This book is an account of protests organized in Poland by trade unions from the late socialism to 21st century. It uses protest event analysis and mass surveys to examine the impact of trade unions on institutions before and after systemic change. Trade unions were crucial for transformation, but their impact subsequently declined.

The book is a study of the state of contemporary Polish democracy. As other similar initiatives across the world, it aims at portraying detailed aspects of performance of the Polish democracy. It covers all dimensions and components of democracy, depicts and evaluates it from three different methodological angles.