Who’s to Blame? Elites and Enemies in Political Party Manifestos – The Case of Poland (2001–2023)
Who’s to Blame? Elites and Enemies in Political Party Manifestos – The Case of Poland (2001–2023)

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the actors subjected to criticism by Polish political parties between 2001 and 2023. It also assesses whether a relationship existed between the degree of anti-elitism or enemy discreditation in party manifestos and a party’s position within the political system or its ideological orientation. Elites were conceptualized as actors occupying a vertical relationship with ‘the people’, whereas enemies were characterized by a horizontal opposition. Five types of elites were identified: political, international, state, symbolic, and economic. Similarly, enemies were classified into five categories: geographical, legal, political, economic, and cultural. The article drew inspiration from the populism studies, particularly in its conceptualization of anti-elitism and the construction of enemies per se. Moreover, proposed was an approach that treated anti-elitism and enemy construction not as binary attributes, but as variable and gradable dimensions that could evolve over time—even within the same political parties—and were not exclusive to parties typically labelled as populist. The findings show that, in their manifestos, Polish parties devote significantly more attention to criticizing elites than to identifying enemies. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates that the specific types of targeted elites and enemies are shaped by distinct dynamics: some are primarily conditioned by a party’s position within the political system, whereas others stem chiefly from its ideological or economic profile.

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