Democracy in Poland

Representation, participation, competition and accountability since 1989

Anna Gwiazda

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9780415493505
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317396208
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book assesses the quality of democracy in Poland from the collapse of communism in 1989 up to the 2011 parliamentary election. It presents an in-depth, empirically grounded study comparing two decades of democratic politics. Drawing on democratic theory and comparative politics, the book puts forward an evaluation of democracy based on four dimensions: representation, participation, competition and accountability. The book is an important contribution to debates on the performance of the new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, where some scholars argue that there is a 'democratic crisis', that, after a period of democratic progress, most of these countries are experiencing democratic fatigue and that their democratic performance is poor. However, the Polish case shows that democracy is not in crisis - in fact, the quality of democracy in Poland has improved. The book shows that democratic quality stems from good democratic institutions. Moreover, the Polish case shows useful lessons that can be learnt by democratic reformers in countries that are undergoing the transition to democracy or are aiming to consolidate their democratic systems. It concludes that effective accountability, good representation and stable competition are vital.

An excellent and insightful analysis of Polish democracy that is especially valuable because it is set clearly in a comparative and theoretical context and because of its focus on democratic performance.

Arend Lijphart Research Professor Emeritus of Political Science University of California, San Diego

Everyone who is interested in democracy – not only European politics – should read this book.

Leonardo Morlino Professor of Political Science and Director of the Research Center on Democracies and Democratizations at LUISS University, Rome

The book’s deep analysis of governance and politics in Poland will make it indispensable for all those with an interest in the country, while comparativists will learn a lot from its thought-provoking discussion of the broader relationship between democracy, the political institutional framework, political parties and civil society.

Michael Gallagher Professor of Comparative Politics Trinity College Dublin

Democracy in Poland

This book assesses the quality of democracy in Poland from the collapse of communism in 1989 up to the 2011 parliamentary election. It presents an in-depth, empirically grounded study comparing two decades of democratic politics. Drawing on democratic theory and comparative politics, the book puts forward an evaluation of democracy based on four dimensions: representation, participation, competition and accountability. The book is an important contribution to debates on the performance of the new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, where some scholars argue that there is a ‘democratic crisis’ and that, after a period of democratic progress, most of these countries are experiencing democratic fatigue and have poor democratic performance. However, in the Polish case democracy is not in crisis – in fact, the quality of democracy in Poland has improved. The book shows that democratic quality stems from good democratic institutions. Moreover, the Polish case shows useful lessons that can be learnt by democratic reformers in countries that are undergoing the transition to democracy or are aiming to consolidate their democratic systems. It concludes that effective accountability, good representation and stable competition are vital.

Anna Gwiazda is a lecturer in comparative politics at King’s College London, UK.

Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series

1. Liberal Nationalism in Central Europe
   Stefan Auer
2. Civil-Military Relations in Russia and Eastern Europe
   David J. Betz
3. The Extreme Nationalist Threat in Russia
   The growing influence of Western Rightist ideas
   Thomas Parland
4. Economic Development in Tatarstan
   Global markets and a Russian region
   Leo McCann
5. Adapting to Russia’s New Labour Market
   Gender and employment strategy
   Edited by Sarah Ashwin
6. Building Democracy and Civil Society East of the Elbe
   Essays in honour of Edmund Mokrzycki
   Edited by Sven Eliaeson
7. The Telengits of Southern Siberia
   Landscape, religion and knowledge in motion
   Agnieszka Halemba
8. The Development of Capitalism in Russia
   Simon Clarke
9. Russian Television Today
   Primetime drama and comedy
   David MacFadyen
10. The Rebuilding of Greater Russia
    Putin’s foreign policy towards the CIS countries
    Bertil Nygren
11. A Russian Factory Enters the Market Economy
    Claudio Morrison
12. Democracy Building and Civil Society in Post-Soviet Armenia
    Armine Ishkanian
13. NATO-Russia Relations in the Twenty-First Century
    Aurel Braun
14. Russian Military Reform
    A failed exercise in defence decision making
    Carolina Vendil Pallin
15. The Multilateral Dimension in Russian Foreign Policy
    Edited by Elana Wilson Rowe and Stina Torjesen
16. Russian Nationalism and the National Reassertion of Russia
    Edited by Marlène Laruelle
17. The Caucasus – An Introduction
    Frederik Coene
18. Radical Islam in the Former Soviet Union
    Edited by Galina M. Yemelianova
19. Russia’s European Agenda and the Baltic States
    Janina Šleivytė
20. Regional Development in Central and Eastern Europe
    Development processes and policy challenges
    Edited by Grzegorz Gorzelak, John Bachtler and Maciej Smętkowski
21. Russia and Europe
    Reaching agreements, digging trenches
    Kjell Engelbrekt and Bertil Nygren
22. Russia’s Skinheads
    Exploring and rethinking subcultural lives
    Hilary Pilkington, Elena Omel’chenko and Al’bina Garifzianova
23. The Colour Revolutions in the Former Soviet Republics
    Successes and failures
    Edited by Donnacha Ó Beacháin and Abel Polese
24. Russian Mass Media and Changing Values
    Edited by Arja Rosenholm, Kaarle Nordenstreng and Elena Trubina
25. The Heritage of Soviet Oriental Studies
    Edited by Michael Kemper and Stephan Conermann
26. Religion and Language in Post-Soviet Russia
    Brian P. Bennett
27. Jewish Women Writers in the Soviet Union
    Rina Lapidus
28. Chinese Migrants in Russia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe
    Edited by Felix B. Chang and Sunnie T. Rucker-Chang
29. Poland’s EU Accession
    Sergiusz Trzeciak
30. The Russian Armed Forces in Transition
    Economic, geopolitical and institutional uncertainties
    Edited by Roger N. McDermott, Bertil Nygren and Carolina Vendil Pallin
31. The Religious Factor in Russia’s Foreign Policy
    Alicja Curanović
32. Postcommunist Film – Russia, Eastern Europe and World Culture
    Moving images of postcommunism
    Edited by Lars Kristensen
33. Russian Multinationals
    From regional supremacy to global lead
    Andrei Panibratov
34. Russian Anthropology After the Collapse of Communism
    Edited by Albert Baiburin, Catriona Kelly and Nikolai Vakhtin
35. The Post-Soviet Russian Orthodox Church
    Politics, culture and Greater Russia
    Katja Richters
36. Lenin’s Terror
    The ideological origins of early Soviet State violence
    James Ryan
37. Life in Post-Communist Eastern Europe after EU Membership
    Edited by Donnacha Ó Beacháin, Vera Sheridan an...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Frontmatter 1
• Half Title Page
• Frontmatter 2
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of tables
• Author’s note
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Glossary
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Evaluating the quality of democracy
• 3 Representation: descriptive characteristics of parliamentary representatives
• 4 Participation: voter turnout, membership in civil society organizations and direct legislation
• 5 Competition: party and party system institutionalization
• 6 Accountability: executive–legislative relations and the Constitutional Tribunal
• 7 Conclusions
• Index