Do Parties Benefit from Electoral Manipulation? Electoral Laws and Heresthetics in Poland, 1989-1993

Electoral heresthetics, or the manipulation of electoral systems to a political player’s advantage, had profound political consequences for post-communist transitional Poland. Choices of di¤erent electoral systems contributed ...rst to the fall of communism and later to the reclaiming of power by the postcommunists. Despite high stakes and top priority attached by political players to electoral heresthetics, their e¤orts were hardly rewarded. The parties supported the ex post more bene...cial electoral system about as frequently as they supported a less bene...cial system. The signi...cant political consequences of new electoral laws often came as a complete surprise to the interested parties and often worked against the interests of the manipulators. Marek M. Kaminski, Dept. of Politics, New York University, 715 Broadway, New York, New York 10003, U.S.A.; [email protected], www.nyu.edu/projects/kaminski.