Zmiany w świadomości społeczeństwa polskiego w latach osiemdziesiątych
Changes in the Polish society’s awareness in the 1980s

Summary/Abstract: The paper represents an attempt to characterise the political awareness among the public in Poland in the period preceding the systemic transformation and to provide answers to the questions of whether and to what extent the impending changes and trends could have been predicted based on the results of research into the public awareness; also, which changes were accepted by the society and whether it was prepared for the subsequent transformation. Taking into consideration the economic and political situation existing at that time, i.e. the situation of a deep economic crisis and a bitter political conflict, the paper presents views, opinions and beliefs concerning the way of perceiving the parties to the conflict and the responsibility for the crisis, the existing political system and the desirable trends in its development as well as preferences related to the manner of reforming the economy. The conclusions that are suggested by the results of the research can be summarised by stating that the general trends in the changes (i.e. democracy, albeit not without some reservations, and the economy, and free market economy including a private sector) were quite prominent in the thinking of the society but the later developments turned out to be more radical than postulated by the society, especially in the economic sphere.

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