Paternalizm i klientelizm w Polsce Ludowej. Na przykładzie dystrybucji samochodów

Abstract

The article is based on applications for the allocation of bones for cars that were sent in the years 1977–1980 to the President of the Council of Ministers, Janusz Wieczorek. The author of the article analyses the background of the applicants, the arguments that they used and the language of their applications. He poses a thesis that the form of the applications and the way they were considered show the paternalistic nature of the government in the Polish People’s Republic at the time of Gierek. The author also points out that the completely discretionary character of the decision on the price allocations of luxurious goods, such as cars, caused that people of high standing could take advantage of their access to such goods to build a network of cliental connections.