Democratization in Poland: The First Law on Political Parties [1989-2000]

Far from naturally imposing itself as self-evident, party dominance over political competition in post-communist Poland is the product of a long & contentious process. The study of the conditions under which the first law on political parties was passed in 1990 retraces the symbolic battles that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Critique internationale (Paris. 1998) 2006-01 (1), p.161-175
Main Author: Heurtaux, Jerome
Format: Article
Language:fre
Subjects:
Hostility
Law
Poland
Political Parties
Postcommunist Societies
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Summary:Far from naturally imposing itself as self-evident, party dominance over political competition in post-communist Poland is the product of a long & contentious process. The study of the conditions under which the first law on political parties was passed in 1990 retraces the symbolic battles that marked the genesis of party democracy, which opposed politicians with different interests who each struggled to impose a legitimate vision of political sparring. This contest arises more from the state of the political checkerboard than from legal necessity. This is why the law, at first tabled by communist members of parliament, encountered hostility on the part of Solidarnosc elites, who in the end were won over to it. The study of political codes during a regime change reveals how high the stakes were in defining the actors entitled to participate in democratic representation & in blocking out the contours of the political space. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:1290-7839