Oligarchia w Polsce ‒ dlaczego jej nie ma?

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explain the special feature of the contemporary Polish economy which is the lack of oligarchy after 30 years of the post-communist transformation.The article consists of three parts. The first covers the theoretical and methodological framework for further analysis. We present the definitions and classifications of oligarchy and oligarchic systems in the modern world and provide a brief overview of the literature on the subject and the state of knowledge.In the second part, we explain the lack of an oligarchic system in Poland, linking this fact with specific elements of the socialist heritage and with the model of economic transformation and privatisation adopted in this country during the first years of the systemic reforms.In the third part, we present two paradoxes that are related to the oligarchisation of post-communist economies and, indirectly, to the assessment of the Polish path of economic and political transformation. We show that oligarchy and the relatively large sector of state-owned enterprises determine two different models of rent-seeking. The aim of this study is to explain the special feature of the contemporary Polish economy which is the lack of oligarchy after 30 years of the post-communist transformation.

State Capitalism as a Crisis of Imagination. Factory Farms in the Polish People’s Republic in the 1970s

“…The dramatic rise in the number of bred and slaughtered animals meant a rapid increase in the meat supply over just a few years -both for export and for the internal market. This rapid growth was made possible by positive trends in international trade, the consequences of planned austerity in the previous decade, and favorable weather conditions that enabled exceptionally large harvests in 1970and 1971(Bałtowski 2009. Additionally, extensive loans, both from the Soviet Union and Western countries, played a crucial role, providing Polish authorities with the opportunity to "import consumptionism" (Zaręba 2003).…”

State Capitalism in Poland

“…On the one hand, it stemmed from certain general principles of the state's economic policy early into the transition process, providing for separating the political sphere from the economy, as adopted as part of the so-called "Balcerowicz Plan" of post-communist economic reforms adopted in autumn 1989. On the other hand, it is the effect of the SOEs privatization model adopted in Poland, based on slow but transparent ownership transformation, without privileges for domestic capital (Bałtowski & Sękowski, 2021).…”