Democratization as a parliamentary practice. The Polish Contract Sejm 1989-1991

• Applicant: Dr. Paulina Gulinska-Jurgiel
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 515732063

The subject of the project is the history of the emergence and development of the Polish transition to democracy from 1989. The focus is on the so-called Contract Sejm (sejm kontraktowy). My central concern is to understand the Polish transformation from the context of its time. In doing so, I distance myself both from research tendencies that, in their analysis of 1989, try to explain retrospectively the failures of the solutions postulated during the transformation, as well as from political narrow-mindedness of this process. In my project, I use the Polish case study to deal with the general ambivalence of democratic bodies that establish order without acting on a clear legal basis. The question of legitimacy as the basis for action is central. It must be urgently addressed and dealt with, especially with regard to the first Polish parliamentary chamber, since, unlike the second chamber, this came about in the course of only partially free elections and consequently showed continuity with the political system of the People's Republic of Poland. I see the Polish parliament as a flexible instrument on the way to restructuring and stabilizing a democratic system of government. The focus is therefore not on the results of its legislative work, but on the process of interaction and communicative negotiations. They illustrate how democracy was performatively created, fought over and attacked after 1989. I approach this concern empirically by examining key debates aimed at establishing Polish democracy. Its core elements, which I place at the center of the empirical analysis, are concepts such as representation, participation, sovereignty and the rule of law. I examine their importance through debates about the new organization of the political structure, such as the legislation on political parties, the Constitutional Tribunal and the Public Prosecutor's Office. In addition, I analyse debates dealing with the real and symbolic level of the form of government, that is, with the change of the constitution, the state name, the national emblem and the anthem. In order to be able to present the Polish Parliament in its density and complexity, I analyse it on several levels: On the one hand, I deal with the documentation of the public plenary sessions, on the other hand with the documentation of the work of other bodies. These include the Legislative and Constitutional Commission and the Convention of Senior Citizens. On this basis, I will be able to trace how the respective concepts varied or gained structure and how different actors discursively negotiated their understanding of democracy. The results and insights from the case study on the Polish legislature of 1989 should enable an in-depth examination of a universal phenomenon, namely the change in the political system.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants