ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the trends in political finance over the democratization period of 1989 to 2002 in Poland. In Poland, the regulatory framework tried to prohibit any contributions made by public contractors. The Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland (SDRP) leadership also offered the Soviets access to its Western contacts. The electoral committee's financial agents were made responsible for management of the financial resources of the electoral committee. Since the 1990 Act on Political Parties, prohibitions have been introduced on sources deriving from public funds and foreign donors. The Labour Union recorded public funding as its main source of income. Over the last few years, the SLD, the Polish Peasant Party (PSL) and especially the Freedom Union have been the most efficient of the parties at collecting party taxes and creating political advisors. The substantial differences between the funding of the post-communist parties and the post-Solidarity movements became a certain and permanent characteristic of the Polish political finance system.
