Polish Politics Explained for American Audience

If you’ve been following news from Poland, you might find the political landscape confusing. Who holds real power—the president or prime minister? What’s the Sejm? Why are Polish politics so polarized? This guide breaks down Poland’s political system in terms Americans can understand.

Understanding Poland’s Political System

Poland operates as a parliamentary democracy, which differs significantly from America’s presidential system. While the United States concentrates executive power in the president, Poland divides authority between multiple institutions, creating a system of checks and balances that can sometimes lead to gridlock—but also prevents any single person from accumulating too much power.

The Polish Parliament consists of two chambers: the Sejm (lower house) with 460 seats and the Senate (upper house) with 100 seats. Members of both chambers serve four-year terms. Unlike the U.S. Senate where each state gets equal representation, Poland’s Senate members are elected from single-member constituencies, while Sejm deputies are chosen through proportional representation.

President vs. Prime Minister: Who’s Really in Charge?

This is where it gets interesting for Americans. In Poland, the Prime Minister holds most executive power, not the President. Think of it this way: if the U.S. system makes the president similar to a CEO, Poland’s system makes the prime minister the CEO while the president serves more like a board chair with specific veto powers.

The President is directly elected by Polish citizens for a five-year term and has important but limited powers:

Represents Poland internationally
Commander-in-chief of the armed forces
Can veto legislation (though Parliament can override with a 3/5 majority)
Appoints judges to certain courts
Can call early elections in specific circumstances

The Prime Minister, however, runs the day-to-day government:

Leads the Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Sets domestic and foreign policy
Proposes legislation
Must maintain confidence of the Sejm to stay in power

This division becomes crucial during “cohabitation”—when the president and prime minister come from opposing political camps, as has happened multiple times in recent Polish history.

How Elections Actually Work

Poland’s electoral system uses proportional representation with the d’Hondt method for Sejm elections—quite different from America’s winner-takes-all approach. Here’s what you need to know:

The 5% Threshold: To enter Parliament, a party must win at least 5% of the national vote (8% for coalitions). This prevents excessive fragmentation but also means smaller parties often form coalitions to clear the threshold. National minority parties are exempt from this requirement.

Multi-Member Constituencies: Poland is divided into 41 electoral districts, each electing multiple Sejm deputies. Voters choose a party list, and seats are allocated proportionally based on vote share. This means a party winning 30% of votes gets roughly 30% of seats—unlike the U.S., where you can win the presidency while losing the popular vote.

The Senate: Uses first-past-the-post voting, similar to U.S. congressional elections, with the top vote-getter in each constituency winning.

Turnout: Polish elections typically see higher turnout than U.S. midterms, with the 2023 parliamentary election reaching an impressive 74.4%—the highest since Poland’s return to democracy in 1989.

Major Political Parties: The Current Landscape

Poland’s political scene has undergone dramatic changes, especially following the watershed 2023 election. Here are the major players:

Civic Coalition (KO): Led by Donald Tusk, a former prime minister and EU Council president, KO represents center-right to centrist politics with a strong pro-European Union stance. Think of them as combining elements of both moderate Republicans and Democrats—fiscally pragmatic but socially liberal compared to their conservative opponents. They won 30.7% in 2023 and currently lead the governing coalition.

Law and Justice (PiS): The conservative party that governed from 2015-2023, PiS emphasizes traditional Catholic values, national sovereignty, and skepticism toward some EU policies. They remain Poland’s largest single party with 35.4% in 2023 but lack coalition partners to form a government. Their approach combines economic populism (generous social programs) with social conservatism.

Third Way (Trzecia Droga): A centrist coalition formed by the Polish People’s Party (PSL)—representing rural interests—and Polska 2050, a newer movement. They captured 14.4% in 2023 and are part of the current governing coalition. Think of them as moderate pragmatists, bridging urban and rural constituencies.

The Left (Lewica): Poland’s progressive coalition, supporting LGBT+ rights, women’s reproductive rights, and expanded social services. With 8.6% in 2023, they’re the junior partner in the governing coalition but push it toward more liberal policies on social issues.

Confederation (Konfederacja): A far-right libertarian party mixing economic libertarianism with nationalist and sometimes extremist rhetoric. While not in parliament’s current governing majority, they’re growing among young voters, particularly young men.

Coalition Government Formation

After the October 2023 election, PiS won the most seats (194) but couldn’t form a governing coalition. The three opposition parties—Civic Coalition (157 seats), Third Way (65 seats), and The Left (26 seats)—had campaigned on removing PiS from power and quickly formed a coalition with a combined 248 seats, securing a comfortable majority.

