Poland's Quasi-Institutionalized Party System: The Importance of Elites and Institutions

Abstract

This paper examines the evolution and characteristics of the Polish party system in the period 1991-2007, using the framework of institutionalization. Key moments in the development of the party system are identified by analyzing the results of six consecutive parliamentary elections. At the onset of the development of democratic politics, the party system was characterized by instability and under-institutionalization. By the end of the second decade, it displayed strong signs of structural stabilization and some evidence of the stability of inter-party competition and party institutionalization, implying that the Polish party system is quasi-institutionalized. Moreover, the paper attempts to explain the results by focusing on elite behaviour and institutions.

The Ties that Bind: Do Group Associations among Legislators Matter for Political Parties?

“…Yet where nonpartisan group loyalty is important, the effects are substantively significant given the prima facie strength of party unity and cohesion. Carey and Reynolds 2007;Field 2013), yet despite this the party systems can be volatile (see Gwiazda 2009;Markowski 2006Markowski , 2008Zieliński et al 2005). I empirically demonstrate that who MPs are matters-so much so that their characteristics and shared identities may form the basis of competing parties or weaken them.…”

“…Since the collapse of communism, instability strongly characterizes the party systems in Central and Eastern Europe: political parties have appeared and disappeared at each electoral cycle, MPs frequently switch parties, and governments turn over regularly (Gwiazda 2009;Nalewajko and Wesołowski 2007;Zieliński et al 2005). Yet, despite this sort of instability, political parties in many new democracies worldwide appear surprisingly cohesive (see Carey and Reynolds 2007;Field 2013;Heller and Mershon 2008).…”

Dissatisfied with Decentralisation: Explaining Citizens' Evaluations of Poland's 1999 Health Care Reforms

“…3 In 1997, many of these rightist parties came back under the banner of the Solidarity Electoral Alliance. Central to AWS' platform in the 1997 election was the introduction of administrative reform and decentralisation, as a way to promote Catholic anti-communist values (Szczerbiak, 1999a(Szczerbiak, , 1999bGwiazda, 2009). AWS leaders wanted 'competitive private insurance, private provision of health service, and separation of ambulatory and in-patient services' (Bossert & Włodarczyk, 2000, p. 18).…”

Between domestic politics and ecological crises: (De)legitimization of Polish environmentalism

“…Meanwhile, the 2010 plane crash near Smolensk, which took the life of the president Lech Kaczynski and 95 other people on board, mostly political and military elite, initiated a process of increased politicization of all aspects of public life. The party system, highly volatile throughout the 1990s (Gwiazda 2009), finally reached visible structural stabilization and (quasi)institutionalization with the struggle of two dominant partiesthe liberal-conservative Civic Platform (PO) and right-wing populist Law and Justice (PiS). PO's record eight-year tenure between 2007 and 2015 was a time of growing partisan entrenchment and the development of parallel public spheres with 'media bubbles' and divergent value systems.…”