Дефекти демократії Польщі: неліберальна інституціалізація 2015–2018 років

Abstract

The relevance of the topic is caused by the formation of illiberal democracy regimes in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the last decade, which are a threat in the context of the values of a democratic country with rule of law. The current political process in this region of Europe proves that country's self-positioning as a democratic state does not certify its absolute characteristics as such. The democratic façade may mask various deformations, such as restrictions in freedom of speech, association rights, pressure on judicature, etc. The analysis of such defects of democracy on the example of Poland in the period of 2015–2018 was the aim of this study, which was prepared on the basis of neo-institutionalism methodology. The author argue that Poland has been undergoing a series of radical institutional changes, aimed at the transition from liberal to illiberal democracy. The article states that from late 2015 (when the “Law and 5ustice” party won the elections at different levels), the political consensus concerning the basic elements of liberal democratic order, which had existed in Poland for a quarter of century, was violated. Within the last three years a system of “managed democracy” has been being built. Despite the active protests of the civic society and the threat of EU sanctions, the “Law and 5ustice” party has been gradually expanding its control over the country's viability. The author states that the illiberal democratization of Poland manifests itself mainly in the following spheres: 1) strengthening the state control over public media, as well as different forms of oppression against the private opposition media; 2) changes in the appointment proce-dures of senior civil servants and in requirements for candidates for public offices; 3) the reform of the judiciary system, which is actually aimed at establishing the control of the ruling “Law and 5ustice” party over the Poland's judicial vertical. It is emphasized that the rapid change of the country's institutional standards by the authorities and the introduction of anti-democratic procedures weakens the Polish democracy significantly. The author states that one can observe a significant deterioration in the quality of democracy around the world in the last decade. There are many more countries that failed at democratization than those that have achieved some progress. In addition, such processes are characteristic not only for underdeveloped countries, but also for the EU member states, such as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, etc.