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Polish United Workers' Party

Polish United Workers' Party

The Polish United Workers' Party (PUWP; in Polish, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza, PZPR), was a Polish communist party. It was the governing political party in communist-ruled People's Republic of Poland from its creation (through a fusion of the communist Polish Workers' Party and the left wing of the Polish Socialist Party) in December 1948 until the regime's electoral defeat in 1989. Polish Socialist Party] In January 1990 the party reconstituted itself as the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland Socjaldemokracja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, SdRP), since April 1999 the principal constituent of the Alliance of the Democratic Left (Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej, SLD). The PUWP's leaders (called first secretaries) were:
- Bolesław Bierut (1948 - 1956)
- Edward Ochab (March - October 1956)
- Władysław Gomułka (1956 - 1970)
- Edward Gierek (1970 - 1980)
- Stanisław Kania (1980 - 1981)
- Wojciech Jaruzelski (1981 - 1989)
- Mieczysław Rakowski (1989 - 1990)

See also


- Communist Party of Poland (Komunistyczna Partia Polski) - the predecessor
- Communist Party of the Soviet Union - the inspiration
- Polish communists
- Alliance of the Democratic Left (Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej) - the successor Category:Ruling Communist parties Category:People's Republic of Poland Category:Single-party system parties Poland, Polish United Workers' Party

Poland

The Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska) is a country located in Central Europe, between Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania, and Russia (in the form of the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave) to the north. The Polish state was formed over 1,000 years ago under the Piast dynasty, and reached its golden age near the end of the 16th century under the Jagiellonian dynasty, when Poland was one of the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful countries in Europe. In 1791 the Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth voted for the Constitution of May 3, Europe's first modern codified constitution, and the second in the world after the Constitution of the United States. Soon afterwards, the country ceased to exist after being partitioned by its neighbours Russia, Austria, and Prussia. It regained independence in 1918 in the aftermath of the First World War as the Second Polish Republic. Following the Second World War it became a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union known as the People's Republic of Poland. In 1989 the first partially-free elections in Poland's post-World War II history concluded the Solidarity (Solidarność) movement's struggle for freedom and resulted in the defeat of Poland's communist rulers. The current Third Polish Republic was established, followed a few years later by the drafting of a new constitution in 1997. In 1999 Poland acceded to NATO, and in 2004 it joined the European Union.

Name

:See the name 'Poland' in other languages, in Wiktionary. Poland's official name in Polish is Rzeczpospolita Polska. The names of the country, Polska, and of the nationality, the Poles, are of Slavic origin. Their name derives from the tribal name Polanie - people living around Lake Gopło - the cradle of Poland mentioned as Glopeani having 400 strongholds circa 845 (Bavarian Geographer). Common opinion holds that the name Polska comes from the Slavic Polanie tribe who established the Polish state in the 10th century (Greater Poland). The conventional etymology of the ethnic name of the Poles relates it to these Polish Polanie, "dwellers of the field"; pole, "field", analogous to Russian polyî, "open land", from Indo-European pelè-, "flat" + -anie, "inhabitants", analogous to Latin -anus, "originating from" (please compare Yuriev-Polsky). In old Latin chronicles the terms terra Poloniae (land of Poland) or Regnum Poloniae (kingdom of Poland) appear. Parallel to this terminology, another one, Lechia, came into use, thought to derive from the tribe name Lędzianie. It gave rise to an alternative name for "Pole": Lęch, Lęchowie in Old Church Slavonic, Lechia, Lechites in Latin, Lach in Ruthenian, Lyakh in Russian, as well as to old German Lechien, Hungarian Lengyelorszag, Lengyel, Lithuanian Lenkija, lenkas and Turkish Lechistan (from Persian Lehestan).

History

Poland began to form into a recognizable unitary and territorial entity around the middle of the 10th century under the Piast dynasty. Poland's first historically documented ruler, Mieszko I, was baptized in 966, adopting Catholic Christianity as the country's new official religion, to which the bulk of the population converted in the course of the next century. In the 12th century Poland fragmented into several smaller states, which were later ravaged by the Mongol armies of the Golden Horde in 1241. In 1320 Władysław I became the King of reunified Poland. His son Kazimierz Wielki repaired the Polish economy, built new castles and won the war against the Russian dukedom (Lwow become a Polish City). Under the Jagiellon dynasty, Poland forged an alliance with its neighbour Lithuania. A golden age occurred in the 16th century during its union (Lublin Union) with Lithuania in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The citizens of Poland took pride in their ancient freedoms and parliamentary system, although the Szlachta monopolised most of the benefits. Since that time Poles have regarded freedom as their most important value. Poles often call themselves the nation of the free people. freedom In the mid-17th century a Swedish invasion rolled through the country in the turbulent time known as "The Deluge" (potop). Numerous wars against the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Cossacks, Transylvania and Brandenburg-Prussia ultimately came to an end in 1699. During the following 80 years, the waning of the central government and deadlock of the institutions weakened the nation, leading to anarchistic tendencies and a growing dependency on Russia. In Polish Democracy every member of parliament was able to break any work or project by shouting 'Liberum Veto' during the session. Russian tsars took advantage of this unique political vulnerability by offering money to Parliamentary traitors, who in turn would consistently and subversively block necessary reforms and new solutions. The Enlightenment in Poland fostered a growing national movement to repair the state, resulting in the first written constitution in Europe, the Constitution of May 3 in 1791. The process of reforms ceased with the partitions of Poland between Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772, 1793 and 1795 which ultimately dissolved the country. Poles resented their shrinking freedoms and several times rebelled against their oppressors (see List of Polish Uprisings). Napoleon recreated a Polish state, the Duchy of Warsaw, but after the Napoleonic wars, Poland was split again by the Allies at the Congress of Vienna. The eastern part was ruled by the Russian tsar as a Congress Kingdom, and possessed a liberal constitution. However, the tsars soon reduced Polish freedoms and Russia eventually de facto annexed the country. Later in the 19th century, Austrian-ruled Galicia became the oasis of Polish freedom. During World War I all the Allies agreed on the restitution of Poland that United States President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed in point 13 of his Fourteen Points. Shortly after the surrender of Germany in November 1918, Poland regained its independence as the Second Polish Republic (II Rzeczpospolita Polska). A new threat, Soviet aggression, arose in the 1919 (Polish-Soviet War), but Poland succeeded in defending its independence. Polish-Soviet War The Second Polish Republic lasted until the start of World War II when Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland. Poland surrendered on September 28 1939 and suffered greatly in the period that followed as a General Government. Of all the countries involved in the war, Poland lost the highest percentage of its citizens: over 6 million perished, half of them Polish Jews. In its conclusion, Poland's borders shifted westwards, pushing the eastern border to the Curzon line and the western border to the Oder-Neisse line. After the shift, Poland emerged 20% smaller by 77,500 km² (29,900 mi²); although the important cities of Gdańsk, Szczecin and Wrocław were all incorporated into its post-war borders. The shift also involved the migration of millions of people – Poles, Germans, Ukrainians, Jews. As a result of these events, Poland became, for the first time in history, an ethnically unified country. A Polish minority is still present in neighbouring countries of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania, as well as in other countries (see Poles article for the population numbers). The largest number of ethnic Poles outside of the country can be found in the United States. The Soviet Union instituted a new communist government in Poland, analogous to much of the rest of the Eastern Bloc. Military alignment within the Warsaw Pact throughout the Cold War was also part of this change. In 1948 a turn towards Stalinism brought in the beginning of the next period of totalitarian rule. The People's Republic of Poland (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa) was officially proclaimed in 1952. In 1956 the régime became more liberal, freeing many people from prison and expanding some personal freedoms. In 1970 the government was changed. It was a time when the economy was more modern, and the government had large credits. Labour turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union, "Solidarity", which over time became a political force. It eroded the dominance of the Communist Party; by 1989 it had triumphed in parliamentary elections, and Lech Wałęsa, a Solidarity candidate, eventually won the presidency in 1990. The Solidarity movement greatly contributed to the soon-following collapse of Communism all over Eastern Europe. A shock therapy program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe. Despite a regression in social and economic standards, there were numerous improvements in other human rights (free speech, functioning democracy and the like). Poland was the first post-communist country to regain pre-1989 GDP levels. Poland joined the NATO alliance in 1999 along with the Czech Republic and Hungary. Polish voters then said yes to the EU in a referendum in June 2003. Poland joined the European Union on 1 May 2004.

Politics

Poland is a democratic republic. Its current constitution dates from 1997. The government structure centres on the Council of Ministers, led by a prime minister. The president appoints the cabinet according to the proposals of the prime minister, typically from the majority coalition in the bicameral legislature's lower house (the Sejm). The president, elected by popular vote every five years, serves as the head of state. The current president is Aleksander Kwaśniewski. Polish voters elect a two house parliament, consisting of a 460 member lower house Sejm and a 100 member Senate (Senat). The Sejm is elected under a proportional representation electoral system similar to that used in other parliamentary political systems while the Senate is elected under a comparatively rare first past the post bloc voting. With the exception of ethnic minority parties, only political parties receiving at least 5% of the total national vote can enter Sejm. When sitting in joint session, members of Sejm and Senate form the National Assembly, (Polish Zgromadzenie Narodowe). The National Assembly is formed on three occasions: taking oath by the new president, bringing an indictment against the President of the Republic to the Tribunal of State, declaration of the President's permanent incapacity to exercise his duties due to the state of his health. The judicial branch plays an important role in decision-making. Its major institutions include the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy), the Supreme Administrative Court (Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny) (judges appointed by the president of the republic on the recommendation of the National Council of the Judiciary for an indefinite period), the Constitutional Tribunal (Trybunał Konstytucyjny) (judges chosen by the Sejm for nine-year terms) and the Tribunal of State (Trybunał Stanu) (judges chosen by the Sejm for for the current term of office of the Sejm, except for the position of chairperson which is held by the First President of the Supreme Court). The Sejm (on approval of the Polish Senate) appoints the Ombudsman or the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection (Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich) for a five-year term. The Ombudsman has the duty of guarding the observance and implementation of the rights and liberties of the human being and of the citizen, the law and principles of community life and social justice.

Geography

judicial branch The Polish landscape consists almost entirely of the lowlands of the North European Plain, at an average height of 173 metres (568 ft), though the Sudetes (including the Karkonosze) and the Carpathian Mountains (including the Tatra mountains, where one also finds Poland's highest point, Rysy, at 2,499 m [8,199 ft]) form the southern border. Several large rivers cross the plains; for instance, the Vistula (Wisła), Oder (Odra), Warta the (Western) Bug. Poland also contains over 9,300 lakes, predominantly in the north of the country. Masuria (Mazury) forms the largest and most-visited lake district in Poland. Remains of the ancient forests survive: see list of forests in Poland. Poland enjoys a temperate climate, with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters and mild summers with frequent showers and thunder showers.

Big Cities

climate climate climate climate] climate

Administrative division

climate climate Poland is subdivided into sixteen administrative regions known as voivodships (województwa, singular - województwo): Lower levels of administrative division are:
- powiats (counties)
- gminas (commune)

Economy

gmina gmina gmina] Since its return to democracy, Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of liberalising the economy and today stands out as one of the most successful and open examples of the transition from a partially state-capitalist market economy to a primarily privately owned market economy. The privatisation of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms have allowed for the rapid development of an aggressive private sector, followed by a development of consumer rights organisations later on. Restructuring and privatisation of "sensitive sectors" (e.g., coal, steel, railways, and energy) has begun. The biggest privatisations so far were a sale of Telekomunikacja Polska, a national telecom to France Telecom (2000) and an issue of 30% shares of the biggest Polish bank, PKO BP, on the Polish stockmarket (2004). Poland has a large agricultural sector of private farms, that could be a leading producer of food in the European Union now that Poland is a member. Challenges remain, especially under-investment. Structural reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger-than-expected fiscal pressures. Warsaw leads Central Europe in foreign investment and allegedly needs a continued large inflow. GDP growth had been strong and steady from 1993 to 2000 with only a short slowdown from 2001 to 2002. The prospect of closer integration with the European Union has put the economy back on track, with growth of 3.7% annually in 2003, a rise from 1.4% annually in 2002. In 2004 GDP growth equalled 5.4%. Annual growth rates broken down by quarters:
- 2003: Q1 - 2.2% | Q2 - 3.8% | Q3 - 4.7% | Q4 - 4.7%
- 2004: Q1 - 6.9% | Q2 - 6.1% | Q3 - 5.8% | Q4 - 5.9%
- 2005: Q1 - 2.1% | Q2 - 2.8% | Q3 - 3.7% | Although the Polish economy is currently undergoing an economic boom there are many challenges ahead. The most notable task on the horizon is the preparation of the economy (through continuing deep structural reforms) to allow Poland to meet the strict economic criteria for entry into the European Single Currency. There is much speculation as to just when Poland might be ready to join the Eurozone, although the best guess estimates put the entry date somewhere between 2009 and 2013. For now, Poland is preparing to make the Euro its official currency (as other countries of the European Union), and the Złoty will eventually be abolished from the modern Polish economy. Since joining the European Union, many young Polish people have left their country to work in other EU countries becouse of high unemployment rate (about 17%). Poland produces: clothes, electronics, cars, buses (Autosan, Jelcz SA, Solaris, ) helicopters (PZL Świdnik), planes (PZL Mielec), ships, military engineering (including tanks), medicines (Polpharma, Polfa, etc), food, chemical products etc.

Science, technology and education

The education of Polish society was a goal of rulers as early as the 12th century. The library catalog of the Cathedral Chapter of Kraków dating back to 1110 shows that already in the early 12th century Polish intellectuals had access to the European literature. In 1364, in Kraków, the Jagiellonian University, founded by King Kazimierz Wielki, became one of Europe's great early universities. In 1773 King Stanisław August Poniatowski established his Commission on National Education (Komisja Edukacji Narodowej), the world's first state ministry of education. Today, Poland has more than a hundred institutions of post-secondary education: technical, medical, economics, as well as the traditional universities to be found in its major cities; e.g., Gdańsk, Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Poznań, Rzeszów, Warsaw, Wrocław yielding over 61 thousand scientists. Furthermore, there are about 300 research and development institutes, with about 10 thousand more researchers. In addition, there is a number of smaller laboratories. In sum, there are 91 thousand scientists in Poland today.

Telecommunication and IT

The share of the telecom sector in the GDP is 4.4% (end of 2000 figure), compared to 2.5% in 1996. Nevertheless, despite high expenditures for telecom infrastructure (the coverage increased from 78 users per 1000 inhabitants in 1989 to 282 in 2000)
the coverage mobile cellular is 660 users per 1000 people (2005)
- Telephones - mobile cellular: 25.3 million (Raport Telecom Team 2005)
- Telephones - main lines in use: 12.5 million (Raport Telecom Team 2005)

Transportation


- Rail: The Polish State Railways (PKP) is one of the larger railway systems of central and western Europe, with 23,420 kilometres (14,552 mi) in its network (1998). Refurbishment of the network has commenced to bring standards into line with western European railway networks. [http://www.plk-sa.pl/]
- Road: By Western European standards, Poland has a relatively poor infrastructure of expressways/highways. The Government has undertaken a programme to improve the standard of a number of significant national highways by 2013. The total length of expressways/highways is 364,657 kilometres (226,587 mi). There are a total of 9,283,000 registered passenger automobiles, as well as 1,762,000 registered trucks and buses (2000). PKP
- Air: Poland has eight major airports (in decreasing order of traffic: Warsaw, Kraków, Katowice, Gdańsk, Poznań, Wrocław, Szczecin and Rzeszów), a total of 123 airports and airfields, as well as three heliports. The number of passenger at Polish airports has consistently increased since 1991.
- Marine: The total length of navigable rivers and canals is 3,812 kilometres (2,369 mi). The merchant marine consists of 114 ships, with an additional 100 ships registered outside the country. The principal ports and harbours are: Port of Gdańsk, Port of Gdynia, Port of Szczecin, Port of Swinoujscie, Port of Ustka, Port of Kolobrzeg, Gliwice, Warsaw, Wroclaw.

Tourism and holidays

Wroclaw
- Tourism in Poland
- Holidays in Poland
- [http://wikitravel.org/en/Poland Poland on Wikitravel]

Demographics

Poland formerly played host to many languages, cultures and religions. However, the outcome of World War II and the following shift westwards to the area between the Curzon line and the Oder-Neisse line gave Poland an appearance of homogeneity. Today 36,983,700 people, or 96.74% of the population considers itself Polish (Census 2002), 471,500 (1.23%) declared another nationality. 774,900 people (2.03%) didn't declare any nationality. The officially recognised ethnic minorities include: Germans, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Jews and Belarusians. The Polish language, a member of the West Slavic branch of the Slavic languages, functions as the official language of Poland. Most Poles adhere to the Roman Catholic faith, and 75% count as practising Catholics. The rest of the population consists mainly of Eastern Orthodox (about 509 500), Jehovah's Witnesses (about 123 034) and various Protestant (about 86 880 in the largest Evangelical-Augsburg Church and about as many in smaller churches) religious minorities. [http://www.stat.gov.pl/opracowania_zbiorcze/maly_rocznik_stat/2003/rocznik4/relig.htm]

Culture

Evangelical-Augsburg Church]] Polish culture has more then 1000 years of history. Poland situated between Western and Eastern cultural spaces and got influences from both. For example the traditional costumes include also Islamic influences. Polish culture developed actively and always been as part of western (Western Europe) culture. We can see that today - architecture, folklore, art etc. Also Poland influenced to near situated countries.

UNESCO World Heritage in Poland


- Warszawa (Old Town)
- Kraków (Old Town)
- Wieliczka (Salt mine)
- Malbork (Biggest Brick Stone Castle)
- Zamość (Renaissance Town)
- Toruń (Gothic Town)
- Oświęcim (Auschwitz concentration camp)
- Jawor (Baroque Peace Church)
- Świdnica (Baroque Peace Chruch)
- Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (Pilgrim´s Place)
- Białowieża Forest (National Park - largest remaining primeval forest in Europe)
- Dębno (Gothic Wooden Chruch)
- Słowiński Park Narodowy (highest sand hills)

International rankings


- Human Development Index 2005: Rank 36th out of 177 countries.
- Reporters Without Borders world-wide press freedom index 2004: Rank 32nd out of 167 countries.
- Index of Economic Freedom 2005: Rank 41st out of 155 countries.

See also


- Extreme points of Poland
- List of castles of Poland
- List of cities in Poland
- List of Poland-related topics
- List of Poles
- Polish Armed Forces
- Polonization
- Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego
- Związek Harcerstwa Rzeczypospolitej
- Anti-Polonism

External links

Governmental websites


- [http://www.sejm.gov.pl/english.html Sejm] - Sejm - lower chamber of the Parliament
- [http://www.senat.gov.pl/indexe.htm Senat] - Senate - upper chamber of the Parliament
- [http://www.president.pl/x.node?id=479 Prezydent] - President of the Republic of Poland
- [http://www.kprm.gov.pl/english/index.html KPRM] - Prime Minister's Office
- [http://www.sn.pl/english/index.html Sąd Najwyższy] - Supreme Court
- [http://www.trybunal.gov.pl/eng/index.htm Trybunał Konstytucyjny] - Constitutional Tribunal
- [http://www.nbp.pl/Home.aspx?f=srodeken.htm National Bank of Poland]
- [http://www.poland.pl/ The Poland.pl portal]
- [http://www.wse.com.pl/ Warsaw Stock Exchange]
- [http://www.stat.gov.pl/english/index.htm GUS] - Central Statistical Office
- [http://www.sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/angielski/kon1.htm Constitution of Poland]

Poland Tourism


- [http://www.poland-tourism.pl/start.asp?tf=US Polish National Tourist Office (from pot.gov.pl)]

English-language websites on Poland


- [http://www.poland.gov.pl Polska /page about Poland]
- [http://polblog.pl/ PolBlog - Polish News Site]
- [http://www.polishforums.com Poland and Polish Community Online]
- [http://www.centreurope.org/pl/poland.htm Centreurope.org: Poland section]
- [http://www.warsawvoice.pl Warsawvoice]
- [http://www.wbj.pl Warsaw Business Journal]
- [http://www.parks.it/world/PL/Eindex.html Parks in Poland] National parks, wetlands, biosphere reserves and other protected areas Category:European Union member states Category:Republics People of Poland zh-min-nan:Polska als:Polen ko:폴란드 ms:Poland ja:ポーランド simple:Poland th:ประเทศโปแลนด์ fiu-vro:Poola

Political party

A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns. Some parties are not permitted to or choose not to seek power through elections and so may turn to other forms of pressure, sometimes terrorism. Parties often espouse a certain ideology, but may also represent a coalition among disparate interests. In parliamentary systems of government, most political parties have an elected leader who, if his or her party is elected, becomes head of government. In presidential systems, especially those with full separation of powers, there may not be a formal leader. In certain electoral situations, more common in elections using proportional representation than First Past the Post, a government may be formed of more than one party, called a coalition government. Partisanship is the tendency of supporters of political parties to subscribe to or at least support their party's views and policies in contrast to those of other parties. Differentiation is essential to most political parties: they must be different at least in some ways to other parties to compete in politics and win elections. Extreme partisanship is sometimes referred to as partisan warfare.

Nonpartisan, Single-party, two-party, and multi-party governments

In a nonpartisan system, no official political parties exist, or the law does not permit political parties. In nonpartisan elections, each candidate for office runs on her or his own merits rather than as a member of a political party. In nonpartisan legislatures, there are no typically formal party alignments within the legislature; even if there are caucuses for specific issues. Despite being nonpartisan, most members have consistent and identifiable voting patterns. Historians have frequently interpreted Federalist No. 10 to imply that the Founding Fathers of the United States intended the government to be nonpartisan. The administration of George Washington and the first few sessions of the US Congress were nonpartisan. The unicameral legislature of Nebraska is the only nonpartisan state government body in the United States. Many city and county governments are nonpartisan. Unless there are legal prohibitions against political parties, factions within nonpartisan governments generally evolve into political parties. In single-party systems, only one political party is legally allowed to hold effective power. Although minor parties may sometimes be allowed, they are legally required to accept the leadership of the dominant party. This party may not always be, however, identical to the government, although sometimes positions within the party may in fact be more important than positions within the government. In Dominant-party systems, opposition parties are allowed, and there may be even a deeply established democratic tradition, but other parties are widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power. Sometimes, political, social and economic circumstances, and public opinion are the reason for others parties' failure. Sometimes, typically in countries with less of an established democratic tradition, it is possible the dominant party will remain in power by using patronage and sometimes by voting fraud. In the latter case, the definition between Dominant and single-party system becomes rather blurred. Examples of dominant party systems include the People's Action Party in Singapore and the African National Congress in South Africa. Also, one party dominant systems existed in Mexico with the Institutional Revolutionary Party until the 1990's, and in the southern United States with the Democratic Party from the 1880s until the 1970s. Two-party systems are states such as the United States and Jamaica in which there are two political parties dominant to such an extent that electoral success under the banner of any other party is extremely difficult. One right wing coalition party and one left wing coalition party is the most common ideological breakdown in such a system but in two-party states political parties are traditionally catch all parties which are ideologically broad and inclusive. The relationship between the voting system used and the two-party system was described by Maurice Duverger and is known as Duverger's Law. Duverger's Law Multi-party systems are systems in which there are multiple parties. In nations such as Canada and the United Kingdom, there may be two strong parties, with a third party that is electorally successful. The party may frequently come in second place in elections and pose a threat to the other two parties, but has still never formally held government. In some rare cases, such as in Finland, the nation may have an active three-party system, in which all three parties routinely hold top office. It is very rare for a country to have more than three parties who are all equally successful, and all have an equal chance of independently forming government. More commonly, in cases where there are numerous parties, no one party often has a chance of gaining power, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. This has been an emerging trend in the politics of the Republic of Ireland.

Parties and directions

Political parties are often considered on a political spectrum. One typical spectrum has the Left associated with radical or progressive policies and the Right with conservative or traditional policies. Other analyses include other dimensions such as the political parties' acceptance of parliamentary democracy as opposed to authoritarian or totalitarian attitudes, and economic policies, the Left favoring social-democracy, socialism or communism, while the Right tends to favor laissez-faire economics or Fascism. Centrist parties often adopt a collection of policies that defy easy placing on the political spectrum. Many parties will have (formal or informal) factions within them that have differing views on policy direction.

Colors and emblems for parties

:Main article: see political colour Generally speaking, over the world, political parties associate themselves with colors, primarily for identification, especially for voter recognition during elections. Red usually signifies leftist, communist or socialist parties. Conservative and Christian democratic parties generally use blue or black. Recently in the United States, this trend has been reversed. Pink sometimes signifies socialist. Yellow is often used for liberalism. Green is the color for green parties and Islamist parties. Orange is sometimes a color of nationalism, such as in The Netherlands, or is a color of reform such as in Ukraine. In the past, Purple was considered the color of royalty, but is rarely used in modern-day political parties. Brown is generally associated with fascist or neofascist parties, going back to the Nazi Party's brownshirt security guards. Color associations are useful for mnemonics when voter illiteracy is significant. Another case where they are used is when it is not desirable to make rigorous links to parties, particularly when coalitions and alliances are formed between political parties and other organizations, for example: Red Tory, "Purple" (Red-Blue) alliances, Red-Green Alliances, Blue-Green Alliances, Pan-green coalitions, and Pan-blue coalitions. The emblem of socialist parties is often a red rose held in a fist. Communist parties often use a hammer, a sickle, or both.

International organizations of political parties

During the 19th and 20th century, many national political parties organized themselves into international organizations along similar policy lines. Notable examples are the International Workingmen's Association (also called the First International), the Socialist International (also called the Second International), the Communist International, (also called the Third International), and the Fourth International, as organizations of Working class parties, or the Liberal International (yellow), and the International Democrat Union (blue). Worldwide green parties have recently established the Global Greens. The Socialist International, the Liberal International, and the International Democrat Union are all based in London.

See also


- List of politics-related topics
- List of political parties
- Party class
- Political faction (both pre- and within a modern party)

External links


- [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/platforms.php U.S. Party Platforms from 1840-2004 at The American Presidency Project: UC Santa Barbara]
- [http://www.electionworld.org/parties.htm Political parties around the world]
- [http://www.politicalresources.net/ Political resources on the net]
- [http://www.broadleft.org/ Leftist political parties of the world] Category:Elections Category:Political parties ko:정당 ja:政党 simple:Political party

People's Republic of Poland

The People's Republic of Poland or Polish People's Republic (Polish: Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1989, during its period of rule by the Communist party, officially called the Polish United Workers' Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza, or PZPR). The Communists were in effective control of the Polish government from 1944 onwards, but the new name was not adopted until the 1952 constitution came into effect. People's Republic of Poland was a sovereign state as defined by the international law. In reality it was however a satellite state subordinate to the Soviet Union. Soviets had much influence over internal affairs and foreign affairs, forces of Red Army were stationed in Poland (1945 - 500,000; until 1955 - 120,000 to 150,000, until 1989 - 60,000 to 80,000). The Ministry of Public Security was responsible to Soviet 'advisors'. In 1945 Soviet generals and advisors formed 80% of officer cadre of Wojsko Ludowe, by 1948 30 to 40%. Polish communists, responsible only to Soviets, were in total control of the country. Opposition was persecuted and suppressed, and contrary to Yalta Conference agreement, no 'free and fair' elections were held until 1990.

History

At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, Stalin was able to present his western allies, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, with a fait accompli in Poland. His armed forces were in occupation of the country, and his agents, the Polish Communists, were in control of its administration. The USSR was in the process of incorporating the lands in eastern Poland which it had occupied between 1939 and 1941. In compensation, the USSR awarded Poland all the German territories in Pomerania, Silesia and Brandenburg east of the Oder-Neisse Line, plus the southern half of East Prussia. Stalin was determined that Poland's new government would be controlled by the Communists. He had severed relations with the Polish government-in-exile in London in 1943, but to appease Roosevelt and Churchill he agreed at Yalta that a coalition government would be formed. The Communists held a majority of key posts in this new government, and with the Soviet support they soon gained almost total control of the country, rigging all elections. Their opponents, led by Stanisław Mikołajczyk, managed only one but substantial victory: Poland preserved its status as a semi-independent state, contrary to the plans of some influential communists such as Wanda Wasilewska, who were in favour of Poland becoming another republic of the Soviet Union. This important victory would be their last, however, as Communists tightening their grip on power began political persecution of all opposition. Many of their opponents decided to leave the country, others were put on staged trials and sentenced to many years of imprisonment or execution. In 1948 the Communists consolidated their power, forming the Polish United Workers' Party (known in Poland as 'the Party'), which would monopolise the political power in Poland until 1989. Over the coming years, private industry was nationalised, the land seized from the prewar landowners and redistributed to the peasants, and millions of Poles were transferred from the lost eastern territories to the lands acquired from Germany. After 1948 Poland was now to be brought into line with the Soviet model of a "people's democracy" and a centrally planned socialist economy. The regime also embarked on the collectivisation of agriculture, although the pace was slower than in other satellites: Poland remained the only Soviet bloc country where individual peasants dominated agriculture. Despite the fact that Polish historians estimate that 200,000 to 400,000 people died during the postwar period, Polish Stalinism was not quite as severe as it was in the other satellite states. Stalinism In June 1956, workers in the industrial city of Poznań (Posen) went on strike. Voices began to be raised in the Party and among the intellectuals calling for wider reforms of the Stalinist system. Eventually power shifted towards Władysław Gomułka, who replaced Bolesław Bierut as the head of the government. Hardline Stalinists were removed from power and many Soviet officers serving in the Polish Army were dismissed. This marked the end of the 'Stalin Poland'. By the mid 1960s Poland was starting to experience economic as well as political difficulties. As Gomułka's popularity declined and his "reform Communism" lost its impetus, the regime became steadily less liberal and more repressive. The next stage of Polish history began in December 1970, when Gomułka's government decided to prop the failing economy by suddenly announcing massive increases in the prices of basic foodstuffs. The resulting wide-spread protests led to another major change in the government, as Gomułka was replaced by Edward Gierek as the new First Secretary. Gierek's plan for recovery was centered on massive borrowing, mainly from the United States and West Germany, to re-equip and modernise Polish industry, and to import consumer goods to give the workers some incentive to work. While it has boosted the Polish economy, and is still remembered as the Golden Age of Communist Poland, the obvious repercussion in the form of massive debt is still felt in Poland even today. This Golden Age came to an end after the 1973 energy crisis. Soon the failure of the Gierek regime, both economically and politically, led to the creation of opposition, in the form of trade unions, student groups, clandestine newspapers and publishers, imported books and newspapers, even a "flying university." trade union At this juncture, on 16 October 1978, Poland experienced what many Poles believed to be literally a miracle. The Archbishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyła, was elected Pope, taking the name John Paul II. The election of a Polish Pope had an electrifying effect on what was by 1970 notably one of the most devoutly Catholic nations in Europe. When John Paul toured Poland in June 1979, half a million people heard him speak in Warsaw, and about a quarter of the entire population of the country attended at least one of his outdoor masses. Overnight, John Paul became the de facto leader of Poland, leaving the regime not so much opposed as ignored. John Paul did not call for rebellion, instead he encouraged the creation of an "alternative Poland" of social institutions independent of the government, so that when the next crisis came, the nation would present a united front. A new wave of strikes undermined Gierek's government and in September Gierek, who was in poor health, was finally removed from office and replaced as Party leader by Stanisław Kania. However Kania was unable to find an answer for the fast-eroding support of the communism in Poland. Labour turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union, "Solidarity" (Polish Solidarność), founded in September 1980, originally led by Lech Wałęsa. In the 1980s, it gathered a broad anti-communist social movement ranging from people associated with the Roman Catholic Church down to members of the anti-communist left. By the end of 1981, Solidarity had nine million members, a quarter of Poland's population and three times as much as the PUWP had. Roman Catholic Church] Roman Catholic Church (December 13, 1981)]] On December 13, 1981, the government leader Wojciech Jaruzelski who became the party's national secretary and prime minister that year, fearful of Soviet intervention started a crack-down on Solidarity, declaring a martial law in Poland, suspending the union, and temporarily imprisoning most of its leaders. The government then banned Solidarity on October 8, 1982. Martial Law was formally lifted in July, 1983, though many heightened controls on civil liberties and political life, as well as food rationing, remained in place through the mid to late 1980s. This did not prevent "Solidarity" from gaining more support and power, and it eventually eroded the dominance of the Communist Party, which in 1981 lost ca. 85,000 of its 3 million members. Throughout the mid-1980s, Solidarity persisted solely as an underground organization. But by the late 1980s, Solidarity was sufficiently strong to frustrate Jaruzelski's attempts at reform, and nationwide strikes in 1988 were one of the factors that forced the government to open a dialogue with Solidarity. strikeFrom February 6 to April 15, talks of 13 working groups in 94 sessions, which became known as the "Roundtable Talks" (Polish: Rozmowy Okrągłego Stołu) radically altered the shape of the Polish government and society. In 1990 Jaruzelski resigned as Poland's leader and was succeeded by Wałęsa in December. By the end of August a Solidarity-led coalition government was formed and in December Wałęsa was elected president, resigning from his post in Solidarity. This began the Third Polish Republic and effectively ended the Communist Party's hold on the government.

Government and politics

Third Polish Republic The government and politics of the People's Republic of Poland were dominated by the Polish United Workers' Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza, PZPR). In effect, Poland was a single-party state following a communist ideology, dependent on the USSR to the extent of being its puppet state.

Economy

Poland suffered enormous losses during World War II. While in 1939 Poland had 35.1 million inhabitants, the census of 14 February 1946 showed only 23.9 million inhabitants. The losses in national resources and infrastructure amounted to 38% Compared to Western nations, including Germany, Poland was still mostly an agricultural country. The implementation of the immense tasks involved with the reconstruction of the country was intertwined with the struggle of the new government for the stabilisation of power, made even more difficult by the fact that a considerable part of society was mistrustful of the communist government. The liberation of Poland by the Red Army and the support Soviet Union shown for the Polish communists was decisive for the left gaining the upper hand in the new Polish government. As control of the Polish territories passed from occupying forces of Nazi Germany to Red Army, and from Red Army to Polish communists, Poland's new economic system began evolving towards communist central planning economy. One of the first major steps in that direction involved the agricultural reform issued by the PKWN government on 6th September 1944. All estates over 0.5 km² in pre-war Polish terrotories and all over 1 km² in Regained territories were nationalised without compensation. In total, 31,000 km² of land were nationalised in Poland and 5 million in the Regained Territories, out of which 12,000 km² were redistributed to peasants and the rest remained in the hands of the government (most of this was eventually used in the collectivization and creation of kolkhoz-like Państwowe Gospodarstwo Rolne, PGR). However the collectivization of Polish farming never reached the extent of those in Soviet Union or other countries of the Eastern Bloc. [http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/62528_1.html] Państwowe Gospodarstwo Rolne; the text reads The structures built for socialism shall be our pride]] Nationalization began in 1944 as well, with government taking control of German industries on Regained Territories. As nationalization was unpopular, the communists delayed the nationalization reform until 1946, when after the 3xTAK referenda they were fairly certain they had total control of the government and could deal with eventual public protests. However some semi-official nationalisation of various private non-German industries begun back in 1944. In 1946, all enterprises with over 50 employees were nationalised, with no compensation to Polish owners. http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/49495_1.html Heavy industry development, the x-year plans Shortage economy Comecon

Culture

: Cult tv series:
- Czterej Pancerni i Pies
- Stawka Większa niż Życie (Kapitan Kloss) : Cult movies:
- Rejs
- Seksmisja

Demographics


- Minorities in Poland after the War
- Changes in Polish society between 1945 and 1989

Geography

Changes in Polish society between 1945 and 1989 After World War II, Poland lost 77,000 km² of eastern regions (Kresy), gaining instead the smaller but much more industrialized Regained Territories on the Oder-Neisse line. The People's Republic of Poland was divided into several voivodships (Polish unit of administrative division). After the World War II the new administrative division was based on pre-war one. The areas in the East that were not annexed by the Soviet Union had their borders left almost unchanged. Newly acquired territories in the west and north were organised into the voivodships of Szczecin, Wrocław, Olsztyn and partially joined to Gdańsk, Katowice and Poznań voivodships. Two cities were granted voivodship status: Warsaw and Łódź. In 1950 new voivodships were created: Koszalin - previously part of Szczecin, Opole - previously part of Katowice, and Zielona Góra - previously part of Poznań, Wrocław and Szczecin voivodships. In addition, three other cities were granted the voivodship status: Wrocław, Kraków and Poznań. In 1973 Poland voivodships were changed again. This reorganization of administrative division of Poland was mainly a result of local government reform acts of 1973 to 1975. In place of three level administrative division (voivodship, county, commune), new two-level administrative division was introduced (49 small voidships and communes). The three smallest voivodships: Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź had a special status of municipal voivodship; the city president (mayor) was also province governor.
Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of Poland: Image:PolishAdministrativeDivision1946.gif|Polish voivodships after 1945) Image:Poland administrative division 1957 literki.PNG|Polish voivodships after 1957) Image:Poland administrative division 1975 literki.png|Polish voivodships after 1975)
Category:History of Poland Poland, People's Republic of Poland, People's Republic of

Polish Workers' Party

The Polish Workers' Party (Polska Partia Robotnicza, PPR) was a communist party in Poland from 1942 to 1948. It was founded as a reconstitution of the Communist Party of Poland, and merged into the Polish Socialist Party in 1948 to form the Polish United Workers' Party. Category:World War II resistance movements Poland, Polish Workers' Party Category:History of Poland

Polish Socialist Party

The Polish Socialist Party (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) was one of the two most important Polish political parties from its inception in 1892 until 1948, when it merged with the Stalinist Polish Workers' Party (PPR) to form the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR), the ruling party in the People's Republic of Poland. The Polish Socialist Party, founded in 1892, was the main party of the Polish working class until amalgamated into the Polish United Workers Party in 1948. Like its rival party, the SDKPiL, the PPS was only organised in the Russian part of Poland while other sections of the Socialist International organised among Polish workers in the Austrian and Prussian portions of the country. The PPS combined both socialist and national demands within its program, subsequently becoming the mass party of the Polish working class. Its foundation followed a period of work by patriotic socialists such as Ignacy Daszynski who had been editing The Worker since 1891 which was produced by the Society of Polish Socialists itself founded in 1890 in Berlin. Meanwhile in the Polish provinces of Russia groups of patriotic socialists were organising as National Socialists. Boleslaw Limonovski a leader of the national Socialists was among those who summoned a congress of Polish Socialists on November 17, 1892 in Paris. It was at this congress that the Polish Socialist Party founded. Initially it included the remnants of the Second Proletariat, the Union of Polish Workers, the Association of Polish Workers as well as the National Socialist Commune. However almost all the those belonging to both the Second Proletariat and the Union of Polish Workers were to walk out and form the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland within months due to their rejection of Polish nationalism. Among the most influential of the leaders of the PPS was Jozef Pilsudski initially editor of the party’s paper The Worker and later the leader of its Fighting Detachments. His strategy was to continue the tradition of national risings against the occupying powers and his principal enemy was, without doubt, the Russian Empire. As time went by socialism seemed ever more absent to Pilsudskis politics. With the Russo-Japanese war Pilsudskis nationalist politics dictated his pro-Japane position and as the revolutionary wave rose his fighting squads went into action against the Russian Army. Pilsudski would even travel to Japan in a quest to obtain support for an insurrection. Through 1905 the number and size of strikes increased dramatically as did political demonstrations pushing the working class membership of the PPS to the left. This allowed an opposition to develop to the insurrectionist policies of Pilsudski which came to be called ‘the Youth’. Alongside the SDKPiL and the Bund, the PPS backed the wave of strikes that swept Congress Poland from January 1905. Then at the party’s Congress in March 1905 the left won control, now joined by two former members of Proletariat who had returned from exile Feliks Kon and Tadeusz Rachnievski, isolating the Military Organisation on the right. By this time Robotnik (The Worker) had come under the direction of the left too and with the Moscow uprising it called for a General Strike in solidarity. Despite this internationalist appeal the wave of revolution was receding and the appeal fell upon barren sands. The Party Congress of February 1906 confirmed the victory of the left but the Military Organisation flaunted party discipline and carried out a series of actions. The left convened another Congress in November 1906 and the right were excluded. The same Congress also confirmed that the PPS saw the Polish revolution as being a part of the social revolution on an All-Russian level. The new leadership including Max Horwitz (Walecki), Pawel Lewinson (Lapinski) and Maria Kosucka (Kostrzewa), in addition to Kons and Rachnievski. The PPS-Lewica (Left) was now politically the Polish analogue of the Russian Mensheviks. The former Revolutionary Faction continued using the name PPS but was to experience the loss of a faction which became the Workers Polish Socialist Party in 1907 only to be smashed by repression by 1909. Another split occurred in 1911 when Feliks Perl led a breakaway group called the PPS-Opozycja. All factions of the PPS would experience repression and a reversal of their fortunes during the long years of the downturn following the defeat of the revolution. The outbreak of war in 1914 saw the PPS adopt a position of favouring the Central Powers hoping in this way to secure a Polish state within the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The PPS-Left however adopted an internationalist position moving closer to the Social Democrats as the war became prolonged. By the time of the success of the October Revolution in Russia and the end of the war the PPS-Left was extremely close to the SDKPiL as was proved when Workers Councils appeared throughout the country at the end of 1918. The first Council to appear was that of Lublin on November 6 1918 and as in Russia it was from the first the potential beginning of a new workers state. And as in Russia it was counter-posed to the bourgeois state. Thus in Lublin Ignacy Dazynski established a "Peoples Government" the following day in Lublin and a short period of Dual Power ensued. Again as in Russia the Council was dominated by the reformists, in this case the PPS, who pledged support to Daszynskis government, support which would be switched within days to the newly established central government in Warsaw of Socialist Jedrzej Moraczewski, itself sanctioned by the new head of state Pilsudski. Councils also appeared in Lodz, the Dabrowa industrial region and Warsaw. Where the councils were not emasculated by the reformists they were repressed by the coalition government as in the Dabrowa region where Red Guard units were smashed by the Peoples Militia. Elsewhere, for example Warsaw, two rival Councils were organised by the PPS on one hand and by the SDKPiL, PPS-L with the Trade Unions on the other. Compelled through pressure from the PPS ranks to unite the reformists would split again in June 1919 as bourgeois democracy stabilised in Poland. Disunited and betrayed the Councils would fade away as the new state instituted a series of reforms such as the eight hour day. With the unification of Poland as an independent state the PPS united with the Social Democracy of Galicia and Silesia retaining the name PPS. In contrast to their splitting of the Workers Councils, embryonic organs of state power, the PPS now sought to unify the Trade Union movement whose existence is predicated a market economy. The unified movement counted 566,000 adherents in July 1919 which had risen to over a million in 1921. As in the World War the PPS would adopt a patriotic position in regard to the war with Soviet Russia in 1920. This in part propelled a left opposition within the PPS, led by Stanislaw Lancucki a Sejm deputy and Jerzy Czeszejko-Sochacki, to split in late 1920 and join the KPRP. The PPS as a standard reformist party was, up until Pilsudski’s coup d’etat, trying to wrest reforms through electoral politics but when events such as the rising of 1924 in Cracow happened backed the bourgeois state. The coup of 1926 then caught them unbalanced and alongside the CPP they called a General Strike which had the affect of aiding Pilsudski by allowing his troops free movement when everything else was static. A parliamentary facade was maintained until 1935, even after 1930 and the "regime of the Colonels, but in practice the PPS was now a reformist party in a situation where reformism was not an option. The result was a growth in the strength of the KPP after 1926 and the development of a left wing in the PPS which was to breakaway in 1926 adopting the name PPS-Left only to disintegrate by 1929 with it’s left wing joining the KPP. By the time of the 1928 elections, the last free elections until the Jaruzelski regime relinquished power, the PPS was to find itself eclipsed by the KPP. In the following years the PPS would become more distanced from the KPP as repression intensified and the Third Period dictated that the CPP became intent on denouncing the reformists. However the turn of the Communist International to the Popular Front meant that it was the PPS which refused unity overtures from the KPP despite which local agreements were reached in such places as Lodz, Bialystok and Grodno during the 1930's. With the war and occupation in 1939 the PPS would find itself underground. One group of Socialists chose to breakaway as the Organisation of Polish Socialists which became the Workers Polish Socialist Party, RPPS, in March 1943. It was led by Edward Osobka (Morawski), who had never been part of the leadership of the PPS before the war, yet became the new leader of the PPS after a Congress was held in September 1944. The real leaders of the PPS were instead persecuted by the new regime. The General Secretary of the PPS from before the war, Kazimierz Puzak, who had joined in 1903, been jailed in 1911 and participated in the revolutions of 1905 and 1917 was arrested by the Russian Army. Similar fates befell such long standing leaders as Antoni Zdanowski a resistence leader and head of the Polish Trades Unions. Despite being having an unwanted leadership foisted upon it the PPS still proved to be more popular than the PPR in union elections. The hostility of the rank and file to fusion of the party with the PPR ensured that Osubka-Morawski too was forced to oppose this proposal. None the less following pressure from the kremlin itself the PPS acquiesced to the fusion proposal in November 1946. Despite a party Congress in December 1947 which again opposed fusion Jozef Cyrankiewicz replaced Osubka-Morawski and a mass purge of the party began. 82,000 members were expelled out of a total of 800,000, whole executive committees as in the case of Lodz were removed and the party destroyed. It only remained for the PPS to be absorbed into the PPR in December 1948 and the United Polish Workers Party was born. Despite which the PPS survived as those of its members who had fled abroad reconstituted it in exile. As such it was to exist until the fall of the Jaruselski regime allowed the party to once more operate within Poland. A new party of the same name, which intends to carry on the tradition of the original PPS, was established by left-wing oppositionists such as Jan Jozef Lipski in 1987. However, the new PPS remains a marginal group within the political landscape of the Third Republic. Category:History of Poland Category:Political parties in Poland Category:Social democratic parties

Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland

Socjaldemokracja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej was a social democratic political party in Poland created after the fall of Communism. The party was mostly disbanded after the formation of the SLD. Among the creators of SdRP were the current Polish president Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former speaker of the Sejm Józef Oleksy and former prime minister Leszek Miller. Category:Political parties in Poland Category:Social democratic parties

Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej

left Democratic Left Alliance (Polish: Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej, SLD) is one of the main Polish social democratic political parties. A coalition of parties used this name from 1991 to 1999. It was formally established as a single party on April 15, 1999. Most of the members who established the party in 1999 had previously been members of SdRP (Socjaldemokracja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - Social Democrats of the Republic of Poland). SdRP and some other socialist and social democratic parties had formed the original Alliance of the Democratic Left as a left-wing coalition just prior to the nation's first free elections in 1991. At the time, the coalition's membership drew mostly from the Polish communist party, the Polish United Workers Party, which ruled the People's Republic of Poland with Soviet support before 1989. An alliance between the SLD and the Polish Peasant Party ruled Poland in the years 1993–1997. In 1999 the coalition became a party, but lost some members. Today SLD is a pro-European (pro-EU) social democratic party. The president of SLD is former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Wojciech Olejniczak, elected on May 29, 2005. His predecessor was Józef Oleksy. Oleksy's predecessor was Krzysztof Janik, and Janik's predecessor was Leszek Miller, the Prime Minister of Poland from 2001 to 2004. The former president of SLD, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, became President of Poland in December 1995. In the 2001 elections SLD formed a coalition with Unia Pracy (UP, Labor Union) and gained 200 (of 460) seats in the Sejm (the lower house) and 75 (of 100) in the Senate. After the elections, the coalition was joined by Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe (the Polish Peasants' Party) in forming a government. In March 2003 PSL left the coalition. By 2004 the support for SLD in the polls had dropped from about 30% to just below 10%, and several high ranking party members had been accused of taking part in high profile political scandals by the mainstream press (most notably the Rywin affair). On March 6, 2004 Leszek Miller resigned as party leader and was replaced by Krzysztof Janik. On March 26 the Diet speaker Marek Borowski, together with other high-ranking SLD officials, announced the creation of a new left-wing party, the Polish Social Democrats (Socjaldemokracja Polska). On the next day, Leszek Miller announced he would step down as prime minister on May 2, the day after Poland joins the European Union. He proceeded to do so. In the 2004 to the European Parliament, the party received 9% of the votes, giving it 5 of 54 seats reserved for Poland in the European Parliament, as part of the Party of European Socialists. In the elections to the Sejm on September 25, 2005, the Democratic Left Alliance gained only 11.3% of the vote. This gave the party 55 seats, barely a quarter of what it had had prior to the election. It has also lost all of its Senators.

Members of the Previous Polish Parliament (Sejm) (2001-2005)

MP, constituency
- Jan Antochowski, Elbląg
- Tadeusz Badach, Chełm
- Magdalena Banaś, Wałbrzych
- Renata Basta, Bydgoszcz
- Krzysztof Baszczyński, Łódź
- Barbara Blida, Katowice
- Bogdan Błaszczyk, Koszalin
- Anita Błochowiak, Sieradz
- Elżbieta Bolek, Sosnowiec
- Andrzej Brachmański, Gorzów Wielkopolski - Zielona Góra
- Bogdan Bujak, Piotrków Trybunalski
- Jan Chojnacki, Gliwice
- Kazimierz Chrzanowski, Kraków
- Danuta Ciborowska, Elbląg
- Grażyna Ciemniak, Bydgoszcz
- Wiesław Ciesielski, Rzeszów
- Bronisław Cieślak, Kraków
- Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Białystok
- Jerzy Czepułkowski, Olsztyn
- Aleksander Czuż, Białystok
- Eugeniusz Czykwin, Białystok
- Jakub Derech-Krzycki, Gorzów Wielkopolski - Zielona Góra
- Bogdan Derwich, Toruń
- Wojciech Długoborski, Szczecin
- Wojciech Domaradzki, Krosno
- Marek Dyduch, Wałbrzych
- Jerzy Dziewulski, Olsztyn
- Anna Filek, Kraków
- Witold Firak, Krosno
- Sebastian Florek, Olsztyn
- Piotr Gadzinowski, Warszawa
- Maria Gajecka-Bożek, Sosnowiec
- Andrzej Gawłowski, Piła
- Witold Gintowt-Dziewałtowski, Elbląg
- Anna Górna-Kubacka, Poznań
- Danuta Grabowska, Radom
- Aleksandra Gramała, Katowice
- Joanna Grobel-Proszowska, Rzeszów
- Zofia Grzebisz-Nowicka, Kielce
- Jerzy Hausner, Kraków
- Ryszard Hayn, Kalisz
- Krystyna Herman, Wałbrzych
- Barbara Hyla-Makowska, Bydgoszcz
- Tadeusz Iwiński, Olsztyn
- Aleksandra Jakubowska, Opole
- Ewa Janik, Gliwice
- Ewa Maria Janik, Częstochowa
- Krzysztof Janik, Tarnów - parliamentary caucus chairman
- Elżbieta Jankowska, Łódź
- Zbigniew Janowski, Chełm
- Jerzy Jaskiernia, Kielce - former parliamentary caucus chairman
- Teresa Jasztal, Wrocław
- Mieczysław Jedoń, Wałbrzych
- Wiesław Jędrusik, Sosnowiec
- Tadeusz Kaleniecki, Krosno
- Ryszard Kalisz, Warszawa
- Zbigniew Kaniewski, Łódź
- Marian Kawa, Krosno
- Bożena Kizińska, Kielce
- Jan Klimek, Katowice
- Jan Knapik, Nowy Sącz
- Jan Kochanowski, Gorzów Wielkopolski - Zielona Góra
- Stanisław Kopeć, Szczecin
- Jacek Kowalik, Gdynia
- Bronisława Kowalska, Legnica
- Janusz Krasoń, Wrocław
- Zbigniew Krutczenko, Siedlce
- Grzegorz Kurczuk, Lublin
- Stanisław Kurpiewski, Siedlce
- Krystian Łuczak, Toruń
- Aleksandra Łuszczyńska, Płock
- Krystyna Łybacka, Poznań
- Ryszard Maraszek, Legnica
- Adam Markiewicz, Wałbrzych
- Wacław Martyniuk, Gliwice
- Czesław Marzec, Szczecin
- Aldona Michalak, Płock
- Jerzy Michalski, Chełm
- Leszek Miller, Łódź
- Tadeusz Motowidło, Rybnik
- Alicja Murynowicz, Łódź
- Tadeusz Myler, Kalisz
- Andrzej Namysło, Opole
- Grzegorz Napieralski, Szczecin
- Lech Nikolski, Chełm
- Irena Nowacka, Sieradz
- Joanna Nowiak, Poznań
- Józef Nowicki, Konin
- Wiesław Okoński, Gliwice
- Wojciech Olejniczak, Sieradz
- Józef Oleksy, Siedlce
- Wiktor Osik, Lublin
- Małgorzata Ostrowska, Gdańsk
- Andrzej Otręba, Wrocław
- Andrzej Pęczak, Sieradz
- Jacek Piechota, Szczecin
- Katarzyna Piekarska, Warszawa
- Elżbieta Piela-Mielczarek, Szczecin
- Kazimierz Pietrzyk, Opole
- Grażyna Pijanowska, Piła
- Józef Pilarczyk, Opole
- Andrzej Piłat, Płock
- Stanisław Piosik, Piła
- Zbigniew Podraza, Sosnowiec
- Olgierd Poniźnik, Legnica
- Franciszek Potulski, Gdańsk
- Stanisława Prządka, Siedlce
- Władysław Rak, Legnica
- Zygmunt Ratman, Częstochowa
- Andrzej Różański, Gdynia
- Stanisław Rydzoń, Chrzanów
- Kazimierz Sas, Nowy Sącz
- Joanna Senyszyn, Gdynia
- Zbigniew Siemiątkowski, Płock
- Jan Sieńko, Gdynia
- Szczepan Skomra, Chełm
- Andrzej Skrzyński, Tarnów
- Robert Smoleń, Gorzów Wielkopolski - Zielona Góra
- Zbigniew Sobotka, Piotrków Trybunalski
- Adam Sosnowski, Kielce
- Edmund Stachowicz, Gdańsk
- Stanisław Stec, Piła
- Marian Stępień, Katowice
- Władysław Stępień, Rzeszów
- Benedykt Suchecki, Płock
- Andrzej Szarawarski, Sosnowiec
- Jerzy Szmajdziński, Legnica
- Elżbieta Szparaga, Toruń
- Jerzy Szteliga, Opole
- Jan Szwarc, Bielsko-Biała
- Jan Szymański, Wrocław
- Zygmunt Jerzy Szymański, Lublin
- Renata Szynalska, Kalisz
- Czesław Śleziak, Katowice
- Halina Talaga, Chrzanów
- Michał Tober, Warszawa
- Tadeusz Tomaszewski, Konin
- Ryszard Tomczyk, Koszalin
- Bogusława Towalewska, Koszalin
- Grzegorz Tuderek, Rzeszów
- Michał Turkiewicz, Legnica
- Andrzej Umiński, Elbląg
- Marek Wagner, Kalisz
- Jerzy Wenderlich, Toruń
- Marek Widuch, Gliwice
- Marek Wikiński, Radom
- Marcin Wnuk, Bydgoszcz
- Franciszek Wołowicz, Gorzów Wielkopolski - Zielona Góra
- Bogusław Wontor, Gorzów Wielkopolski - Zielona Góra
- Grzegorz Woźny, Kalisz
- Zbyszek Zaborowski, Rybnik
- Andrzej Zając, Rybnik
- Kazimierz Zarzycki, Bielsko-Biała
- Jan Zaworski, Białystok
- Ryszard Zbrzyzny, Legnica
- J