The article, by juxtaposing the Polish and the American democratic consolidations, examines the deficiencies of the state transformation in Poland, focusing specifically on the conflict between a procedural and a substantive interpretation of democratic order. The analysis of the act that initiated the process of transition to democracy, the Roundtable Accord of 1989, is followed by a case study of an imperfect consensus and political compromise, the choices of electoral laws. After discussion of some other cases of ill-conceived institutional designs, the article concludes with an analysis of the socio-political background of the institutional transformation in Poland.

This content is only available via PDF.
© 2000 The Regents of the University of California. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
2000
The Regents of the University of California
You do not currently have access to this content.