Open AccessWere Elections in the Socialist Countries Elections at All? The Case of Elections to the Sejm in Communist-Ruled Poland
Author(s) -
Michał Siedziako
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
kwartalnik historyczny
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2451-1315
pISSN - 0023-5903
DOI - 10.12775/kh.2021.128.si.1.05
Subject(s) - communism , dictatorship , political science , state (computer science) , general election , economic history , political economy , law , sociology , history , politics , democracy , algorithm , computer science
The article presents the current state of research into parliamentary elections in Poland during the period of communist rule. The author outlines the development of the electoral system of the Polish People’s Republic in the 1940s and 50s, and also analyses its singular features in the years when elections to the Sejm were fully controlled by the ruling Polish United Workers’ Party. The final part of the paper is devoted to elections in the 1980s, when this electoral model collapsed, thereby contributing to the disintegration of the communist dictatorship in Poland.