ABSTRACT
Public opinion research in Poland has changed dramatically in the last ten years in terms of its methodology, scope, and role in political change. The whole of Polish society became more open, pluralistic, and critical. The Jaruzelski regime seemed to recognize the force of public opinion, and Jaruzelski himself asserted in a Sejm speech in 1982 that the authorities must become accustomed to the systematic use of public opinion research. Serious criticisms of the reliability of Polish public opinion surveys began to surface even before the momentous changes of 1989. Despite the regime’s efforts at political mobilization, however, such participation by Poles has been ritualistic, at best. The changes in public opinion in the late 1980s in Poland were part of a thoroughgoing rejection of the existing system of “real socialism.” The increasingly more open political atmosphere in Poland has allowed more open discussion of the role, methodology, and influence of public opinion.
