Search for: [Abstract = "In the Polish People’s Republic the citizens, having the feeling of suffered wrongs and injustice, used to write letters, complaints and denunciations to the national central authorities. The authorities established the offices dealing with the arriving correspondence, analysing content of it, preparing special bulletins and taking interventions. Confirmation of cases of injustice and punishment of culprits were the effects of the checking activities. For the authorities the correspondence was a valuable source of information about the social moods, ills and problems to be resolved. After analysis of correspondence received by the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party and by the Polish Radio and Television concerning the authorities of the communes established in 1973, the problems described by the rural dwellers were successfully discovered. These rich source materials enabled to present opinions and assessments concerning functioning of the communal offices, heads of the communes and of the local bureaucracy. Bad work of some offices, slow and dilatory proceedings were repeatedly mentioned in the letters. Many opinions concerned the most important clerk in the commune – the head of it. Also cases of amoral and pathological behaviour of the local bureaucrats such as bribery, drunkenness, old\-boy networks, using the position to gain different benefits from it were many times revealed. Most often the authors described their own problems and hoped that interventions would be effective. Many times the strategy of writing letters to the central state authorities in the capital city of Warsaw was successful."]
