The Emergence of Political and Civil Societies in Warsaw: Post-1989 Dilemmas

This paper explores forms of citizen participation in building a democratic society in post-1989 Warsaw. It explores the role of citizens in decision-making processes in local government, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), informal groups, and protest organizations. It points to discrepancies in the formal establishment of participatory channels in Warsaw and to the actual impediments for citizens trying to take full advantage of them. It also reviews citizen engagement in politics through neighborhood councils and ponders the effects this engagement has on the ideological and spatial formation of civil society. This paper argues for the necessity and importance of separation between political society and civil society in Poland. Finally, it analyzes the complex relations that civil society has developed with local and national governments and international institutions. [Key words: citizen participation, post-socialist Warsaw, civil society, political society, decision-making processes, NGOs.]