Party-state relations are vital to our understanding of the quality of politics in democratic states. Furthermore Katz and Mair (1995, 2008) observe the growing use of and reliance on state resources by parties, transforms our understanding of democracy. The degree to which Polish party system is similar to its western European counterparts can be assessed by the degree of institutionalisation, or the degree of party reliance on state resources. While indicators of party system institutionalisation show that the Polish party system is becoming similar to its western European counterparts (Markowski 2010), little is known about the extent to which Polish parties rely on state resources. This paper aims at examining the developments of party-state relations in Poland after 1989 in order to understand the extent to which Polish parties have become similar to their western European counterparts, in their use of state resources. Furthermore the paper seeks to explain why the Civic Platform (PO) is the first party since 1989 in Poland to have won the 2007 parliamentary election, the 2009 election to the European Parliament, the 2010 presidential, and the 2010 local government contests. Also, it shows how the Civic Platform further relies on state resources. The paper contributes both to our understanding of party-state relations in a new democracy, and the quality of party politics emerging in Central and Eastern Europe. Literature: Katz Richard S., Mair Peter. Changing Models of Party Organization and Party Democracy: The Emergence of the Cartel Party. Party Politics 1995; 1; 5. Katz Richard S., Mair Peter. The Cartel Party Thesis. A Restatement. Perspectives on Politics. December 2008. Vol 7. No 4. Markowski Radoslaw. The Polish political party system and democracy [in:] Kucharczyk Jacek, Zbieranek Jaroslaw (eds.) Democracy in Poland 1989-2009. Challenges for the future. Warsaw 2010.
