Personaly, I believe that Poland is going to choose the National and conservative way to keep it identity from the dangerous of deformity and change.

Personaly, I believe that Poland is going to choose the National and conservative way to keep it identity from the dangerous of deformity and change.

Im a right wing conservative my self but putting the judiciary under political control and infringe upon press freedom..is that a good path to trek?I seldom let my political or religious convictions guide me when I write an article for example.. I mainly deal with journalism nowadays and to be unbiased is ( for me ) important but nationalism, we been there with Hitler, genocide in the Balkans and a much softer form in Brexit...a most uncertain experiment etc ( My view).. Now I don't mean flying your flag or chanting Palestine , Palestine or USA, USA when your team is playing if you live in Ramallah or NY...that can be a positive and fun form of nationalism...but when it seeks to divide us or creates false narratives or rewrites history that is in my view at least a negative or even dangerous form of nationalism.... Change can be good..If you live in Venezuela or Syria I think all you want is change, any change. But for most of us...the question is change, in what direction..:-)

Mr Andrzej Duda has narrowly won Poland's democratic election, but a win is a win. We should congratulate him on the achievement. A strong and vibrant Polish opposition (slightly less than half of the electorate) is in a good position to insist on constitutionality and to fight attempts to erode the independence of the judiciary and the press. If it fails the Poles themselves will be entirely to blame, for in a democracy people get the kind of government they not only like but deserve. I'm, of course, assuming the elections were not rigged. As for the EU, it is their democratic right to belong, or not to belong, to this voluntary union. The UK is demonstrating that there can be life outside the EU.

Let me first say they: I am not astonished about authoritarian trends in Euope, where I do live and travel mainly. The EU is surely a benevolent technocracy, but not a democratic body of institutions. Brexit has consequences for the Polish situation as many reform measures came from Britain. The whole anti-democratic nationalism comes from a mood of disappointment, with respect to the role of the 'West' and extreme parameters of income distribution in the 'East'. Maximal individual gains (many of them really not legal='Blitz'-monopoly of privatization, around 1990) have been achieved to the social cost of the average citizen. Freedom (free minds and markets) is much more than crony capitalism; it is this mentioned cronyism that drives the masses (of voters and non-voters) mad and pushes them into the hand of 'Führers' ('leadership anti-democracy').

http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/free_market.html

Amazingly empty article. Well-known statement of election results, no more. To write about Poland, but not to mention its tense relations with Russia - this must be specially tried. Polish politicians (as well as the politicians of the author’s current country of residence) are actively playing the “threat from the East,” which exists only in their minds. As a resident of Russia, I must emphasize that Poland does not appear on the list of interests of the majority (as well as the Baltic states). Of course, there are interests of Russian corporations, but they concern only money, by no means democracy, etc. By the way, the aforementioned Hungary is also not an example of a good attitude towards the inhabitants of Russia, but this does not prevent them from pursuing a more reasonable (and pragmatic) Eastern policy, while remaining a member of NATO and the EU. Does reference to Santayana mean "historical memory" of the Russian Empire and the USSR? Likely. So this historical memory throws back, causing us to associate between the current EU + NATO and the Napoleonic Empire (if not the Third Reich).

One way or another, the Poles made their choice, because this is their country, is it not?

The article was a news article abou the election and not about Russia or general politics. Sad you didnt like it but ok . Best wishes

Unfortunately, some are doing everything to steal European identity. Such threads are obliging Poland and other countries to draw the specifed and private identity .

Regarding news articles. Fact 1 you get one page and if you write more or go in to Ottoman or Ukrainian links to Poland they cut it out, or simply dont publish it. 2 yes it is a conplicated issue but also an interesting one that stirrs up a lot of emotions 3 News articles are written for a specific target audience , in this and most other cases not professors or ppl interested to a nerdish level regarding a certain subject. Regarding Poland... Im a conservative but Im not sure I like PIS. If you want to write a news article about poland and the Ottoman empire or Russia, do so.. It can be interesting but always think about what I listed under point 1. Edit edit edit cut ,cut cut or just a days work for nothing...media is very different from academia, that is why they seldom mix best wishes..

