Poland
The populist, socially conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party exerted significant political influence over state institutions and damaged Poland’s democratic progress after taking power in 2015 but was defeated by an opposition coalition in the 2023 elections.
Research & Recommendations
Poland
| PR Political Rights | 34 40 |
| CL Civil Liberties | 48 60 |
Democratic resilience will increasingly depend on stronger coordination among countries that share a commitment to freedom, the rule of law, and accountable governance.
International support for democratic institutions, civil society, and independent media has been associated with modest but meaningful improvements in democratic governance, and it is far less costly than the military outlays necessitated by rising authoritarian aggression.
Young people are increasingly dissatisfied with democracy—not because they reject its principles, but because they see institutions failing to deliver on them. Programmatic work should create clear pathways for meaningful political participation, from voting and policy engagement to community organizing and public leadership, so that young people can translate their expectations into agency.
Poland
| DEMOCRACY-PERCENTAGE Democracy Percentage | 57.14 100 |
| DEMOCRACY-SCORE Democracy Score | 4.43 7 |
Executive Summary
The year 2023 was a landmark for Polish democracy, concluding in a sea change to the country’s political landscape. After eight years of the Law and Justice (PiS) party dominating Polish government and politics, the country has seen a transfer of power, with the new parliamentary majority assembled by a centrist coalition led by Donald Tusk, the former prime minister and president of the European Council . This tectonic shift was a result of October general elections that featured the highest voter turnout in the history of Polish democracy.
The future of European democracy and security is now inextricably linked to the fate of Ukraine. European Union (EU) and NATO member states must not only invest far more—and more efficiently—in their collective defense, but also provide Ukraine with the assistance it needs to roll back Russian advances and build a durable democracy of its own.
In addition to defending the international order from emboldened autocrats, democratic governments must attend to democratic renewal within Europe, particularly among nascent democracies.
Military aggression from autocracies in the region has underscored the dangers of exclusion from democracy-based organizations like the EU and NATO, galvanizing the political will of policymakers in aspiring member states and generating further public pressure to undertake long-sought democratic reforms.
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