President Biden's administration towards the quality of democracy and the rule of law in Poland

Łukasz Jureńczyk

doi:10.35765/hp.2392

Published : 2022-11-24

Vol. 14 No. 47 (2023)

President Biden's administration towards the quality of democracy and the rule of law in Poland

Łukasz Jureńczyk

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1149-925X

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35765/hp.2392

Section: Vol. 14, No. 47 (2023): The limits of power in a constitutional democracy

Abstract

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The aim is to analyze and evaluate the attitude of the American administration to the issue of compliance with the principles of democracy and the rule of law in Poland in the context of the war in Ukraine.

THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The main question is whether the war in Ukraine influenced the approach of President Biden’s administration to the issue of the quality of democracy and the rule of law in Poland? The analysis is carried out in the perspective of the concept of quality of democracy. The author interviewed American researchers and used the method of analyzing the content of text sources.

THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The first part covers a theoretical framework for the quality of democracy and the rule of law. The second part presents a synthetic presentation of the main elements of the dispute in Poland around these values. The next two parts cover the approach of the American administration to legal changes in Poland affecting the quality of democracy and the rule of law.

RESEARCH RESULTS: The war in Ukraine silenced American criticism of Poland. This is because the US strategic security interests take precedence over other values and interests. However, when the war in Ukraine is over, this problem may return and weigh heavily on Polish-American relations, especially if Democrats remain in power.

CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The political and legal dispute in Poland concerning the quality of democracy and the rule of law contributes to the international discussion on this topic. In the mainstream Western literature, there is a serious criticism of the actions of the Polish authorities, sometimes conducted without taking into account the weaknesses of contemporary liberal democracy. The illiberal trend in Poland and other countries in the region, especially in Hungary, fuels criticism of these actions.

Keywords

democracy and the rule of law ; Polish-American relations ; war in Ukraine ; American administration ; the Law and Justice government

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