On the eve of the U.S. elections, Let’s Agree on Poland joins The New School’s Transregional Center for Democratic Studies in New York for a conversation on how deeply polarized societies can find common ground. Drawing lessons from Poland’s democratic renewal after years of authoritarian rule, the event explores what a cross-partisan social contract might look like in times of political division.

Poland’s October 15 election stunned observers worldwide: a fragmented democratic opposition defeated the entrenched Law and Justice party in a deeply uneven race. In this talk, Professors Maciej Kisilowski and Anna Wojciuk examine how this democratic upset was possible—and what it reveals about rebuilding institutions, preventing authoritarian relapse, and forging a new social contract in polarized societies.