MODELS OF PARTY DEVELOPMENT AND QUESTIONS OF STATE DEPENDENCE IN POLAND

In the wake of the 1993 Polish election it became obvious to party lea ders not just that it was only the Polish Peasant Party that could cla im mass status but that other parties had little prospect of developin g along those lines. This provided the occasion for a general review o f the conditions of party development which could be linked with the r ange of party models discussed in political science literature. While the paths of party development in eastern Europe are unlikely to fit k nown Western models, the growing emphasis on links with the state and dependence on public funds has been replicated in recent Polish experi ence. The postcommunist parties thus drew considerable funds from the public purse after the 1993 election, which further strengthened their position and augmented the extensive organizational resources they al ready commanded.