ABSTRACT
Stereotypes of a culture are the result of a comparison when the observations are made from the perspective of another culture. The observer takes the features of his or her own culture as a point of reference and ascribes specific values to specific features according to the hierarchy of values in the home culture. The process of macropolitical change in post-World War II Poland and the concomitant change in the political culture falls into several distinct periods which by and large can be identified by leadership personalities: Bierut, Gomulka, Gierek, and Jaruzelski. Each of these Communist leaders took the helm at a critical juncture, intended to inject a new spirit into an old setup that had failed and eventually had to leave the scene after the failure of his own reform experiment. The political symbolism employed by the various leaders provides a perfect illustration of the prevailing Party culture.
