Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T21:46:08.530Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Polish Business Associations: Flattened Civil Society or Super Lobbies?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Iain McMenamin
Iain McMenamin*
Affiliation:
Dublin City University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article tests two hypotheses about post-communist business associations. The first predicts weak business associations which are presented with insurmountable collective action problems by the flattened civil society inherited from totalitarianism. According to this hypothesis, no business associations are inherited from the previous regime, and associations are confronted with difficult-to-organize latent groups of large numbers of new small enterprises. The second hypothesis, as proposed by Mancur Olson, predicts strong business associations benefiting from the collective action advantages of the communist economic structure which was composed of small numbers of large enterprises. The hypotheses are tested with case studies of Poland's five most influential business associations. The conclusion is that the flattened civil society hypothesis is best borne out by the evidence. This suggests that, in other countries, political factors, rather than the standard communist economic structure, are more likely to explain the persistence of industrial super lobbies.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business and Politics , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , November 2002 , pp. 301 - 317
Copyright
Copyright © V.K. Aggarwal 2002 and published under exclusive license to Cambridge University Press 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ágh, Attila and eds, Gabriella Ilonszki. 1996. Parliaments and Organised Interests. Budapest: Hungarian Centre for Democracy Studies.Google Scholar
Bobbio, Norberto. 1988. “Gramsci and the concept of civil society.” In Keane, John. ed. Civil Society and the State: New European Perspectives. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Business Centre Club. 1999. Dlatego Mowią Wℓaśnie Sympatycy i Czℓonkowie BCC. Warsaw: Business Centre Club.Google Scholar
Cohen, Jean L. and Arato, Andrew. 1992. Civil Society and Political Theory. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Confederation of Polish Employers. 1994. Statut KPP. Warsaw: Confederation of Polish Employers, UnpublishedGoogle Scholar
Confederation of Polish Employers. 1999. Wykaz Zwiazków Pracodawców i Zrzeszonych w KPP, July 29. Warsaw: Confederation of Polish Employers, UnpublishedGoogle Scholar
Draus, Franciszek. 2000. Les organisations patronales dans les pays de l'Europe centrale et orientale. Brussels: European Trade Union Institute.Google Scholar
Dzwończyk, Joanna and Sobczyk, Arkadiusz. 1995. “Employer and Entrepreneur Organisations during the Transformation Period in Poland.” In Evolution of Interest Representation and Development of the Labour Market in Post-Socialist Countries, edited by Hausner, Jerzy, Pedersen, Ove and Ronit, Karsten. Cracow: Cracow Academy of Economics.Google Scholar
Gardawski, Juliusz. et al. 1999. Rozpad Bastionu? Zwįzki Zawodowe w Gospodarce Prywatyzowanej. Warsaw: Instytut Studiów Publicznych.Google Scholar
Gellner, Ernest. 1994. The Conditions of Liberty: Civil Society and its Enemies. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Gerskovits, Béla. 1998. The Political Economy of Protest and Patience. Budapest: Central European University Press.Google Scholar
Grant, Wyn. 1993. Business and Politics in Britain. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Gray, John. 1993. “From Post-Communism to Civil Society: The Re-Emergence of History and the Decline of the Western Model” in Social Philosophy and Policy 10: 26–50.Google Scholar
Hausner, Jerzy and eds, Tadeusz Klementewicz. 1992. The Protracted Death-Agony of Real Socialism. Warsaw: Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Hegel, G. W. F. 1993. Elements of the Philosophy of Right. Translated by Nisbet, H. B. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hellman, Joel S., Jones, Geraint and Kaufman, Daniel. 2000. Seize the State, Seize the Day: State Capture, Influence and Corruption in Transition. Policy Research Working Paper, 2444. Washington, DC: The World Bank.Google Scholar
Jasiecki, Krzysztof. 1997. “Organizacje pracodawców i przedsiębiorców w Polsce”, Zbiorowi Aktorzy Polskiej Polityki edited by Wasilewski, Jacek. Warsaw: Instytut Studiów Politycznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk.Google Scholar
