Proposed Fourth Polish Republic

In the politics of Poland, the Fourth Polish Republic (Polish: IV Rzeczpospolita or IV RP) was a hypothetical plan for moral revolution and political change put forth in 1997 by the Polish conservative philosopher Rafał Matyja in the magazine "Nowe Państwo" ("New Country"). "Fourth Republic" was a political slogan formerly used by the right-wing populist Law and Justice (PiS) party in the 2005 Polish parliamentary election. However, the concept of a fourth republic has failed to gain any traction since the mid-2000s and PiS has since sidelined this policy.

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This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: PiS is no longer in power in Poland, but even before that they have long since stopped proposing the creation of IV RP. (January 2024)

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Definition and implementation of the Fourth Republic as a Concept

Summarize

Perspective

According to PiS, the current Third Polish Republic is a post-communist creation whose very foundations must be changed to create a truly democratic state free of its past. For the constitution of the new Fourth Polish Republic, PiS made a draft which outlined several points^[3] including:

Defining moral and national traditions as forming the axiological foundation of the constitution
An Invocatio Dei
A clear idea of the nation-state, derived from ideas of "independence" and "democracy" in contrast with "enslavement" and "communism"
Defining the clear concept of the goals of the state as serving the common good of the citizenry.
Placing the family as a fundament of social life and it's rights under the special protection of law.
Insurance of the primacy of Polish constitutional law over International law.
Specification of the place of individual authorities, especially executive centers, in the Polish legal system.
A clear division of competences in administrative order.
A clear concept of state control over all spheres of public life.

Politicians from other parties have criticized PiS for their proposal, citing it as a violation of the principles of Democracy and Secularism. Criticism which supporters of PiS claimed was a result of an initiative by the political establishment to maintain power for their own interests.

During Jarosław Kaczyński's tenure as prime minister from 2006-2007, a fourth republic was not declared or implemented in any meaningful way despite the party's campaign heavily focusing on it.

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Concept of a Fourth Polish Republic Post-2000s

Aside from a brief resurgence in discussion during the 2015 Polish parliamentary election, the concept of a 4th polish republic has largely faded from the public conscience of Poland as a genuine political movement.

“IV RP”, along with its derivative, “V RP” (Fifth Polish Republic), has also been used by critics to satirize the concept of unnecessary constitutional changes made for arbitrary reasons.

Proposed Fourth Polish Republic

2005 Polish Parliamentary Election

Definition and implementation of the Fourth Republic as a Concept

Concept of a Fourth Polish Republic Post-2000s

See also

References

Wikiwand - on