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This article explores how the study of post-communism has transformed comparative politics by adding a substantial role for external actors to existing theories of democratization. The big, overarching finding is dramatic: external actors can, under certain conditions, tip the balance in favor of democracy by offering strong rewards to elites, conditional on complying with tough requirements. External actors can also influence the performance of the state—and how the state treats its citizens. The main causal player is the European Union. This simple finding is consequential for all three major strands of democratization theory. The article goes on to explore how the leverage of the European Union has shaped the trajectories of political change in the new and credible future EU members in East Central and South Eastern Europe. The great variation among existing and candidate members can be largely explained by different domestic conditions, even though there are many areas where the EU’s use of its leverage could have been improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines politics and government in Poland in 2010. It discusses the political consequences of the crash of a Polish Air Force plane on April 10, 2010, in which 96 passengers died, including Polish president Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and several Polish military and civilian leaders. The article details how the Polish government continued following the constitutional line of succession. The author argues that Polish government institutions functioned according to legal requirements. The article discusses the Polish constitution's dual-executive arrangement and previous disputes between Kaczynski and Polish prime minister Donald Tusk. The article also examines alleged animosity between Polish political parties, presidential succession, and the presidential elections of 2010.

Abstract: The author argues that political opportunism, an attitude common among communist party members before 1989, turned into both the blessing and the curse for post-communist parties in Poland. Once hopeful of secure careers in the authoritarian structures of the old regime, after the regime breakdown communists found themselves in a situation where the only chance for such a career could be associated with the party reinventing itself as a player in the field of pluralist democracy. Opportunistic attitudes of communist apparatchiks and nomenklatura members were instrumental in transforming them, individually and collectively, into effective actors in market economy and competitive politics. Yet the same attitudes doomed the post-communists once the opportunities associated with access to political power opened up widely. The same people who in the 1990s were so apt in turning the rules of democratic game into their collective advantage, in the 2000s acted with a sense of impunity and lack of any consideration for political accountability that in democracies arrives at the end of any election cycle. Plagued by corruption scandals, they lost their popular base: the economically disadvantaged groups to nationalistic populists, the urbane libertarians to liberal democrats. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses populism in Poland. The major political parties are the Law and Justice Party, Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland, League of Polish Families Party, Civic Platform, Polish Peasant Party, and Democratic Left Alliance/Left and Democrats. The different ideologies, the parliamentary-election campaigns, and decommunization are mentioned. The doctrines influencing Polish politics such as pro-market, anti-market, particularistic, and universalistic ideals are discussed in relation to the liberal-democratic, conservative or Christian-democratic, socialist or social-democratic, and populist movements. Statistics are given for six political parties in the parliamentary elections in 2001, 2005, and 2007.

The article discusses democracy in countries in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. It describes the transitions of democracy in several countries including Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia. The article provides a comparison of the political landscapes between Western countries and CEE countries. It discusses the political parties in CEE countries which are mentioned to focus more on cultural issues than socioeconomic problems. The article also provides an overview of democratic procedures in CEE countries.

The article focuses on politics in Poland in 2005. It talks about the 2005 parliamentary and presidential elections that may indicate a growing stability of the party system. It states that while two center-right parties dominated the presidential vote, the parties failed to form a ruling coalition, resulting in a minority government by the Law and Justice (PiS) party under politician Lech Kaczyński. It mentions that the competition for victory in the parliamentary elections was limited to the liberal-democratic Civic Platform and the PiS, both of which are successors to the Solidarity movement.

The article presents news briefs on political science, elections, the cabinet system, political parties, and practical politics in Poland under Prime Minister Marek Belka. Presidential candidate Lech Aleksander Kaczynski defeated rival Donald Franciszek Tusk in the second round of voting for presidential elections. The parliamentary elections saw a swing of votes from left to right.

The article looks at the government of Poland in 2004. Several national political issues are discussed, including Poland's accession to the European Union, the resignation of Prime Minister Leszek Miller, and his replacement by Marek Belka. The trial of film producer Lew Rywin, who was found guilty of fraud, is discussed. The actions of various political parties are reviewed, including the Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej, the Civic Platform, and the Freedom Union. Changes made to the electoral process of the European Parliament are also mentioned.