The Ecology of Transformation: The Impact of the Corporatist State on the Formation and Development of the Party System in Poland, 1989-93
The Ecology of Transformation: The Impact of the Corporatist State on the Formation and Development of the Party System in Poland, 1989-93
Author(s): Joanna J. MizgałaSubject(s): Civil Society, Political history, Government/Political systems, Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), Post-Communist Transformation
Published by: SAGE Publications Ltd
Keywords: Poland; development of party system; 1989-1993; civil society; democracy; government; transition;
Summary/Abstract: Philippe C. Schmitter is correct in saying that, in the absence of political participation "through political parties which compete to win electoral majorities, ally with others in dominant coalitions, or enter into consociational arrangements," a civil society is indispensable for "an effective and enduring challenge to authoritarian [or totalitarian] rule to be mounted." His second claim, though, that civil society is equally indispensable for "political democracy to become and remain an alternative mode of political domination" is less persuasive. One of the most striking features of the present "ecology of transformation" in Poland is the virtual abandonment of the recently popular concept of civil society as a meaningful reference in the political discourse. This happened because the concept lost its descriptive power that it had had in the totalitarian context, with "Solidarity" as a flagship of civil society then. [...]
Journal: East European Politics and Societies
- Issue Year: 08/1994
- Issue No: 02
- Page Range: 358-368
- Page Count: 11
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF