Law and Justice and its allies: Clientelistic links in Poland after 2015

Abstract

Linkages between political parties and society have been considered weak from the very beginning of the political transformation in Central and Eastern Europe, including in Poland. One result has been the employment of clientelistic strategies by political parties across the region. Clientelism in Polish politics has been present for three decades, however, the way it manifests itself today varies significantly from how it appeared in the past in terms of its scale but also because it has “thickened” by incorporating Catholic, national, and patriotic symbols. Furthermore, the number of contracting parties is not limited to the patron (PiS) and their clients (voters); a crucial role seems to be played by the organisations supported financially by the PiS government whose task may be to entice citizens to vote for the party. It can be argued that the financial standing of these organisations was built with support from the state budget and that their operations are highly dependent on these resources. We conclude that PiS has created a clientelistic machine formed by populist, nationalist, and religious ideological discourses.