Russian and East European Studies
A book talk with Wojciech Sadurski, in collaboration with the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law. Registration link is in the description.
Friday, April 1, 2022 - 12:00pm
University of Pennsylvania
ARCH building, Room 108
Register HERE
The Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at Penn, together with the Department of Russian and East European Studies of Penn Arts and Sciences, is pleased to host Wojciech Sadurski to discuss his book Poland's Constitutional Breakdown. Prof. Sadurski is the Challis Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Sydney.
Moderating the talk will be Claire Finkelstein, Algernon Biddle Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and CERL faculty director, and joining the conversation will be R. Daniel Kelemen, Professor of Political Science and Law and Jean Monnet Chair in European Union Politics at Rutgers University. Mitchell Orenstein, Professor and Chair of Russian and East European Studies at University of Pennsylvania, will provide introductory remarks.
The event is set to take place on February 25, 2022, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET at the Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics (133 S 36th St, Philadelphia, PA 19104).
About the book
ABSTRACT—After its double victory in the 2015 presidential and parliamentary elections in Poland, the populist Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS)) party began to dismantle all major checks and balances characteristic of the separation of powers in a democratic state. Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, its regular courts including the Supreme Court, its National Council of the Judiciary, as well as its electoral commissions, civil service, and public media have all been subordinated to the executive and are single-handedly controlled by the party’s leader. In the process, political rights such as the freedom of assembly have been radically restricted, and the party has captured the entire state apparatus. The speed and depth of anti-democratic changes took many observers by surprise, as Poland had been widely regarded as an example of a successful ‘transitional democracy’ in the quarter century preceding 2015. This book attempts to answer three major questions triggered by Poland’s anti-constitutional breakdown: What exactly has happened? Why has it happened? What are the prospects of returning to liberal democracy? Answers to these questions are formulated against the backdrop of current worldwide trends towards populism, authoritarianism, and what is sometimes called ‘illiberal democracy’. However, as this book argues, the Polish variant of ‘illiberal democracy’ is an oxymoron. By undermining the separation of powers, the ruling party concentrates all power in one hand, thus rendering any democratic accountability illusory. There is, however, no inevitability in anti-democratic trends: this book considers a number of possible remedies and sources of hope, including intervention by the European Union.
COVID-19 Protocol: All attendees will be REQUIRED to wear a mask and must show either their Green PennOpen Pass (Penn faculty, students, postdocs, staff, and badged contractors) or Green PennOpen Campus (event participants, day visitors, vendors, and non-badged contractors). In alignment with policies of the University and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, all event participants, spectators, and visitors must also attest to being fully vaccinated.
