ABSTRACT
Establishing a democratic order in Poland is proving a difficult process. Although the country has a long-standing democratic tradition - it had two very progressive constitutions, voted in 1791 and 1921, whilst democratic and socialist movements were widespread throughout the period of Poland's partitions - that democratic tradition broke down many times.! None of the present day political groupings, even the post-communist Democratic Left Alliance, is a straightforward continuation of its predecessor. This applies also to the socialist movements that played a significant role in the struggle for the independence of the country, establishing its political system in the 1920s and curbing authoritarian tendencies in the 1930s.2 The socialist movement was also an important component of the Polish underground state during the Nazi occupation.
