ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the impact of international and European pressures and conditionality on Polish democratic and constitutional development. It examines the claim that the external pressure from international organisations such as the IMF, the World Bank, the Council of Europe and the EU have been overwhelmingly beneficial for the democratic consolidation of Poland and other Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries. The chapter re-examines concepts of internationalisation and Europeanisation in relation to political and social reality of Poland before and after the 1989. This chapter analyses the dynamics between the external influences and internal processes which might have been affected by those influences. Finally, it concludes by discussing the impact of external policies, including the Western aid and EU conditionality, on the internal democratic constitutionalism in Poland and other CEE countries. In summary, conditionality might have been more detrimental to democratic consolidation in the CEE countries than is acknowledged.
