Variable Geometry of Legal Legitimacy: The Polish Constitutional Court and the “Populist” Revolution

Studies of contemporary populism usually focus on either the ideological layer of this phenomenon, or on its social causes. In contrast, this study turns to populism in action with a focused analysis of the Polish Constitutional Court (CC), which was the first institution taken over by the “populist” and authoritarian party Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc – PiS), the current ruling party in Poland. The detailed examination of the Polish CC, in both synchronic and diachronic dimensions and centering on the logic behind the selection of judges by respective political parties, provides a broader comparative perspective on what contemporary right-wing “populism” is in practice. By examining the changing forms of legitimization and the legitimizing effects of the Polish CC (from its first term, established prior to the fall of state socialism in 1989, to the contemporary term, marked by PiS’ rule), hidden relations are uncovered between politics, law and other expert institutions - under the conditions of liberal democracy and its authoritarian “populist” questioning. Geometric data analysis (multiple correspondence analysis) of the CC space reveals an outline of the logic of “populist” ruling, especially in the key context of the indirect forms of its legitimacy.