ABSTRACT
Analysis of the role of Solidarity also points to a particular difficulty in distinguishing historical-structural legacies from transition dynamics and the onset of critical junctures of early post-communist political life - and, indeed, from a micro-institutional perspective on party growth as well. The pioneering, though only partially free, election of 1989 provided the independent trade union with a limited capacity to challenge communist rule but had consequences that were largely unforeseen in bringing about the end of communist hegemony over the region as a whole. Decisions on policy priorities, the formulation of policy and capacities to implement it effectively all come, of course, under the heading of political agency and relate to individual questions of political entrepreneurship, but the signal failure of the Solidarity Electoral Action policy initiatives does deserve special attention in the comparative context of the analysis conducted here.
