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.

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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