The concept of the nation in Polish constitutional law and political practice in 2015–2023

Abstract

The article aims to determine how the concept of ‘nation’ has evolved in Polish constitutional law against the background of examples of political practice in the years 2015–2023. The author verified the following hypothesis: despite the civic concept of the nation resulting from the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the United Right government, for political purposes, narrowed its understanding to the cultural and ethnic nation, which resulted the rights of national and ethnic minorities being limited. The first part of the text contains an interpretation of constitutional provisions, historical and in force, devoted to the nation, as well as an analysis of judicature and doctrine. It is established that despite the political concept of the nation in force in Poland, some of the doctrine takes a position that privileges foreigners of Polish origin and those who have undergone assimilation in the procedure of applying for Polish citizenship. The actions of the Polish authorities aimed at national and ethnic minorities, which became hostages of problems that were not resolved at the interstate level, are assessed negatively (in the second part of the text, this is illustrated by case studies of the Ukrainian, Lemko and German minorities). Attacks on minorities driven by current political needs set a dangerous precedent. In the future, similar actions may be targeted at other social groups.