EN
Since the notion of Polish constitutional principle of the rule of law (zasada 'panstwa prawnego') is quite vague and too general, it is often used in a manipulative way in the political discourse on vetting. Analysis of political discourse in the articles from Polish daily national newspapers 'Gazeta Wyborcza' and 'Rzeczpospolita' (January - June 2005) shows how representatives of the symbolic elites of Polish society use arguments based on the Polish constitutional principle in order to demonstrate the need for vetting or lack of it. The Polish concept of the rule of law bears a different meaning depending on the context. The paper illustrates how institutional positions of the elite representatives as well as their language competency - as Pierre Bourdieu remarked - influence their persuasive power.