Summary

The Oxford Handbook of Polish Politics provides students, researchers, practitioners, and interested readers with the most complete analysis of Polish politics and society yet published. Including cutting-edge contributions from specialist scholars across the world, it is a comprehensive and up to date reference work and authoritative source on Polish Politics.

Poland is the fifth largest European Union (EU) member state, representing in terms of size and population more than half of the EU enlargement in 2004. On October 27th 2021, it celebrated the 30th anniversary of the first free and fair parliamentary elections. During these 30 years, the country has achieved unprecedented progress and has gone through substantial political and economic transformation. These dynamics make Poland a fascinating laboratory to unfold complexities of post-communist processes and developments, from transition to democracy, to democratic backsliding and backward. Although Poland itself is reasonably well-researched, above all together with other Central East European countries, a prestigious systematic and in-depth analysis in English language in the format offered by an Oxford Handbook is unprecedented.

Author Biography

Fernando Casal Bértoa is an Associate Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham. He is co-director of REPRESENT: Research Centre for the Study of Parties and Democracy, and a member of the OSCE/ODIHR “Core Group of Political Party Experts”.

Katarzyna Walecka is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, Poland. Dr Walecka has also held various visiting positions at the University of Oxford and the University of Nottingham.

Simona Guerra, SFHEA, is Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the University of Surrey. She is the founding co-chief editor of the first ECPR open access journal Political Research Exchange, current co-editor of Representation, The Journal of Representative Democracy, and an elected executive board member of the IPSA Research Committee (RC03) on European Unification.

Part I. Introduction1. Polish Politics: an Introduction, KATARZYNA WALECKA, SIMONA GUERRA AND FERNANDO CASAL BÉRTOA2. History and Politics, NORMAN DAVIESPart II. Past and Present3. The Communist Rule (1945-1989) and Its Influence on Contemporary Political Life, ANTONI DUDEK4. The Round Table Accord and Elections of 1989: The Foundation Myth that Faded Away, KRZYSTOF JASIEWICZ5. Structural Entanglements of Polish Politics in Historical Perspective, WIKTOR MARZEC AND TOMASZ ZARYCKI6. Democratisation and Marketisation, MITCHELL A. ORENSTEIN7. Transnational Justice and Elite Polarisation, IPEK CINAR AND MONIKA NALEPA8. Rule of law and democratic backsliding in Poland - stages, methods, outcomes, BARBARA GRABOWSKA-MOROZPart III. Institutions9. Electoral System: Genesis, Evolution, and Functioning, JAROSLAW FLIS AND MAREK M. KAMINSKI10. Parliamentary Transformation: Unstable Parties, State Party Families, KAMIL MARCINKIEWICZ11. Presidential Politics, PHILIPP KÖKER12. Coalition Governments and Coalitions Politics, ANDRZEJ ANTOSZEWSKI AND PRZEMYSLAW ZUKIEWICZ13. The Struggle for the Independence of the Judiciary: From Communism to the Rule of Law Crisis, ADAM BODNAR AND ADAM PLOSZKA14. Public Administration, KINGA WOJTAS AND RAFAL MATYJA15. Decentralization and Local Politics, ADAM GENDZWILLPart IV. Mass Politics and Voters16. Nationalism, MARTA BUCHOLC AND IRENEUSZ PAWEL KAROLEWSKI17. Polarised Democracy: Diverging Attitudes Towards Democracy, AGNIESZKA KWIATKOWSKA AND KATARZYNA WALECKA18. Political Culture, JAN KUBIK, MICHAEL BERNHARD AND GRZEGORZ EKIERT19. Short-term Determinants of Electoral Behaviour: Economic Voting and Its Extensions, MICHAL KOTNAROWSKI20. The Social Structure and Electoral Behaviour, HUBERT TWORZECKI21. Electoral Turnout, MIKOLAJ CZESNIK AND PIOTR ZAGÓRSKI22. Mass Media and Political Communication, DAMIAN GUZEK, MAREK MAZUR AND KAROLINA KOC-MICHALSKA23. Social Media and Politics, PAWEL MATUSZEWSKI AND MAREK TROSZYNSKIPart V. Political Parties and the Party System24. Parliamentary and Presidential Elections, KATARZYNA SOBOLEWSKA-MYSLIK25. Party System: Stability and Change, RADOS?AW MARKOWSKI26. Party Regulation: A Laissez-Faire Affair, FERNANDO CASAL BÉRTOA AND INGRID VAN BIEZEN27. Party Funding Regulation: From De-communisation to De-stabilisation, FERNANDO CASAL BÉRTOA, TOMASZ GASIOR, MAGDALENA MUSIAL-KARG AND MARCIN WALECKI28. Political Parties as Organizations, KATARZYNA WALECKA AND MARIA WINCLAWSKA29. Pathways and Background of Political Leaders and Elites, MACIEJ HARTLINSKI30. Candidate Selection in National and European Parliament Elections, BEATA KOSOWSKA-GASTOL31. Political parties and Ideological Representation, BEN STANLEYParty VI. Society32. Gender and Politics, ANNA GWIAZDA33. Religion and Politics, ANNA GRZYMALA-BUSSE34. Social Movements and Protests, GRZEGORZ EKIERT, JAN KUBIK AND MICHAEL BERNHARD35. Social Capital and Civil Society, MICHAEL BERNHARD, JAN KUBIK AND GRZEGORZ EKIERT36. Interest Groups and Trade Unions, PATRYCJA ROZBICKA AND PAWEL KAMINSKI37. The Immigration Policy Debate in Poland, 1989-2023: From Institutionalisation to Instrumentalisation, JOANNA FOMINA AND JACEK KUCHARCZYKPart VII. Governance and Public Policies38. Dependency and developmentalism in Poland's FDI-led growth model, MAREK NACZYK39. Labour Market Policies, JOANNA TYROWICZ AND MARCIN BOJANOWSKI40. The evolution of social policy: continuity and change, DOROTA SZELEWA AND MICHAL POLAKOWSKI41. The politics and education policies, MACIEJ JAKUBOWSKI AND TOMASZ GAJDEROWICZ42. Health Policies, BARBARA WIECKOWSKA, ALDONA FRACZKIEWICZ-WRONKA, IGA RUDAWSKA AND CHRISTOPH SOWADA43. Corruption and anti-corruption policy in Poland, GRZEGORZ MAKOWSKI AND ADAM SAWICKIPart VIII. Poland and the European Union44. Poland in the European Union: the corrosion of consensus, ANNA PACZESNIAK45. Political Elites and the European Union, ALEKSANDRA SOJKA46. Explaining attitudes towards the EU, SIMONA GUERRA47. Between Europe and the Nation: The Polish Representation in the European Parliament, MAGDALENA GÓRA AND KATARZYNA ZIELINSKA48. Politicizing Europe: Challenges to Domestic Political Competition, WOJCIECH GAGATEK49. EU Decision-making: a Case of Differentiated (Dis)integration?, AGNIESZKA K. CIANCIARA50. Poland and the European Union's foreign policy, MONIKA SUSPart IX. Foreign Policy and Defence51. The awkward middle power: Poland's foreign policy after 1989, STEFAN SZWED52. Security and Geostrategy, BARTLOMIEJ E. NOWAK53. Poland's uneasy relations with its defence policy, OLAF OSICA54. Poland and the Visegrad Group, SEBASTIAN KUBAS55. Polish Eastern foreign policy from the postcolonial perspective, MICHAL NATORSKI56. Poland and Democracy Promotion, PAULINA POSPIESZNA AND TSVETA PETROVA

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