Demokratyzacja obyczajów – słowo kluczowe współczesnej kultury polskiej?

The subject of the article are the changes of politeness customs, above all the language ones, which have occurred and continue to occur after 1989. The aim of the discussion is to verify the thesis that these changes are of democratic character, including the answer to the question of what it means and whether these changes in terms of communication cooperation of the members of society are equally desirable as the change of system for which the majority of Poles opted in the first free elections. The politeness changes have been discussed based on the example of such social attitudes as: politeness egalitarianism, feminist (equality) goals of women, politeness individualism and creativism, lack of recognition for authorities, permissiveness towards deviations from the politeness standard.