Kitschelt, Herbert, Lange, Peter, Marks, Gary and Stephens, John D. Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kolankiewicz, George and Lewis, Paul. 1988. Poland: Politics, Economics & Society. London: Pinter.Google Scholar
Kozek, Wiesława. ed. 1999. Społeczne Organizacje Biznesu w Polsce a Stosunki Pracy. Warsaw: Centrum Partnerstwa Społecznego.Google Scholar
Krzesak, Iwona. 1994. “Etnografia Business Centre Club.” In Kurczewski, Jacek and G. eds. Biznes i klasy sárednie. Warsaw: Zakład Socjologii Obzczajów i Prawa, Uniwersytet Warszawski.Google Scholar
Kumar, Krishan. 1993. “Civil Society: an inquiry into the usefulness of a historical term.” British Journal of Sociology 44: 375–395.Google Scholar
Lanzalaco, Luca. 1993. “Interest Groups in Italy: From Pressure Activity to Policy Networks.” In Richardson, Jeremy. ed. Pressure Groups. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Linz, Juan and Stepan, Alfred. 1996. Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America and Post-Communist Europe. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Łuczkiewicz, Roman. 2000. A, B, C, … Konfederacji Pracodawców Polskich. Unpublished Manuscript. Federation of Employers’ Associations of the Polish Energy Industry, Warsaw.Google Scholar
Michnik, Adam. 1987. Letters From Prison and Other Essays, translated by Latynski, Maya. London: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Moe, Terry. 1980. The Organization of Interests. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Myant, Martin, Slocock, Brian and Smith, Simon. 2000. “Tripartism in the Czech and Slovak Republics.” Europe-Asia Studies 34: 723–739.Google Scholar
Olson, Mancur. 1971. The Logic of Collective Action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Olson, Mancur. 2000. Power and Prosperity. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Oxhorn, Philip. 1996. “From Controlled Inclusion to Coerced Marginalization: The Struggle for Civil Society in Latin America.” In Hall, John A. ed. Civil Society: Theory, History, Comparison. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Pérez-Solórzano Borragán, Nieves. 2001. “Organised Interest in Central and Eastern Europe: Towards Gradual Europeanisation?” Politique Européenne, 3: 61–85.Google Scholar
Polish Business Roundtable. Undated. Informacja Prasowa. Warsaw: Polish Business Roundtable.Google Scholar
Polish Chamber of Commerce. 1997. Statut KIG. Warsaw: Polish Chamber of Commerce, Unpublished.Google Scholar
Polish Confederation of Private Employers. 1999a. Press Release.Google Scholar
Polish Confederation of Private Employers. 1999b. Wykaz Zwįzków Pracodawców i Zrzeszonych w PKPP. Warsaw: Polish Confederation of Polish Employers, Unpublished.Google Scholar
Polish Confederation of Private Employers. 2000. Untitled Pamphlet. Warsaw: Polish Confederation of Private Employers.Google Scholar
Polish Council of Ministers. 1989. “O izbach gospodarczych.” In Dziennik Ustaw. 30 May. Warsaw: Polish Government.Google Scholar
Polish Council of Ministers. 1991. “O organizacjach pracodawców.” In Dziennik Ustaw, 23 May. Warsaw: Polish Government.Google Scholar
Rostowski, Jacek. 1990. “The decay of socialism and the growth of private enterprise in Poland.” In Gomulka, Stanisław and Polonsky, Antony. eds. Polish Paradoxes. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Sąd Gospodarczy Sądu Rejonowego dla Warszawy. 1999. “Rejestr Izb Gospodarczych.” Unpublished Register. 7 September. Warsaw: Regional Court.Google Scholar
Sąd Wojewódzki w Warszawie. 1999a. “Rejestr Zwįzków Pracodawców A.” Unpublished Register. 10 August. Warsaw: Provincial Court.Google Scholar
Sąd Wojewódzki w Warszawie. 1999b. “Rejestr Zwįzków Pracodawców B.” Unpublished Register. August 10. Warsaw: Provincial Court.Google Scholar
Schmitter, Philippe C. 1996. “What's all this nonsense about Civil Society?” Paper delivered at Nuffield College, Oxford.Google Scholar
Schmitter, Philippe C. and Streeck, Wolfgang. 1981. The Organization of Business Interests. Paper IIM/LMP. Berlin: International Institute of Management.Google Scholar
Szawiel, Tadeusz. 1999. “Zróznicowanie w lewicowo-prawicowe i jego korelaty.” In Markowski, Radosław. ed. Wybory Parlamentarne 1997: System Partyjny, postawy polityczne, zachowanie wyborcze. Warsaw: Institute of Political Studies.Google Scholar
Wyn, Grant. 1993. Business and Politics in Britain, Second edition. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar