Furnishing Democracy at the End of the Century: The Polish Round Table and Others
Furnishing Democracy at the End of the Century: The Polish Round Table and Others
Author(s): Elżbieta MatyniaSubject(s): Political history, Government/Political systems, Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), Post-Communist Transformation
Published by: SAGE Publications Ltd
Keywords: Poland; political history; postcommunist transformation; Polish Round Table talks; political change; democracy;
Summary/Abstract: The Polish Round Table talks began on 6 February 1989, and concluded on April 5, at a time when to most people the communist system throughout the Bloc still seemed to be going strong. Clearly those talks were a lot less visually spectacular and telegenic than all that joyous hammering at the Berlin Wall half a year later. And yet, looked at from the distance of a decade, the Round Table can be seen not only as having an important place in the series of events that opened a Pandora's box in the Eastern Bloc: even more importantly, perhaps, it can also be seen as one of a small number of cases over the past quarter of a century in which people have devised and tested a new formula for bringing about thoroughgoing political change without violence or the use of force. [...]
Journal: East European Politics and Societies
- Issue Year: 15/2001
- Issue No: 02
- Page Range: 454-471
- Page Count: 18
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF