Wojciech Sadurski

This is an interesting account of how, when it came to power in 2015, the ruling PIS party set out to erode the neutrality of Polish courts, civil service and media, bringing them more and more under their own control. The most interesting aspect of this slide toward authoritarianism is perhaps how methodical and broad the assault has been. By stretching the limits of legitimate power on many fronts, PIS has been able to replace recalcitrant judges, civil servants and broadcasters with their own obedient appointees. There seems to have been no shortage of lawyers, administrators and journalists who were happy to accept prestigious posts on the condition that they disregard normative conventions and simply do what PIS tells them.

As the title of the book implies, the author focuses primarily on how the highest legal institutions in Poland were brought under PIS control. In fact he goes into excessive detail on this topic. Readers who are unfamiliar with the Polish legal system would have been better served by a general overview of what happened instead of this day-by-day and decision-by-decision account. The same problem reoccurs when the author discusses the legal decisions by which the European Union has reacted to the PIS takeover. I assume the author is a lawyer or legal scholar who has followed these events meticulously. Unfortunately he does not simplify the story enough for readers who are not experts in Polish or EU law. He also uses acronyms excessively, which makes it even more difficult to keep track of the legal details. It's a disservice to the reader to constantly refer the "CT" instead of just spelling out "Constitutional Tribunal".

Nevertheless, the problems that the Polish legal system has encountered and the authoritarian steps that were taken in other parts of society are eventually summarized in clear language. The author also gives a competent analysis of the underlying problems from the perspective of political and institutional theory. All in all, this is not a happy story, but it is an unfinished one. I for one will follow the political situation in Poland with renewed interest and better understanding after reading this book. This book can be recommended as a detailed complement to recent general works on populism and democratic erosion such as Mounk's "The People vs. Democracy".… (mehr)