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The Self-governing Republic in the Third Republic

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Gliński P.

Polish Sociological Review

2006

vol. 153

issue 1

55-74

This article discusses The Self-governing Republic, a programmatic-ideological conception which was part of the “Solidarity” Program accepted at the union’s First Convention in 1981. This conception was rooted in the ideas of the democratic opposition of the nineteen-seventies but it also reflected the pivotal changes in social consciousness which took place in 1980–81. Its main focus were postulates for the development of democratic institutions in all walks of social, political and economic life, postulates concerning the development of participant institutions, and the postulate to lay the moral foundations for democracy (e.g., responsibility of those guilty of communist crimes). This text confronts the programmatic legacy of The Self-governing Republic with its only partial implementation after 1989. The foundations of procedural democracy had been lain by this time but development of themoral foundations for democratic transformation were conspicuously lacking. The institutions of social self-government were only partly developed in the formof territorial self-government and, not without considerable resistance, development of the NGO sector which became the main programmatic successor of “Solidarity’s” legacy. In the nineties those changes which did take place in this sector were mainly the result of grassroots pressure and foreign aid. Since 2001/2002, however, positive institutional improvements have been observed in the vicinity of this sector. These improvements correspond with the sector’s new conditions of functioning following Poland’s accession to the European Union.

Twenty Years of Civil Society in Poland?

100%

Gliński P.

Polish Sociological Review

2011

vol. 175

issue 3

271-300

This article synthetically presents the origins and development of civil society in post-1989 Poland. Having reviewed many years of research, the author proposes nine general theses which characterize these processes. 1) Civil society developed in seven basic socio-institutional areas including local communities, informal movements and initiatives, individual civic activity, some parishes and religious groups and the NGO sector. 2) Civil society in Poland is relatively small-scale and concentrated in enclaves. 3) Two major factors contributed to its development: bottom-up (grassroots) citizen activity and foreign support. 4) The Polish elite were a “grand absentee” in this process. 5) In addition to “betrayal by the elite,” other significant barriers to the development of civil society in Poland can also be identified. 6) The civil sector in Poland continues to be a wasted opportunity and potential. 7)After 2000 a specific, pro-developmental institutional change has been observed in the civil society area but has not yet produced positive effects. 8) Following the EU accession in 2004, partial “Europeanization” of civil society took place in Poland but its impact on the civil sector has been equivocal, at least so far. 9) Development of civil structures is essential for the normal functioning of democracy (at least in Polish conditions): civil society, based on the unique capacity to develop secondary groups, cannot be substituted in this role by quasi-civic, primary attachments and structures.

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The Self-governing Republic in the Third Republic

Twenty Years of Civil Society in Poland?