Law and Justice
The Polish national conservative party, founded in 2001 by the Kaczynski twins, governing 2015 to 2023.
Overview
PiS formed in 2001 around Lech and Jarosaw Kaczynski after the collapse of the Solidarity Electoral Action, fusing social conservatism, Catholic values, and welfare expansion with an anticommunist historical politics. From 2015 it held single party majority government: judicial reforms that triggered EU rule of law clashes, the 500+ child benefit, national media reorganization, and tough migration stances. Lech died in the 2010 Smolensk crash, which defined party mythology. The 2023 opposition coalition ended its rule. Donald Tusk leads the opposing Civic Platform; Mateusz Morawiecki and Andrzej Duda served as PiS premier and president, and the party remains the largest single party in the Sejm.
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