Polacy a demokracja: realizm, iluzje i ‛fałszywa świadomość’
Poles and Democracy: Realism, Illusions and ‛False Consciousness’

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to Poles’ attitudes towards democracy – its normative visions and evaluations of its functioning. The four-year period of 2015–2019 is an exceptional time for Polish democracy, and competent observers are critical of it for various reasons. The authors pose three research questions: (1) Have the determinants of normative visions of democracy and evaluations of its functioning changed during the discussed period? (2) How different ‚classes’ of democrats coexist with political divisions and social diversity? (3) What is the extent of acceptance of authoritarian visions of democracy? The data for the analysis come from Polish National Election Study, 2015 and 2019 editions. The results indicate an identical attitude to the ideal of democracy and general evaluation of its functioning in 2015–2019. At the same time, we observe significant differences in the determinants of these attitudes. The satisfaction with democracy can be attributed to the attitudes that do not relate to the concept of democracy (‚false consciousness’) or are the result of political identification.

• Details
• Contents