Confrontation by default and confrontation by design: strategic and institutional responses to Poland's populist coalition government

Abstract

For a short and controversial period in 2006–2007, Poland was governed by a three-party “populist coalition” which attempted to break with the liberal-democratic model of post-communist transition and implement a far-reaching set of reforms. In this article, I analyse the ways in which domestic and external actors responded to the challenges posed by this coalition. I argue that Poland's Constitutional Court and the temporarily united opposition parties were key to repelling the populist challenge. However, the anti-populist response was driven less by a deliberate strategy than by the confrontational logic of populism itself, and the institutional design of Poland's liberal-democratic system. I conclude with a discussion of several lessons the Polish case holds for further analyses of anti-populist reaction.

Keywords:

• Poland
• populism
• party systems
• coalitions
• liberal democracy

Notes on contributor

Ben Stanley is a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology at the University of Sussex, and Lecturer at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw (from October). He has published several journal articles and book chapters on populism, parties and voting behaviour in Central and Eastern Europe, and is currently working on a monograph about cleavages in post-communist democracies.

Notes

1. Otto, “Polak Bogatszy.”

2. Czapiński, “Stosunek Do Przemian Systemowych.”

3. CBOS, Krytyczni Demokraci.

4. CBOS, Zaufanie W Sferze Prywatnej.

5. CBOS, “Trends.”

6. Czapiński, “Stosunek Do Przemian Systemowych,” 598–600.

7. Zarycki, “Politics in the Periphery,” 857.

8. Jachowicz and Pączek-Haładyj, “Praszka Napięta.”

9. Samoobrona Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, Program Społeczno-Gospodarczy Samoobrony, 8.

10. Ibid., 57.

11. Lepper, Lista Leppera, 8.

12. Ibid., 196.

13. Liga Polskich Rodzin, “Skrót Programu Gospodarczego,” 6.

14. Ibid., 5–6.

15. Szczerbiak, “‘Social Poland' Defeats ‘Liberal Poland’?” 213.

16. Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, “Sprawozdanie Stenograficzne Z Posiedzeń.”

17. Burnetko and Janicki, “Raport Specjalny.”

18. Bodnar and Ziółkowski, “The Justice System,” 50.

19. Burnetko, “Public Administration,” 48.

20. Cieśla, “Walka Nigdy Się Nie Kończy.”

21. “Lustration” is the term for a variety of different processes the purpose of which is to uncover the truth about the activities of individuals during the communist period, particularly in relation to membership of or collaboration with the secret services.

22. Ruch Na Rzecz Demokracji, Deklaracja Programowa Ruchu Na Rzecz Demokracji.

23. Karnowski, “[Transcript of Interview with Jarosław Kaczyński].”

24. Gazeta Wyborcza, “Precz Z Postkomuną!”

25. Mizerski et al., “Rozmowy Przy Uprawianiu Polityki.”

26. Janicki and Władyka, Cień Wielkiego Brata, 134.

27. Nijakowski, Polska Polityki Pamięci, 198.

28. Grzymski, Rozmowa Czy Konfrontacja?, 99.

29. Czeladko and Wójtowicz, “Kampania Przeciwko Giertychowi.”

30. The Radio Maryja organization began life in the early 1990s as a radio station and subsequently gave rise to a newspaper, college of further education, and television station. These institutions provided a focal point for the grassroots initiatives of Radio Maryja listeners, such as local prayer circles, protests and pilgrimages to holy sites. Through these independent initiatives, Radio Maryja gave rise to the emergence of “networks of social interaction outside the direct influence of the state”. Burdziej, “Radio Maryja a Społeczeństwo Obywatelskie,” 28.

31. Grzymski, Rozmowa Czy Konfrontacja?, 27.

32. Tylenda, “Lepper Musi Odejść.”

33. Grzymski, Rozmowa Czy Konfrontacja?, 30.

34. Kucharczyk and Wysocka, “Poland,” 113.

35. Konwersatorium, “Doświadczenie i Przyszłość,” 25.

36. Ibid., 21–2.

37. Quoted in Ewa Siedlecka, “Czy Szefowa KRRiT.”

38. CBOS, Opinie Polaków O Trybunale Konstytucyjnym.

39. Kublik, “Pytania Do Prezesa TVP.”

40. Rovira Kaltwasser and Taggart, “Dealing with Populists-in-Government.”

41. Kuźniar, Droga Do Wolności, 280.

42. Ibid., 283.

43. Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, IV Rzeczpospolita, 43.

44. ECHR, Bączkowski and Others v. Poland.

45. Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2007.”

46. Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2008, 391.

47. Mudde, “Populism,” 213–4.

48. Głowiński, “Pisomowa. Czyli O Wolnoamerykance Językowej.”

49. Gazeta Wyborcza, “Kaczyński.”

50. Szczerbiak, “The Birth of a Bipolar Party System?”