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The development of Poland's right : from reliance on historical rivalries to stable party platforms
(2009)
  • Ashley K. Timidaiski, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Abstract
Many predicted that Poland's developing political party system would favor a strong right wing due to several preexisting qualities: Poland's less oppressive communist regime, the strong presence of the Catholic Church in Polish society, and the power of Solidarity - Poland's exceptionally large anti-communist opposition movement. However Poland's Right remained weak and fragmented for over a decade after the transition from communism. This thesis posits that the weakness of Poland's Right was due to their reliance on historical rivalries between the Solidarity-successor and Communist-successor parties as a campaign platform instead of creating a cohesive political ideology under unified leadership, as was exemplified by the failed right-wing coalition of the 1990s, Solidarity Electoral Action. In conclusion, it was not until the 2005 and 2007 elections, when the Right was forced to compete against each other, that the historical rivalry strategy was abandoned, resulting in two stable mass parties on the Right.
Keywords
  • poland,
  • post-communism,
  • political parties,
  • solidarnosc
Publication Date
2009
Publisher
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Series
Master's Thesis
ISBN
9781109114607
Citation Information
Ashley K. Timidaiski. The development of Poland's right : from reliance on historical rivalries to stable party platforms. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Master's Thesis, 2009.