Good Change

The Rise and Fall of Poland’s Illiberal Revolution

Stanley Bill, Ben Stanley

• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN: 9781503643680, 9781503634565
• eBook ISBN: 9781503643697
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Eastern European History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Few countries serve as a more useful case study for understanding the global tension between liberal and illiberal conceptions of democracy than Poland. Under the populist Law and Justice (PiS) –led government, a large part of the Polish electorate welcomed the party's "Good Change"—as it described its program—despite accusations of democratic backsliding. PiS offered voters neglected by previous governments a combination of economic redistributionism and cultural traditionalism, supplemented with narratives of bolstering Poland's national prestige and sovereignty. Yet after eight years of success, it was defeated in the October 2023 elections by a "pro-democratic" coalition. The history of PiS shows both the strengths and weaknesses of democratic illiberalism as a challenge to liberal democracy.

  Bill and Stanley analyze the course and causes of the party's successes and failures. The authors deftly outline PiS's assault on democratic institutions, its paradigm-changing redistributive programs, cultural backlash agenda, politics of history, and the reasons for its fall from power. Poland's democracy has proven resilient to the specter of autocratization, but its future development under a new government raises fresh questions. This essential book considers what the rise and fall of Poland's illiberal government reveals about the future of liberal democracy and its ongoing transformations in the twenty-first century.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Democratic Illiberalism in Power and Defeat
• 1. Before the Good Change From Post-Communist to Social-Liberal Divide
• 2. Left-Behind Poland and Beyond The Sources of PiS’s Support
• 3. The Assault on Liberal Democratic Institutions
• 4. Nativist Economics “A Polish Model of the Welfare State”
• 5. Cultural Backlash and Liberalizing Response
• 6. Security, Sovereignty, and the Politics of History
• 7. The Defeat of PiS and the Rise of a New Liberal Government
• 8. Changes to Democracy Poland’s Illiberalism in Wider Context
• Conclusion: The Legacy of the Good Change
• Appendix: Variables Used in Figures
• Notes
• Index