Democracy in Poland by Marjorie s> Castle Ray Taras (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 777 The explicit assumption is that behind a Rawlsian veil of ignorance, actors will 'choose the systemfairestto parties in general- proportionalrepresentation ' (p. I9). Such an explicit invocation of Rawlsian terminology will inevitably summon up many of the criticisms made of the great American philosopher, most notably whether behind the veil of ignorance actorswould adopt maximin or another strategy such as maximax. Changes within the Hungarian Socialist Party's (MSzP) thinking in I989, for example, suggests the party wanted to keep the single-member district component because it thought that would maximize its number of seats, but the decision to amend the rules following by-election defeats inJuly and August I989 shows a party wary of what might transpirein any nationalpoll. MSzP's position, likemany actorsin the region, contained elements of both maximinand maximax. Nonetheless, it would be churlish to focus too much attention on these criticisms. The authors have produced a first-classbook, providing a clear, thoughtful account rich in empirical detail of the process of electoral system design and amendment during the first post-Communist decade in Central and EasternEurope, which I would stronglyrecommend to readersof SEER. CREES T. HAUGHTON University ofBirmingham Castle,Marjorieand Taras,Ray. Democracy inPoland. Second edition.Westview Press, Boulder, CO, and Oxford, 2002. XX+ 29I pp. Notes. Tables. Figures.Selected Bibliography.[2 1.99 (paperback). THIS book is an excellent introductory textbook (the second edition, apparently I do not remember the first) that contains many valuable and prescient insightsinto the state of contemporaryPolishpolitics. It begins with three informativecontextual chapterson pre-WorldWarII Polishhistory,the Communist period and the transitionto democracy. The book then moves on to consider post-Communist politics beginning with a chapter examining the key political actorsin contemporaryPoland ('theplayers'),moving on to look at Polishsociety('theplayedupon')andpoliticalinstitutionsbeforeconcluding with a final,forward-lookingchapteron policy challenges. I broadly agree with the authors' core argument that 'the fundamental feature of the Polish political scene is a historical-culturalcleavage (thatis, a cleavage based on relationships to the past and to religion), which deeply divides elites' (pp. xix-xx). In relation to this, the authorsmake the point that although the Polish democratic transition was a pact, and should therefore have helped to ensure that issuesrelatingto the Communist past faded away, it did not have thiseffect.Indeed, Polishpoliticsbecame increasinglypolarized around this divide in the mid-iggos. This, they argue, was because the socalled 'round table agreements' created so many unexpected outcomes and led to so many recriminations both between and within the opposing sides that the compromise itselfwas discreditedand did littleto weaken the division between former Communists and oppositionists. However, recent developments , particularlythe outcome of the September 200I election, have placed a question markover the continuing centralityof attitudestowardsthe past as 778 SEER, 8i, 4, 2003 the key dividing line within Polish politics. Although the authors themselves acknowledge that there are 'possible signs that this cleavage may be growing shallower'(p. i i 6) thispoint is not reallyfullyexplored or developed. It is also a shame that although the authors repeatedly stressthe (correct) point that one can only understand the Polish present by understandingthe past the linkage to currentthemes in the historicalchaptersoften tends to be implied ratherthan drawnout explicitly. Forexample, the argumentthat 'the differential treatment meted out by the partitioning powers left enduring markson Poland'sregional political cultures'(p. I 7) is undoubtedly true but left as an intriguing possibility rather than being elaborated upon and illustratedwith specificexamples. Having said that, most of the authors' insights into contemporary Polish politics are very well grounded and highly informative. Their analysisof the comparative strength of the Communist successor SLD is particularly interesting. The former Communists' strength is, they argue, rooted in the fact that they failed to assure firm and fast institutional guarantees for themselves. This vulnerabilitymeant that 'the only effectiveprotection could be found in unity and mutual support - in maintaining and strengthening political organisations to represent their interests' (pp. 93-94). They also correctly note that the ex-Communists' extraordinaryculture of self-discipline or, as they put it, the fact that 'in the SLD, conflictstakeplace behind closed doors' (p. I I9) has (until recently, at least) marked them out from their opponents in the post-Solidaritycamp. At the same time, the book...