MASS MEDIA AND DEMOCRATIC DECLINE IN POLAND USING THE EXAMPLE OF THE STATE’S POLICY TOWARDS SUPERVISORY AND CONTROL BODIES

In contemporary Poland, there is ongoing struggle for control over the public media system. The current political conflict is the result of the democratic backsliding. In recent years, during the rule of the conservative Law and Justice party, Poland has experienced a democratic recession. Institutions studying the quality of democracy worldwide are pointing out the deteriorating quality of Polish democracy and the undermining of the achievements of the political transformation. This decline resulted from a deep social and political division as well as from the fact that the public space was dominated by ethno-populist rhetoric, which constituted the main element of the political appeal of the Law and Justice party, which ruled in Poland from 2015 to 2023. The democratic backsliding in Poland was particularly visible in two areas: justice and public media. Representatives of the Law and Justice party brought about the politicisation of the public media and the limiting of their role as a critic and controller of the actions of people in power. That led to a weakening of the democratic check and balance mechanisms. In this article, the authors analyse the process of the democratic decline in Poland, using the example of the Law and Justice party’s policy towards public media.