Poland and the Inception of Antiestablishment Politics
Populism: a familiar buzzword in the political field in 2016. The media loved the word, using it to describe 2016 political phenomena from Brexit to Donald Trump’s victory. By definition, populism isn’t malicious or even negative. It is merely an appeal to the needs of the common people. The fundamental role of politicians and public officials is to listen to widespread public dissatisfaction of many citizens and to respond to their needs with specific policies. True democratic politics are inherently populist; denouncing the political phenomena of 2016 as a mere rise of populism is a shallower argument. The current trend of international politics is not a trend towards populism, but a series of collapses of existing institutions. Many voters are demanding changes in light of the poor performance of the political parties that had been in power for a long period of time.
But how and when did these collapses of the existing institutions begin? The Polish general election in October 2015 is a likely starting point. During the election, the right-wing ‘Law and Justice’ party gained the majority in both the upper and lower houses, ousting the left-wing ‘Civic Platform’ party that had been in power for 8 years. The Law and Justice party has an anti-refugee and anti-EU attitude, strongly advocating for nationalist interests and enhanced domestic social security. Though these political views were gaining traction in other countries as well, this was an early victory for the right-wing movement. Poland is one of the biggest beneficiaries of financial support from the EU, but the Law and Justice party remains very critical of the organization. In addition, Donald Tusk, the former leader of the Civic Platform party, became President of the EU in 2014; consequently, one would think the EU would be seen in a favorable light by leftist Polish citizens, but it was the Law and Justice party that won the majority in both houses.
Clearly, the majority was not happy with the current situation in Poland. With increased globalization, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer, and many voters felt that the existing institutions would not do anything to change such a situation. The citizens wanted the government to prioritize their needs before accepting refugees and immigrants. These sentiments led to the empowerment and eventually the victory of the right wing. This Polish general election at the end of 2015 foreshadowed the downfall of existing institutions that happened again and again in 2016. It is difficult to say if this election influenced Brexit or Trump’s victory, but clearly, many citizens across many countries felt the same dissatisfaction with the current politics, and all sought out a change.
This year, there are even more European elections: the French presidential election in April, and the German federal parliamentary election in the autumn. Only time will tell if these antiestablishment trends of 2016 continue.
