BETWEEN DEMOCRATIC CONTROL AND REGIME LOGIC: INTERNAL SECURITY SYSTEMS OF POLAND AND AZERBAIJAN

Abstract

This paper compares how Poland and Azerbaijan organize their internal security. It looks at institutions, the legal basis on which they rest, and perhaps more importantly the actual working of civilian oversight. The discussion draws on a range of approaches, from classical realism to critical security studies, and treats internal security both as a core state function and as something shaped by processes of securitization and ideas of human security. What is striking is that the two countries, despite belonging to very different regime types and geopolitical camps, display a number of formal institutional similarities. These similarities, however, conceal sharply different normative logics and patterns of accountability. Methodologically the study relies on close reading of legal acts and strategic documents, combined with desk research of academic literature and reports produced by international monitoring organizations. The comparison brings out both structural convergences and deep divergences in the distribution of authority, the construction of threats, and the practical functioning of oversight. One of the more interesting findings concerns the phenomenon of institutional mimicry – the way similar organizational forms can serve almost opposite political purposes depending on the broader context. The concluding section sketches possible reform directions. For Poland, the main task appears to be the consolidation of democratic control under conditions of hybrid pressure. For Azerbaijan, the challenge runs deeper: moving the security sector away from regime protection and toward something closer to the rule of law.