Europe today is the arena for the successes of various populist movements with all shades of ideology. In Poland and Germany parties of this type thrive on a varied ideologically subsoil: starting with the left, through liberal conservatism, all the way to the extreme right. The chief populist players on the Polish scene are: „Samoobrona” – led by Andrzej Lepper – with roots in the farmers’ movement, „Liga Polskich Rodzin” – closely connected with the traditionalistic Catholic Church circles, and the „Prawo i SprawiedliwoÊç” (Law and Justice) party of Lech and JarosΠaw Kaczyƒski placing priority on battling crime. In Germany in recent years, the most successful were: the ultra-rightist Deutsche Volksunion (DVU) and Ronald Schill’s conservative Partei Rechtsstaatlicher Offensive (P.R.O.). The success of populists in both countries is the consequence of a combination of reasons: the resignation from continuing a democratic dialogue by parties of the establishment, the upshot of an irresponsible policy pursued by the sensation-crazed media, as well as – in the case of Polish farmers’ in „Samoobrona” – the result of the leniency of the courts in cases of stark violations of the law. The populist threat in the case of Poland and Germany is particularly strong, as in both these countries around 20% of society is inclined to believe the recipes dished out by the charismatic leaders.