<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The paper starts with a review of literature focusing on links between democracy and environmental protection, pointing out a fair weight of scientific evidence that democratic societies on average enjoy a higher level of environmental quality than autocracies. It subsequently provides a quick insight into the recent trends in the state of democracy and the rule of law in Poland as well as a few examples of measures taken concerning environmental policy that have been undertaken after 2015. The paper concludes by expressing concern about certain negative patterns in the Polish environmental policy in the past few years, which seem to be connected to the deficiencies in the rule of law and democracy as observed in Poland. The shrinking space for civil society to participate in democratic governance concerning environmental issues and the excessive appetite of the current government for large infrastructural investments seem to be in contradiction with the European and global strive for sustainable development and tackling climate change. It remains to be seen if the recent negative trends in the Polish environmental policy will have a structural impact on the state of environment in Poland.</p>
</abstract>

The paper starts with a review of literature focusing on links between democracy and environmental protection, pointing out a fair weight of scientific evidence that democratic societies on average enjoy a higher level of environmental quality than autocracies. It subsequently provides a quick insight into the recent trends in the state of democracy and the rule of law in Poland as well as a few examples of measures taken concerning environmental policy that have been undertaken after 2015. The paper concludes by expressing concern about certain negative patterns in the Polish environmental policy in the past few years, which seem to be connected to the deficiencies in the rule of law and democracy as observed in Poland. The shrinking space for civil society to participate in democratic governance concerning environmental issues and the excessive appetite of the current government for large infrastructural investments seem to be in contradiction with the European and global strive for sustainable development and tackling climate change. It remains to be seen if the recent negative trends in the Polish environmental policy will have a structural impact on the state of environment in Poland.

State of Democracy in Poland versus Environmental Protection

Central European Economic Journal

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"State of Democracy in Poland versus Environmental Protection"}

The paper starts with a review of literature focusing on links between democracy and environmental protection, pointing out a fair weight of scientific...

State of Democracy in Poland versus Environmental Protection

Published Online: Aug 20, 2021

Page range: 219 - 230

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ceej-2021-0016

Keywords
democracy, environmental policy, Poland, rule of law

© 2021 Agnieszka Markowska, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

State of Democracy in Poland versus Environmental Protection

Published Online: Aug 20, 2021

Page range: 219 - 230

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ceej-2021-0016

Keywordsdemocracy, environmental policy, Poland, rule of law

© 2021 Agnieszka Markowska, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
democracy, environmental policy, Poland, rule of law