Much Western commentary on Poland portrays the victory of the Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość; PiS) party in 2015 as a tragic and inexplicable setback for the once-poster child of post-communist transformation. The country is in the throes of a populist fervor, the story goes, its democracy dismantled by a retrograde clique. There is perhaps some truth to this narrative, but it is incomplete and overly simplistic. A new book provides a corrective and complementary view to this doom-laden picture of a country on a downward spiral toward authoritarian rule.
OP-ED
Chelsea Michta: The rise of the Law and Justice Party in Poland
Leader of Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski reacts after the first exit polls during the party's electoral evening in Warsaw, Poland, on Oct. 13, 2019.
