Models of political consulting in Poland, 1989–2009, in a comparative perspective

Alongside the breakdown of authoritarian regimes and the restitution of democratic order in Poland and other Central East European countries, the fi rst open election campaigns accom- panied by political consultants emerged. Since the beginning of the transition, the role of consultants as well as consultants themselves have been going through constant changes bound up with modernizing the political scene and system and ways of leading political campaigns. The present article seeks to interrogate the categories of political consulting models we have been facing in Poland and refers them to worldwide tendencies. This study analyses the ways in which political consultants have arisen, their institutional adherence, methods of action, roles in the political communication process, as well as changeovers and development tendencies to this extent. The article provides a comparative analysis of three campaign models defined by Farrell, Kolodny and Medvic and the types of political consultants reviewed by the scope literature. This study concludes with a prognosis of the development of political consulting tendencies in Poland in a worldwide context.