Gender democracy in Poland : an empty shell?

Democratisation in Central and Eastern Europe has for a long time occupied the attention of scholars in the context of the two most significant political processes in the region: democratic transformation and Europeanisation. The literature focuses on various outcomes of these processes, such as institutional make-up, along with economic, political and social changes. This chapter contributes to this scholarship by offering yet another perspective – assessing the functioning of democracy in Poland through the application of gender-sensitive criteria. The assessment will be done by scrutinising the process of policy-making transposing the Goods and Services Directive into Polish law. The first part of this study provides a short background on the country, with special attention given to the existing institutionalised gender regime and the impact of both transformation and European integration on its evolution. This is followed by an overview of the political and institutional context in which the creation and implementation of the new law aiming to transpose the Directive took place in Poland. The third part of the text discusses the transposition, and is then followed by an analytical discussion, which applies a series of gender democracy indicators to the process under investigation. The final section discusses and interprets the results.