In recent years, we have seen how far-right populism has gained a footing in what many would consider to be some of the world’s strongest democracies. From the United States, to France, to Germany, to Italy, to Poland, etc., right-wing populism is quickly increasing in popularity, and to the detriment of our most sacred democratic institutions. In Populism: A Very Short Introduction, Cas Mudde defines populism to be, “a thin-centered ideology that considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic camps, “the pure people” versus “the corrupt elite,” and which argued that politics should be an expression of the general will of the people” (Mudde 2017). This belief of the people vs the elite is central to right-wing populist ideology throughout the above mentioned democracies.
In the United States, an armed mob stormed the Capitol Building in an effort to block the counting of electoral votes, a practice required by the United States Constitution, for a presidential election they deemed to be fraudulent. Many of these insurrectionists had ties to white supremacist groups like the Proud Boys, further providing evidence for the fact that much of the right-wing populism present in the United States is rooted in nationalism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration sentiments, as it also is in other Western European democracies.
However, the democracy-threatening actions of right-wing populists are not always as evident as the storming of a Capitol building. In many instances, they are much more insidious, and done while exercising seemingly wide public support. Poland provides a compelling case-study into this phenomenon of populists conspicuously subverting democracy and breaking down democratic institutions from within.
Poland’s current ruling party, the Law and Justice Party (PiS), experiences wide support from rural Poland and conservative Catholics. They espouse a lot of nationalist rhetoric and are unfriendly to the LGBTQ community, with Poland’s president Andrzej Duda promising to, “defend children from LGBT ideology.” The PiS has threatened many of Poland’s democratic institutions like the media and the judiciary, which provides further evidence that right-wing populism can be extremely harmful to democracies.
PiS has destroyed the autonomy of the judiciary system, in fact they have systematically dismantled it. They have done this in many ways, but one of the most alarming actions was in early 2020 when President Duda signed off on a law that would punish any judge who criticizes the government’s changes to the judicial system. This law stripped the judiciary of its independence and placed the executive branch above the judicial branch. According to the First President of the Supreme Court, “this means we no longer are a democracy based on the rule of law, as defined by our constitution.” Before this law was passed in 2020 however, the PiS party had been hard at work trying to purge judges who were unfriendly to the party from the courts. In 2017 a bill was introduced to lower the retirement age, which would have made nearly half of the Supreme Court’s judges ineligible. Judges who try to speak out about these changes are met with harassment by the TVP, a government-funded media program that is supportive of the PiS. They have also filled the constitutional tribunal, which decides whether or not new laws are constitutional with judges that support the party. PiS’ overhaul of the judicial system has worried the European Union so much so that it invoked Article 7 in 2017, which means that if Poland does not comply with EU standards and demands, they may be removed. However, removal from the EU may not be such a blow to the PiS party as part of their platform is being anti-EU and they seek a “Ploexit.”
PiS has also attacked the free press. As recently as August of 2021, PiS introduced a bill that would bar any non-European ownership of Polish news outlets. This would mean that TVN, which is owned by the American company Discovery, would cease to exist, creating a problem as this is one of the most prominent news outlets criticizing the PiS. This bill is emblematic of the party’s desire to purge any media that is unfriendly, therefore threatening free, independent press as well as freedom of speech. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) have also been weaponized to silence critics of the government. SLAPPs are invoked against journalists and other critics of the government in an effort to silence opposition. Without freedom of the press, it is becoming increasingly hard to hold the PiS accountable and to expose their corrupt and un-democratic behavior to voters.
The democratic erosion that is taking place in Poland right now is especially troubling, as in the wake of the collapse of the U.S.S.R Poland fought hard to institute democracy as well as to support the establishment of democracy in other former soviet countries. It should be concerning to the entire international community that a democracy that is a member of the European Union is so grossly limiting free press and free speech, does not protect the human rights of the LGBTQ community, and is eroding institutions like the judiciary. In Poland, we are seeing in real-time how dangerous far-right populism can be for democracy.
