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CIVIL SOCIETY IN POLAND Case study

CIVIL SOCIETY IN POLAND Case study. Prepared for international conference The Logic of Civil Society in New Democracies: East Asia and East Europe. Taipei, June 5-7. Politics. Party in power always loses elections. 30. Unemployment rate. Annual GDP growth. 20. 10. 0. -10. -20. ‘89.

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CIVIL SOCIETY IN POLAND Case study

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  1. CIVIL SOCIETY IN POLANDCase study Prepared for international conference The Logic of Civil Society in New Democracies: East Asia and East Europe Taipei, June 5-7

  2. Politics • Party in power always loses elections

  3. 30 Unemployment rate Annual GDP growth 20 10 0 -10 -20 ‘89 ‘90 ‘91 ‘92 ‘93 ‘94 ‘95 ‘96 ‘97 ‘98 ‘99 ‘00 ‘01 ‘02 ‘03 ‘04 ‘05 ‘06 ‘07 ‘08 ‘09 Economic conditions Annual GDP growth (data of Central Statistical Office). Projections for 2009 vary.Unemployment rate (Rounded. Pct. of economically active population. January results for each year. Data of Central Statistical Office). 1989-1992 Transformation shock 1993-2000 Sustained growth 2001-2002 Crisis 2003-2008 Pre- and post-EU accession boom

  4. Civil society and the state • 1989-1990: Effective and legal freedom of association.Introduction of self-government • 1999: De-centralization reforms

  5. 100% Supporters 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% Opponents 0% VI V V IV VIII V XII V II V IX III VII I V IX I V IX I IV IX II V IX I IV X I VII IV XI I IV 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Source: CBOS Undecided Attitude to Poland's membership in European Union 1989: Independence 1994: Start of EU accession negotiations 1999: NATO membership 2002-2004: Final stage of negotiations, referendum, EU accession

  6. Attitude to Poland's membership in NATO Supporters Opponents Don't know IX 2007 78% 11% 11% II 2009 80% 11% 9% Source: CBOS • universal support for EU and NATO membership

  7. Evaluation of current situation 1989-2009 Evaluation of current situation in Poland (3-month moving average) 80% Bad 70% 60% 50% 40% Good 30% 20% 10% Don’t know 0% III I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Source: CBOS 1990-1992 Disenchantment with changes 1993-1995 Gradual return of optimism 1996-1999 Sustained positive evaluations 1999-2001 Continuing slide 2002-2007 Crisis in collective psychological well-being, with brief return of hope in early 2006 2007-2008 Return of optimism, checked by the crisis

  8. Number of events Average pct. of positive evaluations of current situation No. of protests 50% 400 40% 300 30% 200 20% 100 10% 0% 0 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 • in good times there are more protests

  9. Organizers • trade unions organized the majority of events for which the organization is recorded

  10. Organizations leading or sponsoring the event (no. of events) Labor unions Professional organizations Political parties Youth organizations 200 150 100 50 0 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 • unions decrease in importance

  11. Protesting groups • manual workers protest the most • youth & local groups consistently strong

  12. Protesting groups (no. of events) workers farmers service industries public sector • relative importance of workers diminish • 1996-98 rise in protests by public sector employees and healthcare specialist coincides with reform preparation • farmers active during early transformation and late 1990s (Samoobrona), later fade away 200 150 100 50 0 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

  13. Methods of protest most common less common Strike Demonstration. march. rally pen letters.appeals Riots Occupationof public buildings Blockadeof road. picket Symbolicmanifestation 180 60 160 50 140 40 120 100 30 80 20 60 40 10 20 0 0 ’89 ‘90 ‘91 ‘92 ‘93 ’94 ’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01 ’02 ’03 ’04 ’89 ’90 ’91 ’92 ’93 ’94 ’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01 ’02 ’03 ’04 • strikes diminish in importance (from 1st to 5th most common method) • methods becomeless disruptive

  14. Methods of protest by type of organization leading or sponsoring (% of events) • demonstration most common method regardless of organizer • only 21% of union protests are strikes

  15. Demands • economic demands most common

  16. Economic demands No. of events with ec. dem. Material compens. Events with economic demands as pct. of all events in a year 200 80% 150 60% 100 40% 50 20% 0 0% 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 ... but becoming gradually less important

  17. SizePct. of cases 37.0% 17.2% 16.4% 9.4% 7.6% 7.2% 5.2% 0-20 21-200 201-500 501--1000 1001--2000 2001--10.000 over 10.000 No. of participants Data are available for 45.3% of events. Descriptions suggest that many events for which size was not recorded were small • small events predominate

