Poland and the international system: external influences on democratic consolidation

Democratization in Poland has been heavily influenced by agents and structu res external to the Polish state, However, the influence of these external agencies is mediated through domestic social and political institutions, th e state foremost among them. The Polish state's response to and interaction with external agencies is heavily conditioned by the very process of democ ratization which these agencies seek to influence. Thus, the impact of exte rnal agencies on the democratic consolidation process cannot be understood without reference to the influence that democratization has played in resha ping Poland's foreign relations. This paper explains the interaction betwee n systemic and domestic factors in shaping the democratic consolidation pro cess in Poland. (C) 2001 The Regents of the University of California. Publi shed by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.