2 - The public and policy change in the 1970s

Summary

The disturbances of 1980 were a result of a number of long-term factors in Poland's postwar history. The Polish workers had come to use protest and revolt as an almost institutionalized mechanism for achieving political and economic change. The years of these protests had become virtually a litany by 1980: 1956, 1968, 1970, 1976. In fact, given the apparent petrification of the political system in Poland, protest was often seen as the only means of effecting change in the society. On the issue of food price increases, societal protest had achieved particular success: in both 1970 and 1976, the regime was compelled to rescind already announced increases in retail food prices.

The authorities had responded to these protests in a patterned way. Popular protests were followed by attempts to mollify the population with increased wages and consumer goods and, in 1956 and 1970, with a change in the top Party leadership position. Changes in the position of First Secretary resulted in a short-term emphasis on ‘mass oriented policies’ as the leadership tried to consolidate its position (Bunce 1980). As Bogdan Mieczkowski (1978) describes the situation, consumption has been inversely proportionate to the power of the Party. When the Party is weak, it uses consumption to win popular support. Once the new leadership has consolidated power, consumer interests once again recede, and the standard of living again declines. This has resulted in a kind of cyclical pattern in which dissatisfied Poles protest, leading to a change in policies or leaders, which causes a temporary improvement in the situation.