This article analyzes the constitutionalization process of political parties in Poland and the evolution of party system in the years 1918–2018. It is an analysis of political parties in Poland that draws on political science methods and legal studies methodology. We use a concept by Heinrich Triepel, who constructed a four-phases model of relations between parties and the state. The phases are: the abatement of parties (Stadium der Bekämpfung), the ignoring of parties (Stadium der Ignorierung), acknowledgement and legalization (Periode der Anerkenung und Legalisierung) and constitutional incorporation (Ära der verfassungβmasigen Inkorporation). Upon regaining its independence in 1918, Poland entered the third phase. It was not until 1989 that Poland entered the phase of constitutionalization of parties. The methods we employ are historical analysis, document research and comparative analysis. In the article we discuss the evolution of Polish party system and divide it into periods: first spanning from 1918 till 1939, second starting in 1944 and ending in 1989, the last one beginning in 1990. We conclude that the party system in Poland after 1989 underwent a long process of changes. It moved from a system of extreme party fragmentation to a system of imperfect bipartisan competition. What is more, the process of stabilization of electoral law and the institutionalization of political parties contributed greatly to the consolidation of the Polish party system.

“Get Brexit Done!” Comments on the election to the UK House of Commons on December 12, 2019

The 12 December 2019 General Election was a turning point in the recent political history of the United Kingdom. It ended one turbulent period in which British politics was characterized by high instability and indecision. Above all, it ended the extended deadlock with the work on ending the exit of the United Kingdom of the European Union (Brexit). It is clear that the result of the 2019 General Election was the culmination of the 2016 referendum on EU membership. The ruling Tories led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson stood for the elections under the slogan “get Brexit done”. As a result, the elections met the criteria for a second, indirect Brexit referendum. By winning the elections, the conservatives obtained a public mandate to complete the process of leaving the EU. The purpose of this article is to analyze the genesis and course of the 2019 elections to the House of Commons and to attempt to answer the question about the consequences of the election results.

Evolution of selected elements of the political system of the first and second republic of Lithuania

The roots of the Lithuanian political system precede the emergence of the modern Lithuanian state in 1918 by several decades. For over a hundred years before independence, Lithuania was an integrated part of the imperial tsarist Russia, and in 1940–1991, a union republic of the USSR. After regaining independence in 1991, while shaping the new political system, the Lithuanian political elite decided to refer to the systemic and institutional patterns from the short period of the functioning of democratic governments in the First Republic of Lithuania. The aim of the study is to analyze the evolution of the Lithuanian political system and the individual elements influencing its changes in the years 1920–1926 and 1990–2020. As a result, it was possible to demonstrate the similarities and differences in particular periods of the evolution of democracy, which was extremely helpful in indicating the directions of development of political systems and their individual elements.

Anti-Defection Law as a Remedy for Legislative Party Switching? The Case of New Zealand

The article addresses whether the enactment of anti-defection legislation reduces legislative party switching in parliament. This question is pertinent because some researchers cease to analyze cases of legislative party switching when anti-defection legislation is present in a political system. However, the example of New Zealand demonstrates the fallacy of such an assumption. Despite anti-defection legislation being passed twice, it has not effectively deterred parliamentarians from changing party affiliations. Instead, they have strengthened the position of parliamentary group leaders in relation to parliamentarians and the necessity for the latter to rely on loopholes that shield them from the severe consequences of party switching. A dogmatic analysis of the current legislation and a systemic analysis of the selected case lead to this overarching conclusion.