Social dialogue revival or ‘PR corporatism’? Negotiating anti-crisis measures in Poland and Bulgaria1

Abstract

Despite earlier pessimistic assessments of social dialogue performance in central and eastern Europe, the 2008–2010 downturn in the economy brought an increase in tripartite activity in most new EU Member States. This article seeks to account for this development by analysing the drivers and outcomes of anti-crisis social dialogue in Poland and Bulgaria. It argues that the two countries’ governments staged tripartite negotiations in hard times to demonstrate their adherence to the consensual mode of policy-making. They did this with the expectation that this would boost their popularity and bring them electoral advantage.