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Poland's experience in democratic transformation is to some degree different from that of other post-communist nations because of its having been the first country to depart from a communist regime. It therefore had a relatively long period of power-sharing, negotiated at the Round Table conference in early 1989. The first parliament (1989-91) reflected the contractual arrangements of the Round Table and was not fully representative. The second parliament (1991-93) was paralyzed by extreme fragmentation. The third parliament, elected in 1993, is more consolidated but suffers from the absence of right-wing parties due to their failure to reach the required electoral threshold. During Lech Walesa's presidency (1990-95), relations between the president and parliament were tense, particularly after the left's victory in the 1993 election. Nonetheless, parliamentarism has survived in Poland and the democratic system has avoided constitutional crises. Poland's experience confirms the superiority of parliamentarism over presidentialism in new democracies.

The threat of new forms of authoritarian government in Central & Eastern Europe is discussed in relation to means of achieving a more just & long-lasting democracy. Although the collapse of communism inspired tremendous hope regarding the future of democracy, a number of conditions have created doubts about democracy & concerns regarding the potential for noncommunist, authoritarian seizure of power. These conditions include the inefficiency of current democratic structures, economic recession & unemployment, the revival of nationalist & ethnic movement, & conflicts of values between freedom of expression advocates & moral & religious groups seeking state enforcement of moral/religious standards. Despite these dangers, it is concluded that democratic regimes can be stabilized & made more efficient through a variety of means: more equitable distribution of the economic burdens resulting from political/edconomic restructuring; creation of jobs by the state; a social accord policy based on negotiation between the government, special interest groups, trade unions, & peasant organizations; greater cooperation between Left groups/parties; & parliamentary democracy based on moderate representation, rather than presidentialism. T. Sevier

(Originally published in Polityka, 1989, Feb.) A discussion of the theoretical aspects of de-Stalinization in Poland & Eastern Europe generally. A new analysis of G. W. F. Hegel, Karl Marx, & Antonio Gramsci on the concept of civil society is needed to theoretically overcome monocentric implications of Leninist political theory. The practical experiences of de-Stalinization since 1956, including the perseverance of neo-Stalinist trends, is of great importance. New possibilities of systemic changes, particularly in the USSR, Poland, & Hungary, as well as systemic conservation (in Czechoslovakia particularly) have to be studied in a comparative perspective, which will require a new political theory of contemporary Marxism. Modified AA