Electoral Reforms in Poland after 1991 and Their Political Consequences

Abstract

This article analyses the phenomenon of electoral engineering in contemporary Poland. The aim is to study the causes and especially the consequences of electoral reforms in relation to political parties and the party system as a whole. This analysis is supported by a number of empirical indicators, e.g. over-representation and under-representation of political parties, aggregation, fragmentation and polarization of the party system, etc. The Polish case study excellently demonstrated the theories of the direct influence of the electoral system on the party system, both in a positive and negative sense. Politicians can use electoral reform to help stabilize the party system and the political régime as a whole (Polish electoral reform of 1993), or they can use the same tool to help themselves (to ease re-entry into parliament), but at the expense of stabilization of the party system (Polish electoral reform of 2001).