In December 2023, outgoing Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s government lost a confidence vote 190-266, and Donald Tusk was elected prime minister with 248 votes. This demonstrated how parliamentary systems differ from presidential ones: winning the most votes as a single party doesn’t guarantee power if you can’t build a coalition.

The Constitutional Tribunal Controversy

Perhaps no institution better illustrates Poland’s recent political tensions than the Constitutional Tribunal, which is supposed to serve a role similar to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, this court has become deeply controversial.

Between 2015 and 2023, the PiS government restructured the Tribunal, appointing judges in ways critics argued violated constitutional norms. The European Parliament declared the Tribunal lacks legitimacy and independence, calling it “unfit to interpret the constitution.” Three judges appointed in December 2015 were seated despite questions about whether their appointments followed proper constitutional procedures.

In October 2021, the Tribunal ruled that certain EU law provisions conflicted with Poland’s constitution—essentially claiming Polish law supersedes EU law in some areas. This challenged fundamental EU principles and sparked fears of “Polexit” (Poland leaving the EU), though polls show most Poles strongly support EU membership.

The current government has pledged to restore judicial independence, but reforms face legal and political obstacles. The European Commission previously recommended sanctions and imposed daily fines of €1 million for non-compliance with EU court rulings on judicial matters.

Key Policy Debates Dividing Poland

Several issues dominate Polish political discourse:

Judicial Independence: Beyond the Constitutional Tribunal, fights over judicial appointments and the “Disciplinary Chamber” that could punish judges have created ongoing tensions between Poland’s government, the EU, and domestic civil society.

EU Relations: While Poles overwhelmingly support EU membership (some of the highest rates in the bloc), debates rage over sovereignty, EU rule-of-law mechanisms, and funding conditions. PiS positioned itself as defending Polish sovereignty against “Brussels bureaucrats,” while the current government seeks closer integration.

Economic Policy: Poland has experienced remarkable economic growth, transforming into a modern economy within the EU. Debates focus on how to distribute that prosperity, fund generous social programs like the popular “500+” child allowance, and balance economic development with sovereignty concerns.

Social Issues: Abortion rights, LGBT+ equality, and the role of religion in public life create perhaps the sharpest divides. These issues often fall along generational and urban-rural lines.

The Church and Politics

Understanding Polish politics requires understanding the Catholic Church’s unique role. About 84% of Poles identify as Catholic, and the Church wields significant influence—particularly in rural areas and among older voters.

The Church has historically aligned with conservative political forces, with some clergy actively supporting PiS from the pulpit. Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski of Kraków infamously called LGBT rights a “rainbow plague” in 2019. However, church attendance has been declining, especially among young urbanites, and sex abuse scandals have weakened institutional authority.

The Church’s influence on politics remains substantial but contested. Its opposition to abortion liberalization and LGBT+ rights shapes public debate, but younger Poles increasingly reject clerical political interference.

LGBT+ Rights: Poland’s Culture War

Few issues better illustrate Poland’s political polarization than LGBT+ rights. Between 2019 and 2020, nearly 100 municipalities and five regions (encompassing about a third of Poland) declared themselves “LGBT-free zones” or adopted “Family Rights Charters” opposing what they termed “LGBT ideology.”

These declarations emerged partly in response to Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski’s 2019 LGBT+ rights declaration. PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński called LGBT rights “an import” threatening Poland, making opposition to LGBT+ equality a core campaign theme.

However, by February 2024, courts had struck down or municipalities had withdrawn all such declarations. The current government supports LGBT+ rights, though Poland still lacks same-sex marriage or civil unions and, according to ILGA-Europe, has among the EU’s worst LGBT+ rights records.

The issue reveals Poland’s sharp geographic divide: major cities host large Pride parades, while rural areas remain deeply conservative on sexual and gender minorities.

Media Freedom and Civil Society

Media freedom has been a contentious issue. Under PiS (2015-2023), state media became increasingly partisan, allegedly conducting “systematic repression of civil society” and attacking activists with misinformation campaigns. Poland’s ranking in press freedom indexes declined for seven consecutive years.

When the current coalition took power in December 2023, it immediately moved to restructure public media, replacing leadership in legally contested moves that critics argued resembled PiS’s own controversial takeover methods. While verbal attacks on private media decreased, concerns emerged about the new government excluding conservative outlets like TV Republika from press conferences.

Poland has an active civil society with regular protests on issues from abortion rights to judicial independence to EU membership. The government’s response to protests has sometimes involved excessive police force, even against opposition lawmakers with parliamentary immunity.

Urban vs. Rural: Poland’s Geographic Divide

Poland exhibits stark geographic polarization that Americans might compare to U.S. red state/blue state divisions, but even more pronounced:

Rural Areas: Conservative candidates regularly win around 64% of votes in villages, where PiS’s combination of traditional Catholic values, generous social spending, and nationalist rhetoric resonates strongly. These areas often feel left behind by rapid modernization and are more religious and older demographically.

Major Cities: In cities over 500,000 residents, liberal candidates win approximately 67% of votes. Urban Poles tend to be younger, more secular, more educated, and more internationally oriented. Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, and Gdańsk serve as liberal strongholds.

Mid-Sized Cities: These become battlegrounds, with more competitive results reflecting mixed populations of traditional working-class voters and younger professionals.

This geographic clustering has intensified, with some analysts describing Poland as “two nations” with increasingly separate media ecosystems, cultural values, and political identities.

The Generational Divide and Young Voters

Poland’s generational divide is dramatic but complex. In the 2020 presidential election, nearly two-thirds of 18-29 year-olds supported the liberal candidate. However, by 2025, there was a striking reversal, with 53% of 18-39 year-olds voting for the conservative candidate—a massive shift from 64% supporting liberals five years earlier.

This doesn’t mean young Poles simply became conservative. Instead, they’re frustrated with the traditional duopoly. In the first round of 2025’s presidential election, young voters overwhelmingly rejected both major candidates, who together secured just 24% of youth votes. About one-third of young first-time voters supported the far-right Confederation party, and 80% reported frustration with the current political situation.

A pronounced gender gap has emerged among youth: far-right candidates win about 48% of young men but only 21% of young women, while left-wing candidates win 25% among young women versus 13% among young men. This mirrors gender polarization trends seen globally, including in the United States.

Young Poles’ high turnout combined with their rejection of traditional options suggests generational change that could reshape Polish politics—though in unpredictable directions.

Recent Political Developments: The 2023 Turning Point

The October 15, 2023 parliamentary election marked a watershed moment. After eight years of PiS rule that strained EU relations, weakened judicial independence, and polarized society, voters delivered a split verdict:

PiS won the most votes (35.4%) and seats (194) as a single party
But the opposition’s combined forces won a decisive majority
Civic Coalition, Third Way, and The Left formed a coalition with 248 seats
In December 2023, Donald Tusk became prime minister, pledging to restore rule of law and repair EU relations

The new government faces challenges:

The president (from PiS) can veto legislation
PiS-appointed judges dominate some courts
Deep societal polarization won’t disappear overnight
Managing a three-party coalition with different priorities
Economic pressures from inflation and the war in neighboring Ukraine

From January to June 2025, Poland holds the rotating EU Council Presidency—a significant opportunity to demonstrate renewed commitment to the European project and lead on issues like EU enlargement and supporting Ukraine.

How to Follow Polish Politics from the United States

For Americans interested in staying informed:

News Sources in English:

Notes From Poland: Excellent English-language coverage of Polish news and politics
The Warsaw Voice: English-language publication covering Polish affairs
Politico Europe: Covers Poland within broader European context
Radio Free Europe/RL Poland: Reliable reporting on Polish politics

Academic and Policy Resources:

Wilson Center: Publishes analysis of Central European politics
Atlantic Council: Covers Polish politics within Euro-Atlantic security context
Carnegie Europe: Analysis of Poland’s role in EU politics

Following Elections:

Parliamentary elections must be held by November 11, 2027
Presidential elections occur every five years (next in 2030)
If you’re a Polish citizen in the U.S., you can participate
Exit polls are generally reliable and available quickly on election night

Understanding Political Discourse:

Learn key terms: “Prawo i Sprawiedliwość” (Law and Justice/PiS), “Platforma Obywatelska” (Civic Platform/PO, main party in Civic Coalition)
Follow Polish journalists on social media for real-time updates
Understand that “liberal” in Polish context means pro-EU and pro-democracy, not necessarily left-wing on economics
Religious and historical references are common—Poland’s history shapes current politics profoundly

Why Polish Politics Matter for Americans

Poland is a crucial NATO ally, hosting U.S. troops and supporting strong transatlantic ties. As the largest country in Central Europe and EU’s sixth-largest economy, Poland influences European politics, EU decision-making, and Western response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

For Polish Americans—numbering around 9 million—understanding homeland politics helps maintain cultural connections and informed engagement. Poland’s struggles with democratic backsliding and recovery offer lessons for democracies worldwide, including the United States.

Poland’s transformation from communism to thriving democracy and modern EU economy in just three decades is remarkable. Current challenges around judicial independence, media freedom, and minority rights don’t erase that achievement but show that democracy requires constant defense.

Whether you’re a Polish American maintaining ties to the homeland, a policy professional tracking European affairs, or simply someone interested in how democracies work and sometimes struggle, Polish politics offer important insights into contemporary governance challenges.