State party funding and patronage in post-1989 Poland

Abstract

The level and scope of state financial support for Polish parties have expanded progressively since 1989, making it the main source of income for a number of them. This becomes even more evident when one considers the allowances paid to party-based parliamentary caucuses and individual parliamentarians. Appointments to state and quasi-state bodies also appear to be an important source of patronage for Polish parties. The Polish party funding regime and state patronage opportunities clearly favour ‘insiders’ and have centralized power in party leaderships. However, the Polish party system remains too unstable to conclude that a ‘cartel’ of privileged insiders is emerging, while increases in state party funding have, at most, simply reinforced existing trends in terms of party leader orientation and popular anti-party sentiment.