ABSTRACT
In 1787, eleven years after the 1776 uprising, the Americans adopted a Constitution that serves them well to this day, and undoubtedly will for years to come. This chapter exposes the Polish and the American constitutional experiences. It shows the deficiencies of the state transformation in Poland, focusing specifically on the conflict between a procedural and a substantive interpretation of democratic order, in the context of the lack of an underlying consensus regarding interpretation of natural rights. The chapter begins with the analysis of the act that initiated the process of transition to democracy, the Roundtable Accord of 1989. It presents a case study of an imperfect consensus and political compromise, the choices of electoral laws. After discussion of some other cases of ill-conceived institutional designs, the chapter concludes with an analysis of the socio-political background of institutional transformation in Poland.
