ABSTRACT
Poland boasts a long democratic tradition. Although dominated by the Soviet Union for more than 40 years, the “Solidarity” pro-independent movement, initiated by Polish intellectuals and workers, led to democratic revolutions in Central-Eastern Europe in 1989. Then Poland began to build a democratic system of governance and a free market. After 20 years of liberal-left rule, a conservative, right-wing party took power in the democratic election of 2016. Since then, Poland’s democratic status has been declining steadily in international rankings (Democracy Index, 2019; V-Dem Report by Lührmann et al., 2018, 2019). This chapter describes the mechanisms that have led to a radical shift in political sympathies toward authoritarian parties. The younger generation’s (people aged 18–26) perceptions of democracy status and its association with citizenship activity are reported. The status of democracy is examined using indicators based on V-Dem Report (Lührmann et al., 2018). Citizenship activity is analyzed based on Zalewska and Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz model (2018). A total of 472 young adults participated in the study. The study revealed that young people are aware of the decline in the major indicators of democracy, in particular, media independence. There are significant correlations between dimensions of citizenship activity and perceptions of democracy status: young people’s indication of declining levels of media independence are associated with lower levels of passive and semiactive citizenship (loyalty to state institutions and willingness to participate in elections) as well as political involvement; perceptions of declining levels of freedom of speech are associated with the low political engagement but readiness to protest; low perceptions of election honesty are associated with lower levels of semi-active citizenship.
