Dysfunctional democracy and political polarisation: the case of Poland

The aim of this article is to analyse the dysfunctionalities of Polish democracy that has seen the stability of the power-opposition system disturbed; and society left suffering under the totality of political polarisation. Considering the fact that within a polarised society only one solution can be the leading one, the society and the state, both internally and externally, have become extremely divided, which has not only impacted Polish society’s image of itself, but also Poland’s standing and relations on the international stage. The observed phenomena can be traced to multiple events that started years before Poland became beset by a crisis of democracy. This article will analyse political and legal changes in Poland within the democratic frames, which no longer fulfil the previously assigned tasks. It will also make a connection between affective political polarisation and dysfunctions of democracy that might lead to a worsening of the stability of the democratic system. Finally, it will show the consequences of the country’s dysfunctionality on both national and international stages.