Political accountability in a semi-consolidated democracy. An example of Poland

Abstract

The author formulates the assumption that public authorities in Poland are less able to hold accountability in connection with the changes introduced to the political system under the rule of the United Right. The aim of this article is to justify this assumption by presenting the current conditions of accountability of public authorities. In defining accountability, the author uses the approaches of R. Mulgan and M. Bovens. Following these authors, she distinguishes three stages of accountability: information, discussion, and consequences. The article presents the legal grounds and restrictions on access to public information, discussion of government policy and imposing sanctions on public authorities and officials. The author formulates a conclusion on the accountability deficit of public authorities in Poland due to the limitation of discussions in the parliament and public media and the breaking of the chain of accountability at the stage of consequences, which results mainly from the political subordination of the prosecutor’s office.