NATIONALIST POPULISM AND POST-COMMUNISM

the six most important national election committees representing the particular political parties that were able to enter the parliament. Similarly to the 1991 elections, the political parties whose political programmes are the object of the analysis can be divided in two groups. The first group encompasses the parties whose political programmes do not contain any nationalist populist slogans; while the second group is composed of those parties that, more or less openly, use nationalist populist slogans in their manifestos. Since there was no party or coalition representing a national minority that competed on a national level, the analysis does not refer to this category. In the second part of the analysis – again, similarly to the 1991 elections – the semantics of the party programmes are analysed. First, I distinguish between the so-called patriotic nationalism that is demonstrated through positive self-presentation. Secondly, slogans supporting the economic dimension of nationalism are selected and analysed. Finally, I focus on the programme slogans in which ethnic prejudices and animosity toward “others” are emphasised. General categorisation – the presence of nationalist populist slogans in the programmes of the political parties: I. Parties whose political programmes do not contain any nationalist populist statements: Samoobrona Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej / Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland (Samoobrona) II. Political parties whose political programmes contain nationalist populist statements: Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej – Unia Pracy / Union of the Democratic Left Labour Union (SLD – UP) Prawo i Sprawiedliwość / Law and Justice (PiS) Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe / Polish Peasant Party (PSL) Platforma Obywatelska / Civic Platform (PO) Liga Polskich Rodzin / League of Polish Families (LPR) 5.1.2. Electoral success of the political parties exploiting nationalist populist language The 2001 elections changed the political landscape in Poland. The high level of support for the SLD-UP coalition was only one of the important outcomes. Another was the total failure of the leading government party, and a third outcome was that the elections enabled two political parties – Samoobrona and LPR – to enter the parliament with quite a significant portion of seats.

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