  18. Intervention by authorities (% of events) • authorities intervene in 10% of cases

  19. Intervention (% of events) 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 • attitude of authorities to protests changed, but there is no clear trend

  20. Intervention (% of events in which intervention was recorded) • young people are at the receiving end of the stick

  21. Spain Luxembourg France Italy Germany Belgium Denmark Austria Sweden Ireland Greece United Kingdom Czech Republic Portugal Netherlands Slovakia Slovenia Hungary Estonia Finland Poland Protest activities in Europe Respondent had taken part in lawful public demonstration (% of adults) 22,4% 17,3% 14,5% 11,2% 9,3% 7,5% 7,1% 7.0% 6,3% 5,8% 4,5% 4,2% 3,7% • culture of protest weakly developed in CEE • Poland at the bottom of the ranking 3,7% 3,4% 3,3% 2,8% 2,8% 2,1% 2% 1,5% ESS data 2002-2007

  22. Finland 31,9% Sweden 25,2% Denmark 22,1% Belgium 21,5% Netherlands 21,4% Austria 21,2% Luxembourg 20,9% Germany 19,6% France 16,1% Spain 15,5% Ireland 12,9% Czech Republic 9,8% United Kingdom 8,8% Italy 8,7% Slovakia 8,4% Poland 5,5% Greece 5,4% Portugal 3,7% Estonia 3,6% Slovenia 2,1% Hungary 1,9% Activity in organizations Worked in non-political organization or association in last 12 months (% of adults) • this time, Hungary is at the bottom ESS data

  23. Inactive Active Civic activity in organizations 79% 80% 77% 76% 76% 77% 24% 24% 23% 23% 21% 20% 1998 1999 2002 2004 2006 2008 Source: CBOS • while ESS surveys prove NGOs are weak in CEE, actual number of activists is almost certainly higher than recorded in them • CBOS surveys indicate that up to 20% of adults may be performing some type of civic activity in organizations, many in more than one area.

  24. Denmark Sweden Finland Belgium Luxembourg Slovenia Ireland Austria Netherlands United Kingdom Italy Greece Germany Hungary Slovakia Portugal Czech Republic Poland Spain France Estonia Membership in trade unions (% of employees) 81,9% 74,4% 68,1% 43,6% 42,2% 39,6% 33,8% 28,8% 27,1% 25,9% 23,6% 19,8% 16,3% 15,9% 15,1% • unionization in CEE is low, but comparable with many "old" EU countries 14,1% 14,0% 14,0% 13,5% 11,0% 10,2% ESS data

  25. Solidarity Trade union membership in Poland 1989-2008 (% of adults in Poland) Total OPZZ 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% V1989 III 990 IV1991 VI1992 XII1993 III1994 IX1995 VI1996 III1999 V2000 VII2001 VII2002 X2003 IX2004 IX2005 II2006 XI2007 XII2008 CBOS data • membership falls almost everywhere, but in Poland the drop was steeper than in developed countries • drop in membership stopped and now the rate is constant

  26. Denmark 6.92 Finland 6.51 Sweden 6.14 Netherlands 5.74 Ireland 5.59 Estonia 5.25 United Kingdom 5.21 Luxembourg 5.11 Austria 5.09 Spain 4.96 Belgium 4.86 Germany 4.69 France 4.47 Italy 4.41 Czech Republic 4.19 Slovakia 4.17 Hungary 4.12 Slovenia 4.06 Portugal 3.99 Poland 3.79 Greece 3.77 Trust Most people can be trusted OR You can't be too careful (10-point scale) • very low level of trust in CEE ESS data

  27. The end of the transformation? 1. In a long-term perspective, protest density diminishes due to falling stakes. 2. Satisfaction with country situation coincides with  strong protest activity: psycho-social factors must be taken into account as potential explanatory variables 3. Labor mobilization steadily decreases due to consolidation of the economic system on the one hand, and to the weakness of unions on the other 4. In the early years, protesting groups defined by professional status. Later,  young people and neighbors/locals became major players: formation of civil society based on post-material values? 5. Identity articulation rare, occurs in the early transformation years. Early 1990s were formative also in the cultural sphere, pre-determined long-term collective ideological and cultural definitions 6. If the generally accepted indicators are considered, civil society is weak in Central and Eastern Europe in comparison with other EU or OECD countries, and is not improving. 7. Need for other indicators: informal networks may constitute core of civil society in the region. Picture not so bleak if other dimensions are considered

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