Pathologies of the State and Law Institutions in Post-totalitarian Poland
Pathologies of the State and Law Institutions in Post-totalitarian Poland

Summary/Abstract: The author presents and provides results of empirical research as a validation to the theses of Adam Podgórecki claiming that the Polish state and Polish system of law after 1989 continues to be a post-totalitarian state and system of law, not attempting and not being able to effectively get rid of many totalitarian properties. Empirical data is also used to illustrate theoretical interpretation of that state of affairs that was formulated by Adam Podgórecki in Sociological Theory of Law: "While, on the surface, the rule of law is respected in post-totalitarian systems, in reality, the deeply entrenched machinery remains in place. Furthermore, values, norms, habits and basic mechanisms generated under the totalitarian system still predominate. This post-totalitarian sub-culture deprives the new legal norms of their autonomy in an inconspicuous, but nonetheless potentially vicious way".

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