http://dx.doi.org/10.59704/ee63bc06c3062698 https://verfassungsblog.de/poland-presidential-election-2025/ Anatomy of a Liberal Fall - Poland’s 2025 Presidential Election Zomerski, Wojciech eng 2025-06-11 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 Authoritarian Populism Liberalism Nawrocki Nawrocki Karol | 1983– | Historiker; Museumsdirektor Poland Polen [Motiv] Polish elections Trzaskowski elections Nawrocki Karol | 1983– | Historiker; Museumsdirektor Polen [Motiv] Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-SA 4.0 In Poland, just one week ago, Karol Nawrocki – a virtually unknown, PiS-backed candidate with a murky past – surprisingly defeated Rafał Trzaskowski, deputy leader of the centrist Civic Platform and mayor of Warsaw. How could such a random figure triumph over an experienced and popular politician? In this commentary, I argue that Trzaskowski’s defeat was no accident, but the latest chapter in a longer political story – one shaped by public frustration, broken promises, the emptiness of Polish liberalism, and anti-elitist sentiment present in the society.