@Stephen I fully agree. The EU lacks a lot in terms of democracy and yes.I agree 🙂

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48256318

This statistical comparision of net contributors/recipients says a lot about EU dynamics, with Poland being definitely a net recipient. The former Visegrad countries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visegr%C3%A1d_Group were baited into the EU, despite known economic facts. Jaques Delors was right, when he spoke about 3 speeds ('trois vitesse') in Europe. We have too much top-down techno-cratic planning in the EU and very little bottom-up spontaneity, in terms of Hayekian thought: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_order

I observed the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquis_communautaire

in the mentioned countries, which did not convince me, from the very first moment of implementation. It is this capitalist planned economy approach, which works for equally potent economies maybe well, that endangers the future of free European integration. The following interview offers the Greek perspective:

Preprint THE DONOUSA MIRACLE

Dear Stephen, I agree with your argumentation. I also think that the EU has grown way to fast and in my native Sweden there is an increasing frustration that "we" have to pay for the reconstruction of Eastern Europe and that the East is a burden. This is an argument I hear more and more and I think in many ways it is a rightful argument to make. The east doesn't have the same culture or mentality, I have been living in Eastern Europe for a while and when I first came there I was chocked how different things could be compared to home. In my view the EU should not seek to further expand to the east because the economical, cultural and historical barriers are very hard to overcome.

Perhaps the 3 speed EU can be a solution? I don't know but one thing is for sure. I did a ( Scientific) study for an institution some years back and I would say the further expansion of the EU is a problematic issue. First there is a lack of democracy in the EU structure it self and also the views regarding democracy on a national level differs a lot between for example Poland and the Nordic countries. For me a non independent judiciary is a big no no no but for 50+ percent of Poles it is not or at least it is not a question they put much weight on..perhaps because they dont understand the consequences or perhaps their narrative is different or there might also be other reasons.

What is happening in Poland however scares me, same as Hungary but the Polish people are free to make their own choices..however in my view they should be careful because a return to autocratic rule is not so far away as some might think..Best wishes

But in my experience sharing ones political views today is a risk...it might lead to as some one ( Clint Eastwood I think) said; Speak the truth and watch your Facebook friend list cleanse it self...its almost as risky as telling people how much you detest quantitative research methods ( In my case because I hate statistics, R, Python etc..although Im the proud owner of 2 Boa Constrictor snakes)...I wonder how many followers I lost on RG now?... 1..2...3..*poff* :-)

Spain and Portugal together (1986) did receive more money transfers than all Eastern Europe. The view from the West (former colonial countries) or the North ( out of the greater transit zones) is very different, if compared to the South (Mediterranean) or to the East (open to Asia). People like Helmut Kohl https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Kohl were products of a certain region in the West (Rhineland-Palatine), definitely of good will, but limited in their personal travel experiences to other regions of Europe. I travelled Europe by feet and bicycle, so I have a different view of this Eurasian penisula. Freedom is under attack in Europe, but what will happen after E.Macron in France? Economically speaking, there is too little economic growth in the moment, too much depressive recession, and people turm to their old national values. Yehuda Bauer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yehuda_Bauer said , the situation is not the same, but similar to the 1930s.Just look at the unemployment rate of young people in Europe; very bad data !!! A Soviet diplomat told me at the end of the 1980s: this will lead to a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhic_victory of the West. The hidden agenda of the border openings in Europe, a commont market against Asian competition, was not a bad idea, but who needs an ever closer political union of central planning agency? I must also mention the unreasonable and continued cooperation of Western mulitnationals with the PRC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China and CPC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_China , after 1990.

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http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/socialism.html

Why has Poland generated this extreme government with its corruption of the courts and domination of the media and persecution of minorities? What is it that has allowed this to happen in Poland but not in, say, the Baltic countries? And not in the Czech Republic or Slovakia? (Or for that matter not in Finland, Austria, Italy, France, etc, etc?) And why did Russia and other former Soviet countries (the “stans”) turn into despotisms? I expect Poland would be as bad as those countries but for the inhibiting effects of its EU membership.

