OBYWATEL CZASU TRANSFORMACJI - NIESPEŁNIONE NADZIEJE

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Date

2009

Advisor

Editor

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Wydział Prawa i Administracji UAM

Title alternative

CITIZEN OF THE TRANSITION - UNFULFILLED EXPECTATIONS

Abstract

The paper presents the formation process of democratic citizenship in Poland after 1989. Although the author looks at citizenship as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, the focus is put on the electoral behaviour of citizens, as it is believed to be the fundamental factor to the consolidation of democracy. Poland is an example of a state with a considerable tension, or incompatibility, between the legislative assumptions expected from citizens living in a democratic system and their actual civic practices. The election turn-out is generally low, Poles seem to have no specific political preferences and their civil rights awareness is generally poor. Only one in three adult citizens follows the basic standards of democratic citizenship while not more than 20% may be called “high-quality” citizens. Problems with citizenship do not result from a poor institutional design of democracy in Poland, or any particular difficulty encountered in its implementation. What seems to have been the case is that at the initial stage of transformation the existing electoral rules hampered the establishment of a stable party-based system. The fundamental modifications of these rules in 1993 confirmed that electoral volatility was the core factor of political instability. However, the author sees the establishment of democratic citizenship as a long-term process and is o f an opinion that despite the deficiencies currently being observed in civic practices o f the young democracy, there is no immediate or direct threat to Poland’s democracy.

Description

Sponsor

Keywords

Citation

Ruch Prawniczy, Ekonomiczny i Socjologiczny 71, 2009, z. 2, s. 397-421

Seria

ISBN

ISSN

0035-9629

DOI

Title Alternative

Rights Creative Commons

Creative Commons License

Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
Biblioteka Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego