Shadow tactics: What the opposition in Poland needs to do to beat the ruling Law and Justice party at the next election

International Politics and Society is a young magazine with a much older heritage. Launched in January 2017, the online journal highlights global inequality and brings new perspectives on issues such as the environment, European integration, international relations, social democracy and development policy. Based in the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s Brussels office, International Politics and Society aims to bring the European political debate to a global audience, as well as providing a platform for voices from the Global South. Contributors include leading journalists, academics and politicians, as well policy officers working throughout the FES’s global network.

Whilst the magazine is committed to the values of social democracy, it encompasses a wide range of perspectives. Articles reflect the views of their authors, not of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. The erosion of Polish democracy is moving at full tilt in 2017. Hot on the heels of attacks on the constitutional court and the media, the dismantling of the civil service, new snooping rights for the government and the wholesale replacement of state-owned enterprise boards, new laws pushing to end judicial independence are in the pipeline. The ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) says it wants to 'democratise' the way Polish judges are appointed, replacing the independent body that currently chooses them with recruiters selected by the government. The state is omnipotent, with the rights of ordinary citizens dimly fading into a mirage.

• Primary Source

ESO Background infomation:Thousands take to streets to protest Poland’s Law and Justice party http://www.europeansources.info/record/thousands-take-to-streets-to-protest-polands-law-and-justice-party/

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