Poland's Constitutional Breakdown

The Polish populist Law and Justice Party (PiS) has been dismantling the major checks and balances of the Polish state, restricting political rights, and capturing the state apparatus since 2015. This book examines the anti-democratic movements in Poland and poses three questions: what has happened, why did it happen, and what are the prospects for a return to liberal democracy? It argues that the Polish variant of illiberal democracy is an oxymoron, but that there are possible remedies and sources of hope, including intervention by the European Union.

Format: Hardback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 21 May 2019
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Since 2015, Poland's populist Law and Justice Party (PiS) has been dismantling the major checks and balances of the Polish state and subordinating the courts, civil service, and media to the will of the executive. Political rights have been radically restricted, and the Party has captured the entire state apparatus. The speed and depth of these antidemocratic movements took many observers by surprise: until now, Poland was widely regarded as an example of a successful transitional democracy. Poland's anti-constitutional breakdown poses three questions that this book sets out to answer: What, exactly, has happened since 2015? Why did it happen? And what are the prospects for a return to liberal democracy? These answers are formulated against a backdrop of current worldwide trends towards populism, authoritarianism, and what is sometimes called "illiberal democracy." As this book argues, the Polish variant of "illiberal democracy" is an oxymoron. By undermining the separation of powers, the PiS concentrates all power in its own hands, rendering any democratic accountability illusory. There is, however, no inevitability in these anti-democratic trends: this book considers a number of possible remedies and sources of hope, including intervention by the European Union.

Since 2015, Poland's populist Law and Justice Party (PiS) has been dismantling the major checks and balances of the Polish state and subordinating the courts, civil service, and media to the will of the executive. Political rights have been radically restricted, and the Party has captured the entire state apparatus. The speed and depth of these antidemocratic movements took many observers by surprise: until now, Poland was widely regarded as an example of a successful transitional democracy. Poland's anti-constitutional breakdown poses three questions that this book sets out to answer: What, exactly, has happened since 2015? Why did it happen? And what are the prospects for a return to liberal democracy? These answers are formulated against a backdrop of current worldwide trends towards populism, authoritarianism, and what is sometimes called "illiberal democracy." As this book argues, the Polish variant of "illiberal democracy" is an oxymoron. By undermining the separation of powers, the PiS concentrates all power in its own hands, rendering any democratic accountability illusory. There is, however, no inevitability in these anti-democratic trends: this book considers a number of possible remedies and sources of hope, including intervention by the European Union.

Weight: 614g
Dimension: 166 x 241 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780198840503