Poland

TRADITIONAL UNDERSTANDING of political divisions into the left and the right have altered their meaning considerably in Poland due to communist rule after World War II. Changes after the Velvet Revolution of 1989 brought about the rebirth of political party life in Poland, but the division into the left and the right is sometimes very far from the understanding of these terms in the West. Also, barely a few of the newly formed parties manage to survive more than half a decade and still play an important role in the political life of Poland.

In the years from 1945 to 1989, the communist political model was in force in Poland (called the Peoples' Republic of Poland). Only three parties were legal: the Communist Polska Zjednoczona Partia ...