Hi Emily!! I really enjoyed reading your post, it is very informative and well written! Before reading this I did not know much about what is occurring in Poland. I am shocked! I truly can’t believe how blatantly they are eroding their democracy and it seems that the international community is not really doing anything about it. I really liked how you gave the example of the January 6th events to show how we experienced a very evident demonstration of an eroding democracy and compared it to Poland subtly eroding their democracy. The way you wrote your post made it very clear that they are experiencing democratic erosion but since there has not been an obvious event such as the January 6th event in the US, it might be hard for Polish citizens to grasp what is occurring right in front of them. Everything that is occurring within Poland’s judiciary system is truly shocking, they are trying to cut out judges who don’t agree with them and lower the retirement age to basically kick half of the judges out. This seems like a major red flag to me and a great cause for concern. Especially given the other things occurring such as how the LGBTQ+ community is treated, as well as the attempt to silence any opposing voices. Once the executive branch is more powerful than the other branches, in this case the judicial branch, that is a great cause for concern. On top of the limits occurring in terms of free speech and press, I think Poland’s democracy is in serious trouble. I am curious to see how this will play out, do you think Poland will be able to regain control of their democracy or do you think they will continue spiraling downward?
Hello Emily, I felt like this blog post was very strong and really illustrated in great detail the democracy-eroding actions and elements of Poland that have stemmed from far-right politicians and movements. The danger to democracy is clear, and at least in Poland’s case, has already been underway by limiting and punishing the judiciary and the press. I only had a basic understanding of some of the happenings in Poland, so this was very informative and made your points effective in conveying your argument about far-right extremism. The hyperlinks were also a great idea that improve this paper as a blog post even further. Outside of the blog itself taking a few paragraphs to actually get to the subject of Poland, I feel like this is very strong overall. Even with that being said, the introduction laid a nice foundation for the point you are trying to make about populism. Ultimately by the end, I want to know your thoughts on the future, where does it go from here. These elements are clearly corrosive, but do you see hope for Poland, or are we nowhere near rock bottom yet? Likewise, with the US example, do you see the US following a similar route with such democracy eroding elements and behavior, or can the US pull itself back from going down a road like that.
This was insane to read about! I’ve only read a couple of news articles covering some anti-democratic behavior that Polish legislatures are exhibiting right now, mostly about the anti-LGTBQ rhetoric and anti-abortion issues that are taking place within the government right now. It is interesting to see the specific things the PiS party is doing to slowly erode democracy away, such as putting heavier limits on the freedom of speech and media. I wonder if this erosion is going to continue until it is a fully autocratic country like what has been seen in multiple latin American countries, such as with former Bolivian President Evo Morales. It is interesting to see these connections within many sensitive democracies. Do you think that Polish democracy can be saved, and if so, how can it be saved? With elections? With protesting? If not, is the country at stake for a very dangerous autocrat to take power within the country?
Based on your description of recent developments, Poland seems to represent a case of Ozan Varol’s concept of stealth authoritarianism. Instead of using outright repression of opponents and complete disregard for the rule of law, stealth authoritarians hide their anti-democratic actions under the veil of law and attempt to make them appear legitimate and justifiable.
The two methods of media censorship you describe—the prohibition of non-European ownership of news outlets and the use of lawsuits against journalists—are both characteristic of stealth authoritarianism. In the first case, the PiS can justify the ban on non-European ownership of news outlets by arguing that it is important to limit foreign influence on media and politics. Meanwhile, most view it as a thinly veiled effort to root out critical coverage. The use of lawsuits against journalists is another favored tactic of stealth authoritarians because lawsuits create a chilling effect on critical coverage without the same backlash as outright repression.
Regarding the PiS’ actions on the judiciary, both the ends and the means exhibit features of stealth authoritarianism. First, the attempt to consolidate power through the judiciary is often a goal of these regimes, and Poland is no exception. Further, two of the methods for consolidating power—pursuing laws that are present in strongly democratic countries and operating within legal rules—are characteristic of stealth authoritarianism. For example, the implementation of a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices is consistent with liberal democracies such as Canada, Britain, and Australia. However, in Poland, this change represented an attempt to replace justices with ones friendly to the party. Despite their anti-democratic practices, the PiS’ has operated within the bounds of the law. Each of these examples suggests the PiS is being strategic about its anti-democratic ambitions, creating unique challenges for countering them.