ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book summarises the theoretical discussion of party-based Euroscepticism, including its definition and causality. It describes the general nature of political Catholicism as a political movement. The book shows that political Catholicism was an important phenomenon, also outside of Europe, but has remained largely under-researched. It discusses the specific case of political Catholicism in Poland, which grew into a sizeable political force that differs from more traditional manifestations of the movement in Western Europe. The book examines the issue of party-based Euroscepticism in Poland. It explores the largely under-researched phenomenon of political Catholicism in Europe, providing a more robust definition of the movement than the one used so far in the literature. The book focuses on the key issue of the interaction between the few elements. It also presents results of an in-depth analysis of a single case – Poland.