Why do some countries fail and not others? Consider all those South American countries which have been trying to sustain democracy for two centuries and just can’t. Compare with the much younger Canada, Australia and New Zealand which don’t have a problem.

What’s wrong with these countries that they can’t get their act together? A couple more examples are Philippines and Indonesia where autocracy and minority persecution (they go together, don’t they?) are rife.

What’s the problem? Just this: their chief executive is directly elected by the people. It sounds democratic but it is actually demagogic.

Such a simple thing. Can it be true? Or have I carefully selected my examples to suit? I leave that to the reader to ponder. If I am right, Ukraine hasn’t got a chance and if Poland leaves the EU it will go bad properly.

Presidentialism—the direct election of the chief executive—has failed in all countries where it has been tried. There is one exception, the USA, but that’s another discussion.

Ach that result in Poland is sad...

a liberal conservative narrowly misses the win over a right wing conservative who says gays and lesbians are not natuaral lifeforms...

This President Duda and his PiS regime is clearly polarizing in Poland and the EU. And the country is torn (towns vs. country, young vs. old, adaptable modern vs. chanceless and old)...

This torn situation strongly reminds me of Brexit and other catastophes and populistic leadsrs Trump in the USA, Bolsonaro in Brazil and the outcomes (observe the high death toll of Covid-19 in the USA, UK, Brazil)...

Maybe we should based on Hegel's assertion that everything that exists is reasonable and not try to break the situation "through the knee"? Maybe there a problem in the EU?

The last phrase that I heard from the representative of the "new EU member": "The managers of the State Planning Committee of the USSR were pure democrats in comparison with the Brussels officials ..."

If this happens in Poland, Hungary, etc., then this is not someone's ill will, but a completely natural process, unaccounted for by the initiators of the idea of EU enlargement. But it's easier to talk about the influence of Russian and others despoty, etc. In Poland (as well as in Hungary, by the way), there is a tradition and even cult of struggle for independence. Brussels officials managed no to take this in account. Same way they did not notice the national characteristics of the Italians (I was just in Italy when the euro was introduced, I dare say that liberal democracy for typical Italian is not the most important thing in life). The methods used by the EU are good for completely impoverished countries, they will just ecstatically repeat democratic mantras, but will they do something?

Mike Pepperday - maybe worth checking your statement against e.g Slovakia, that you mention as a positive example of a country in Eastern Europe that did not succumb to totalitarian thinking - they also have the direct election of their President. What's more, the current President Zuzana Čaputova actually stands out as an example of a politically inclusive, active yet respectful president who tries to embrace all walks of life people might have in her country, including different political affiliations.

I wish the answers to European (or Polish) problem were as easy as the one you suggested but it is most likely much more complex.

Dear Vadim..there are plenty of problems with the EU, lack of democracy is one thing and another thing is that I think a lot of people view the EU as something not relevant and not important in their life. Im a federalist and I believe in the creation of a European version of the USA. There are those who believes in a much weaker EU also, but what ever you believe in one thing is for sure and that is that this hybrid model we now have isn't really a good solution in the long run. I think we must decide which way to go... fully in or fully out...one foot inside the door and the other outside just doesn't cut it in the long run... BREXIT was a prime example of this. Best wishes Henrik

Very interesting and important opinions about the essence of democracy and its analysis on the example of a selected country. This is a very good topic for research. If you conduct scientific research in this topic, I will gladly join the research team.

Best regards,

Dariusz Prokopowicz

Dariusz Prokopowicz I will try to find the time to write more research articles so interesting idea....I got two under second cycle revision at the moment but Poland and democracy is a very interesting topic. Im interested in the psychological connection and since Im of Polish/jewish origin, Poland is of interest to me...I would love to write something different so why not about Poland :-) Lately I have picked up something I did when I was young, writing newspaper articles.. I realised how much I missed it but I must be more productive in academia haha You live in Poland now? Best wishes Henrik

@ Zuzana Jara

Yes, Slovakia has a popularly elected president. So do Finland, Austria, and Iceland. They are figurehead presidents. It is the popularly elected chief executive (invariably called "president" hence the label "presidentialism") that is deadly.

