PERSPECTIVES

In the Die Presse interview, prof. Maciej Kisilowski argues that Poland’s political crisis reflects a deeper ideological clash between liberal constitutionalism and what he calls “revolutionary conservatism.” He explains that many contemporary right-wing movements view themselves as counter-revolutionaries resisting what they perceive as the dominance of progressive norms and liberal elites, which intensifies polarization and […]

As populist movements reshape the political landscape from Warsaw to Bratislava, Anna Wojciuk and Maciej Kisilowski argue that defeating them requires more than moral outrage or electoral victories. Writing for Project Syndicate, they call for bold, inclusive projects of national reconciliation and constitutional compromise — lessons drawn from Poland’s own experiment in bridging divides through the Let’s Agree on Poland initiative.

In this episode of Democracy in Question, CEU’s Shalini Randeria speaks with Maciej Kisilowski about Poland’s 2023 election, geographic and generational polarization, and how democracies can deter authoritarian relapse. Kisilowski argues for a contractarian, decentralizing path to coexistence: institutions built not for domination but for competitive democracy across deep differences—while warning that the right will morph rather than vanish.

In their Verfassungsblog essay A Constitutional Settlement Is Poland’s Only Hope, Anna Wojciuk and Maciej Kisilowski argue that the June 1 presidential election closed the era of “restoration” and opened one of reinvention. They call for a new constitutional deal—rooted in decentralization, regional power-sharing, and locally legitimized courts—as the only realistic path to democratic stability in an enduringly polarized Poland.

In this episode of The Review of Democracy, Maciej Kisilowski discusses Poland’s post-election landscape and argues that only a new, decentralized constitutional settlement can make democracy sustainable across ideological divides.

In their Project Syndicate essay, Maciej Kisilowski and Wojciech Przybylski argue that nation-states can learn from the EU’s governance model. Drawing on Poland’s polarization, they propose decentralization as a path to democratic resilience.