Geneza i rozwój wielokpolskiego samorządu gospodarczego na przykładzie Izby Przemysłowo-Handlowej w Poznaniu
The origins and development of economic self-government in Greater Poland on the example of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Poznań

Summary/Abstract: Apart from territorial self-government a crucial role in the process of development of local administration falls to economic self-government which includes economic associations which support entrepreneurs. Economic self-government is a public law organization. In Poland for over a quarter of a century two different tendencies have been confused: the right to freedom of association and the right to manage one’s interests. Whereas the principle of voluntariness that follows from the right to freedom of association does not lead to any objections regarding associations, it is undoubtedly contradictory to the basic aspects that express the essence of public corporations. Economic self-government must therefore be treated as a democratically elected, general and preferably apolitical representation of the milieu of entrepreneurs which is a partner of both state administration and territorial self-government. And that is how it was organized in the interwar period. In Greater Poland economic self-government was for many years a particularly important representative of the interests of the milieu of entrepreneurs. It functioned within the framework of three structures: chambers of industry and commerce, chambers of crafts and trades and chambers of agriculture. Their dynamic development from the very onset of Poland’s independence resulted largely from the fact that the Polish employer used and creatively developed the Prussian experiences in this field. The text provides a detailed characterization of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Poznań.

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