For many western commentators, the electoral success of Poland’s populist right-wing party Law and Justice (PiS) in 2015 came as a surprise. But even more shocking was what happened next. Without self-restraint, Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s party started taking over all state institutions, suppressed the media and launched a controversial ‘reform’ of the judiciary.

How was this political turn possible after decades of practically uninterrupted democratic development? Has Poland permanently cut itself off from the pro-European path taken in 1989, or is the PiS government just a passing episode in the country’s recent democratic history?

This book offers a multi-layered analysis that traces Poland’s transformation over the past thirty years, including the pandemic and the government’s surprisingly generous response to the refugee crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It familiarises readers with the latest political events in Europe’s largest ‘illiberal democracy’, providing lessons for other countries experiencing the rise of populist right-wing movements. – .