Coercive Clientelism Is on the Rise in Kaczyński’s Poland

Authoritarian Leaders Instrumentalising Informal Power

2 March 2021

Edit Zgut-Przybylska

Visegrad Insight Fellow

What do clientelism, the abuse of state resources and media market manipulation have in common? These informal processes have been invalidating the accomplishments of democracy in Central Europe. The Polish government has also used these mechanisms to skew the playing field during COVID-19 further.

While the COVID-19  shock was unprecedented both in terms of the scale and speed of its effects, Poland could avoid a serious economic recession.  And yet, domestic politics has never been so tense since the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party started its illiberal remodelling in 2015.

Jarosław Kaczyński, the country’s informal leader, has been exposed to a longstanding structural crisis within his coalition. Since he formally joined the government to control the radical wing led by Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro,  he also divulged into a conflict with Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Gowin.

In recent months, the abortion ruling has triggered a renewed standoff and put unprecedented pressure on the United Right governing coalition. As a result, the popularity of PiS has dropped heavily.

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Edit Zgut-Przybylska

Visegrad Insight Fellow

Dr. Edit Zgut-Przybylska is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology (IFIS) in the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) and a visiting fellow at CEU Democracy Institute. Her research interest covers informality and populism in the context of democratic backsliding and the constraining role of the European Union. She is also a visiting lecturer at the Foreign Service Institute of the US State Department. Synthetic versions of her work are available on POLITICO EUROPE, Foreign Policy and Visegrad Insight. Edit held a re:constitution fellowship 2022/2023, a Rethink.CEE fellowship at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and a Visegrad Insight Fellowship. She previously worked at Political Capital Research Institute and prior to that, she was a journalist at various media outlets in Hungary.

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