Belarus and Poland ‒ from the historical roots of institutional matrices to institutional planning

Abstract

The institutional matrixes of contemporary Belarus and Poland are the result of a long historical process. Despite their close proximity and common history, these countries are now two completely different institutional systems. The aim of this article is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the institutional matrices of Belarus and Poland and to identify the opportunities and threats arising from the specificities of the dominant institutions functioning in these countries. On the basis of this analysis, we attempt to identify the directions of desirable institutional changes increasing the efficiency of the political-economic-social system. Our recommendations are focused around the most difficult area ‒ the ideological plane ‒ containing a set of informal institutions created on the basis of culture during the historical process. Creating recommendations for institutional change for this area is a difficult challenge, as the directions of change are essentially dependent on the values that guide us. The axiological polarisation of the institutional systems (especially the political system) of these countries is very high. While we are able to indicate the desired directions of changes in mentality for Poland (and we do indicate them), from the so-called western point of view, for Belarus the axiological foundations of the political and economic system would have to be completely changed. This confirms the thesis that culture is the basis of political-social-economic systems, although in the case of both countries, the geopolitical context is of considerable importance.