<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This article deals with Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS), considered a conservative party in the scholarly literature. Drawing largely on party manifestos, the article demonstrates the character, the specificities and the evolution of the party’s identity and ideology. A theoretical basis for the undertaking is provided by Klaus von Beyme’s concept of party families, Arend Lijphart’s seven ideological dimensions and classic texts on conservatism. The analysis finds that the most important components in PiS’s current identity are Catholicism itself and the great emphasis the party places on the role of the Catholic Church. Also important for the party’s identity are visions of a nation conceived on ethnic principle, a strong and active state able to form society with a national spirit, anti-communism and a negation of developments in Poland since 1989. A substantial role is played by the quasi-religiously conceived legacy of the party’s co-founder, Lech Kaczyński, who tragically perished in an aircraft crash. With its Catholic-nationalist profile, PiS is close to the Christian current within the conservative New Right, and to Polish National Democracy in the interwar period.</p></abstract>

This article deals with Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS), considered a conservative party in the scholarly literature. Drawing largely on party manifestos, the article demonstrates the character, the specificities and the evolution of the party’s identity and ideology. A theoretical basis for the undertaking is provided by Klaus von Beyme’s concept of party families, Arend Lijphart’s seven ideological dimensions and classic texts on conservatism. The analysis finds that the most important components in PiS’s current identity are Catholicism itself and the great emphasis the party places on the role of the Catholic Church. Also important for the party’s identity are visions of a nation conceived on ethnic principle, a strong and active state able to form society with a national spirit, anti-communism and a negation of developments in Poland since 1989. A substantial role is played by the quasi-religiously conceived legacy of the party’s co-founder, Lech Kaczyński, who tragically perished in an aircraft crash. With its Catholic-nationalist profile, PiS is close to the Christian current within the conservative New Right, and to Polish National Democracy in the interwar period.

Which conservatism? The identity of the Polish Law and Justice party

Politics in Central Europe

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Which conservatism? The identity of the Polish Law and Justice party"}

This article deals with Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS), considered a conservative party in the scholarly literature. Drawing largely on party manifestos, the...

Which conservatism? The identity of the Polish Law and Justice party

Published Online: Mar 31, 2020

Page range: 159 - 188

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pce-2020-0008

Keywords
the Law and Justice party, PiS, Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński, Catholicism, nationalism, the Smolensk crash, anti-communism

© 2020 Adam Folvarčný et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Which conservatism? The identity of the Polish Law and Justice party

Published Online: Mar 31, 2020

Page range: 159 - 188

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pce-2020-0008

Keywordsthe Law and Justice party, PiS, Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński, Catholicism, nationalism, the Smolensk crash, anti-communism

© 2020 Adam Folvarčný et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
the Law and Justice party, PiS, Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński, Catholicism, nationalism, the Smolensk crash, anti-communism