A distinctive trajectory of civil society transformation in Poland has provided organizational
foundations for the cultural and political polarization and facilitated country’s recent turn
towards authoritarianism. Developments in Poland suggest that the reigning notion of the
inherent virtuousness of civil society, its unquestionably beneficial role in strengthening
democracy and assumed liberal preferences of civil society actors need to be reassessed.
Consequently, I argue that the particular organizational configuration of civil society, its sectoral
composition, normative orientation of its actors and prevailing cleavages can either strengthen
or undermine democracy. Since country’s transition to democracy in 1989, Polish civil society
has evolved into an organizational form that can be described as “pillarized civil society.” While
historically pillarization of civil society was considered to be a peculiar phenomenon in the Low
Countries in the XIX century, this form of civil society organization has become increasingly
common in contemporary democratic societies with dividing boundaries shaped by identitybased
cleavages (religious, ethnic, political). The presence of vertically segmented civil society
enables extreme cultural and political polarization and facilitated mobilization of far-right,
nationalist and conservative religious movements. In Poland, pillarized civil society affect
electoral fortune of liberal parties, provides support for anti-liberal and anti-European policies
of the current Polish government dominated by the Law and Justice party as well as defines
political conflicts and protest politics