Restoring the Rule of Law after Democratic Decay: Lessons from Poland
Featuring: Francesco Biagi
Associate Professor of Comparative Public Law, University of Bologna Visiting Professor
University of Illinois College of Law
How can nations restore the rule of law after their legal and democratic institutions have decayed? Poland is a contemporary case study. Between 2015 and 2023, Poland experienced a period of profound democratic backsliding under the populist Law and Justice Party. In October 2023, however, a new centrist government, led by Donald Tusk, took control of parliament. It is now on a mission to restore democracy and the rule of law in Poland. That process is difficult and hazardous because the old Law and Justice Party still controls some key state institutions, including the presidency and the constitutional court. Is it legitimate for Poland’s new government to take undemocratic and even illegal steps in the name of restoring democracy and the rule of law? If not, what are the alternatives? And what lessons does Poland offer to other nations that have experienced and seek to correct episodes of democratic decay?
Sponsored by the European Union Center and the Program in Constitutional Theory, History and Law
Free and open to the public.
A limited number of lunches available for attendees, beginning at 11:45 am.