Progressive and Far-Right Parties: Between Demands for and Supply of Civic Political Engagement—Qualitative-Comparative Case Study of Poland

Abstract

The links between political parties and civil society organisations (CSOs), initiatives and social movements has been transforming. Cross-fertilizing allies in the past, often interpenetrating ideologically and personally, nowadays have become much more alienated from each other. Nonetheless, political parties still seek to form relations with CSOs and initiatives. Parties with low office aspiration, such as far-right and radical left ones, by offering less binding and informal opportunities for political activity, have a potential to meet citizens' demands for more horizontal engagement. On the empirical level, the paper focuses on two Polish political parties: the progressive Left Together (Lewica Razem) and the far-right Confederation Liberty and Independence (Konfederacja Wolność i Niepodległość), to identify how both parties perceive and incorporate participatory demands. Using a qualitative analysis based on individual in-depth interviews with party politicians, this study aims to compare the diagnoses of the demand for civic engagement formulated by parties from opposite sides of the political spectrum, and their supply to nonpartisan political activists.