Democratic Backsliding and Resistance

What does it actually take to push back against democratic backsliding by elected incumbents?

In 2023, Poland’s civil society mobilization and electoral coalitions facilitated a change in power. Since the election, continued disputes over institutional reforms have posed ongoing challenges to democratic renewal.

This discussion will bring you inside the strategic decisions by key actors in the process to examine their constraints, their opportunities, and their choices at each stage. Bringing together political scientists, legal scholars, politicians, and civil society leaders, the panel will examine what made such pro-democracy mobilization possible, the gains it has achieved, and the headwinds that democracy continues to face in Poland.

Speakers:

Frances Cayton (Moderator), Lead Researcher, Cornell University

Mikołaj Cześnik, Director of the Institute of Social Science at SWPS University, Chairman of the Council of the Stefan Batory Foundation

Michał Wawrykiewicz, Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Co-Founder of the civic initiative Wolne Sady (Free Courts)

Marek Tatała, President and Co-Founder of the Economic Freedom Foundation

Dominika Lasota, Student and Activist in the Youth Climate Strike Poland, Co-Founder of Inicjatywa WSCHÓD

About the Series:

Lessons from Global Democratic Resistance is a public panel series that brings together frontline activists, civic leaders, institutional actors, and field‑informed scholars to examine how democratic actors have resisted, responded to, and learned from democratic backsliding across countries. The series aims to identify practical lessons and comparative insights for those defending democracy today and is organized in collaboration with the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University; Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania; the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame; the Democratic Futures Project at the University of Virginia; Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law; and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.