design and quality, the frequent reliance on ad hoc “copy-and-paste” approaches, and even absence of preparatory research. Consequently, this suboptimal implementation invites a range of objections regarding the legitimacy of behavioural regulation. Critics contend that nudges may be misused as technocratic exercises of power, provide a façade of government action without meaningfully addressing regulatory challenges, or function as instruments wielded by unqualified authorities. These flawed implementations give rise to a host of adverse consequences, such as side-effects of the regulation or unintended counter-effects. By dissecting these systemic shortcomings, this article offers a critical assessment of the relationship between approaches based on behavioural economics insights and regulatory practice, urging renewed scrutiny of nudge implementation processes to safeguard their credibility and efficacy.

Key words: nudge, RCTs, behavioural intervention, evidence-based regulation, implementation, abuse of power

Language: english

Published: Number 2(47)/2026, pp. 92–111.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2026.2.92

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Number of downloads: 63

This text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

From Legal Protection Towards Animal Rights: Between Moral and Legal Consciousness. Evolution of Approach on the Example of Administrative Case Law

Dr hab. Anna Kalisz, mgr Dorota Pawlicka

Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Supreme Administrative Court

English abstract: The aim of the article is to analyse the possibility and necessity of empowering animals as ‘non-personal’ legal subjects under Polish law, indicating the relevant case law (of ordinary and, mainly, administrative courts). The research assumption is the statement that, although administrative case law contains elements of a fairly progressive approach that results in an interpretation of the applicable provisions on the protection and (rudimentarily regulated) animal rights, the existing provisions are far from sufficient and leave quite a lot of room for a very flexible interpretation. That may lead not solely to an animal-friendly interpretation, but also to abuses against them. Therefore, postulated amendments concerning constitutional protection of animal rights deserve attention, as they would be important for the systemic interpretation of law. The research subject is both philosophical and legal literature, as well as case law. The main method is the logico-linguistic analysis (with some elements of historical and comparative approach) of texts on philosophy, including legal philosophy and ethics, as well as the analysis of case law. The research findings have a mixed, descriptive-and-normative character, while the above combination of ethics, legal theory, and legal practice both manifests the evolution of the approach to the titular matter and makes an original contribution to jurisprudence as a scientific discipline.

Keywords: social consciousness, sentient animals, legal protection of animals, animal rights, constitutional protection, administrative case law

Language: Polish

Published: Number 2(31)/2022, pp. 38-53.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2022.2.38

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Number of downloads: 453

This text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial – No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Four puzzles about the rule of law: why, what, where? And who cares?

Prof. dr Martin Krygier

UNSW Sydney

English abstract: Central among the many obscurities that attend the rule of law are those named in the title of the article. The first part contains some preliminary remarks and attempt to answer the first question. This attempt is based on distinguishing two ways of understanding what rule of law is. By the first way rule of law is a theological concept, i.e. to know what it is we have to know its aims and by the second, anatomical one, the most important thing to understand it are rules and institutions that are usually conceived as its part. The author holds a position that only the first way is appropriate and gives his own interpretation of aims of rule of law. This aim is legal reduction of the possibility of arbitrary exercise of power that is connected with four important reductions – of domination, of fear, of indignity, and of confusion.

Keywords: rule of law, arbitrariness, exercise of power, aims of rule of law

Language: Polish
Translated by: Katarzyna Mikołajczyk-Graj

Published: Number 2(3)/2011, pp. 5-19.

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Number of downloads: 866

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