The quality of democracy in Poland (2014-2019)

This bachelor thesis examines the quality of democracy and the causes of its decline by comparing two consecutive periods. The analysis is mainly based on government policy, i.e., what actions of the government may have had an impact on the decline of the quality of democracy. In the first period between 2011 and 2015 ruled the coalition of two parties - PO and PSL. In the second period between 2015 and 2019 ruled the PiS party. In each period, five thematic headings are analyzed, based on the two most popular democracy indices created by Freedom House and The Economist Intelligence Unit, and on the academic literature. The examined thematic headings are the balance of power, the influence of the church on government policy, corruption and anti-corruption measures, transparent access to information and media, and citizens' trust in government. The findings of Freedom House and The Economist Intelligence Unit and primarily the findings of my analysis are then compared to see whether there has indeed been a decline in the quality of democracy in the areas of study. The analysis itself shows that the decline in the quality of democracy in the areas studied is mainly due to the distortion of the balance of power and the influence of media independence. The deterioration, although not as marked as in..