ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the patterns of elite selection and composition in Poland during the post-Stalin period. The recruitment policy is to be altered to enable the entrance of heretofore nonpolitical elites into the policy-making structure. Elite Integration can be achieved by a more indirect method of lateral recruitment, namely by cooptation. Analysis of elite composition and recruitment for post-Stalinist Poland was carried out on the basis of this career information. In the final analysis, the success of the vertical recruitment policy may depend on the ability of periphery officials to have meaningful inputs into the central policy institutions, without becoming too dependent on the tolerance of political superiors. The political stability of Poland may depend on the leadership's willingness to tolerate more meaningful forms of participation. The ability of the political center to assure systemic stability thus can be endangered, and require additional mechanisms for the integration of the regime and society.
