POLISH NEW AUTHORITARIANISM IN A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu23.2018.306Abstract
Poland’s political development since the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2015 lead to the debate over the future of democracy in the country which in 1989 was the pioneer of democratic transformations in the then socialist states. Contrary to Huntington’s “third reverse wave” hypothesis, Poland has not become a military dictatorship and for a long time her democratic system was considered a success story. Neo-authoritarian regimes have been established in the 21st century in several states which recently departed from dictatorships. They differ from classical authoritarianism (as defined by Juan Linz) since the ruling parties come to power in the freely contested elections, confirm their mandate to rule in several consecutive votes and rule with the minimal use of coercion. Nonetheless they are authoritarian since they tend to subordinate all organs of the state, including the judiciary and the civil service, as well as state-owned media to the will of the ruling elite and try to limit the role of the structures of civil society. Poland has been recently subject to international criticism for having moved in this direction but the process has not been yet completed. It therefore offers interesting perspectives for comparative analysis.
Keywords:
Authoritarianism, democracy, elections, elites, leadership, parties, rule of law, third reverse wave
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