The role of “Gazeta Polska” clubs in the political success of the Law and Justice party in 2015. Local actors or an actor of the national public sphere of the Third Polish Republic?

Abstract

_{The explanations of the electoral success of the United Right in 2015, with an emphasis on the role played in it by the Law and Justice party, have largely omitted the aspect of the cooperation of the right-wing coalition with organisations pertaining to the sphere of civil society. The goal of this article is to fill this gap in the literature presenting the way in which Jarosław Kaczyński’s party, constituting the majority of the coalition, and various voluntary associations closely cooperated in many activities. On the example of the analysis of the activities of the Gazeta Polska clubs from 2005–2015, this article presents the way in which Law and Justice collaborated with civil socjety actors in the organisation of, among others, demonstrations and monthly commemorations of the Smoleńsk catastrophe. This paper also focuses on the political biographies of the club leaders, which reveal the strong connection of many of them with the Law and Justice party (taking part in elections, serving in political institutions), especially at the local level.}