ABSTRACT
Lack of institutional cohesion at the executive level in Poland appears to be in contrast with clear achievements of democratization in other areas of political life. This chapter examines briefly the arrangements in the executive arena in the pre-War and the post-War Poland. It deals with an assessment of the executive power and executive-parliamentary relations after the last presidential election in the context of democratization. During the inter-War period, Poland's fledgling and fragile democracy did not produce a clear model of executive power that could serve as an institutional precedent for the future. Democratic consolidation is the result of collective actions of the critical elites in support of political institutions and their performance. "Democracy is consolidated—according to Przeworski—when it becomes self-enforcing, that is, when all the relevant political forces find it best to continue to submit their interests and values to the uncertain interplay of the institutions".