France is semi-presidential. I presume it is its powerful parliament that keeps it from turning into an autocracy. AFAIK no country (except the US) has managed to sustain democracy with a directly elected chief executive.

Of course a parliamentary system is no guarantee. But all the countries which have sustained democracy over the long term are parliamentary - except the US. And not merely sustain - those democracies are tough. They survived the traumas of the 20th century and it appears that once established, they cannot be corrupted.

Duda's victory was definitely facilitated by the unlimited resources thrown by the government into his campaign and the state TV's propaganda barrage. Add to this the shameless (and quickly revoked) promises of more money pumped into pensions, bribing local governments with such "awards" delivered to local communities for high voting turnout (and above all, for voting for Duda) as fire engines and cash (doesn't matter that already granted), and one can get plausible explanations for this 'victory.'

Add to this the support expressed by numerous members of the Roman Catholic clergy and bishops.

Last, but not least, Duda's spin doctors deliberately pushed society into a quasi religious-ideological warfare by demonising LGBT communities. You may not like what I say, but the issue of LGBT rights has been SECONDARY for the Polish society before these elections. Thus we can see the whole cynicism and nihilism on the part of Duda and his team, and naivety and, yes, intolerance among many voters.

As someone who voted by mail abroad, I can also assure everyone that the organisation of these elections by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was scandalous and reeks of sabotage. B.t.w., minister Jacek Czaputowicz, one of the most accomplished Freedom and Peace (WiP) movement activists under Communism and a "minister without qualities" under Kaczyński, will be stepping down soon.

I would also like to make few other points.

1. We should not dismiss the popular appeal of the PiS, which had won loyalty (one may also think of "complacency"...) of millions of voters for its popular welfare policies. The opposition had long and unwisely contested the rationale of 500zl+/child subsidies. Trzaskowski was one of the first Civic Platform politicians who admitted that this was a mistake. The PiS government also raised minimal pay. These facts should not be taken lightly.

2. The impact of C19 is usually mentioned in the context of the aborted elections in May, but it was relevant in June and July because the country has done relatively well in comparison to southern and north-western Europe, not to mention Russia. Whether the Morawiecki government should take a full credit for this is another issue, but the benefits of the country's going to into an early lockdown in March are indisputable.

3. Duda and the whole PiS still find common ground with a lot of Poles by choosing not to lecture them, but to accept them as they are. Social conservatism, nationalism, and Polonocentrism are not treated as maladies, but as assets. Compare it with attitudes displayed by political pundits coming from the ranks of the progressive intelligentsia and middle class. Honestly, I could not understand Jacek Żakowski's attacks on Szymon Hołownia who came respectfully third in the fist leg and whose platform can be described as relatively progressive Christian Democracy. Now, Hołownia's lack of unanimous support for Trzaskowski in the second vote probably cost the latter presidency. I predict that Hołownia's 'social movement' will follow the fate of Paweł Kukiz who came third in 2015. Still, he and his supporters shouldn't have been demonised for their Catholicism.

I am pessimistic, more than I was in 2015. You can refer to my piece from The World Today, "Poland in the grip of nationalism," which I published in February 2016. https://www.academia.edu/22694480/Poland_in_the_grip_of_nationalism

The main idea behind democratic elections like the one in Poland is essentially a transition to democracy where people's' voice matters. Indubitably, Poland is potentially ready to experience the inherent merits of liberalism or more likely the admixture of both nationalism and liberalism simultaneously.

Dear Reza..in Poland..lets agree to deeply! Disagree regarding the future development. Im a right wing conservatism but authoritaism is nothing I like. Same as I like separation of powers..something that is being undone In Poland right now. Poland is on a scary path towards dictatorship. Best wishes.

Conservative..I cant spell..mornings 🤣