Wybory „otwierające” a rozwój systemów partyjnych Europy Środkowej i Wschodniej

THE JUNE 1989 parliamentary elections in Poland have represented specific kind of so called founding elections, opening the way to the process of democratization of political life. They were held as a result of political contract signed by the “Round Table” by communist and opposition elites. Although they were not fully democratic, they should be recognized as the start point of Polish transition toward democracy, because of their role as the plebiscite for or against communism. In this article, I have tried to compare Polish “contractual” elections with competitive, founding ones in 13 other countries of East Central Europe and to analyze their impact on development of national party systems. I have focused on three factors: similarities and differences of institutional framework of those founding elections, trajectories of party systems developments and the linkage between founding elections, particularly their results and the structure of the competition, and recent party systems shape.