ABSTRACT

The changes under way in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union have different timeframes but the same direction: support for pluralism, decline in power of the ruling communist party and the emergence of new political forces expressing an aspiration for democratic government. The countries subjected to these changes differ on one important aspect: the role of reformers within the communist party in the process of democratization and their influence upon the stability of this process. By participating in the roundtable talks the Polish United Workers Party (PUWP) representatives conceded to the party's decline in power. However, the level and the speed of this decline was supposed to be controlled by the preelectoral accord with all other political forces. On January 29, 1990, the PUWP ceased to exist, dissolved after 41 years of its monopoly rule. Inflation, foreign debt and externally imposed trade restrictions had created a vicious circle from which the party was unable to escape.