Annus Mirabilis 1989 and its legacy: fulfilled promises, shattered illusions and unexpected results

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to reconsider the first years of systemic transformations in Poland, or, more precisely, the course of events during democratisation process going on in 1989, and the fundamental problems of the consolidation of democracy in the following years. In a comparative analysis referring to categories used by Samuel P. Huntington in his book: The Third Wave. Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century, it presents the consequences of the fact that democratisation in Poland was achieved by ‘transplacement’ – joint actions of the government and the opposition, manifested in particular at the Round Table talks. Further the main dilemmas of subsequent years are analysed. These include: the economic and social issues, the problem of the accountability for the past, and the question of how to deal with the praetorians of the former regime. Changes in the social perception of the early transformation period are also described.