Democracy of housing policy as exemplified by Poland. Political and linguistic analysis

Abstract

The subject of this paper is the issue of restrictions related to the democracy of housing policies within the context of welfare state reforms. The paper aims to provide answers to the following questions: Is housing policy affected by political discursive practices? If so, what effect do they have on the democracy of housing policy, particularly housing policy placed against the background of a welfare state subject to changes and reforms? An example is provided in the form of the housing policy in Poland for the period 1989–2014. The theoretical approach used in the study is based on the concept of deliberative democracy. The analysis verifies the research hypothesis according to which housing policy in Poland lacks the deliberative discursive practices which constitute an instrument of democratic housing policy.

Keywords:

• Deliberative democracy
• housing policy
• social debates
• Poland