A+ A B+ A– B C+ B– C C– Cabinet rating 2018 Dear Readers, For the sixth time, Polityka Insight has prepared a report that assesses the achievements of cabinet ministers over the last year. We have rated the members of the cabinet in three categories: policy and governance, political clout and public perception. We have considered both the quality of the legislation they implemented, as well as their reaction to crises and effectiveness of management. This year was not one for grand reforms. The cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki mainly continued previously launched projects, such as 500+, elimination of middle schools, changes in the judicial system and more strict tax collection. It also focused on the implementation of projects from the Strategy for Responsible Development - with varying results. In addition, the prime minister initiated new programmes, such as the 300+ contribution for pupils. The government had to drop some of its ideas (see: amendment to the law on the Supreme Court), while it was not possible to implement others. This was the case with, for example, the changes to the Labour Code, elimination of the limit of social security contributions and the promised pensions for mothers of four children. There were also some problems with the implementation of one of the biggest projects, Housing+. In the past year, the government had to face various crises, both internal ones, as well as in relations with foreign actors. In January 2018, it entered into a dispute with Israel and the US over the amendment to the law on the Institute of National Remembrance, which was ultimately resolved by the prime minister. Furthermore, ministers had to solve crises with junior doctors as well as the European Union over the Białowieża Forest and changes in the judicial system. They also had to deal with protests by the police, farmers and nurses ahead of the elections. The overall government rating (B-) did not change from a year ago. The ministers who have held their positions the longest generally performed worse than in 2017, while the rating was lifted by those who joined the cabinet after the January reshuffle. Joanna Sawicka Project Coordinator Polityka Insight Content How the ratings changed 4 Cabinet rating 2018 7 Mateusz Morawiecki Prime Minister 10 Joachim Brudziński Minister of the Interior and Administration 13 Teresa Czerwińska Minister of Finance 16 Jadwiga Emilewicz Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology 19 Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Science Jarosław Gowin and Higher Education 22 Mariusz Błaszczak Minister of National Defence 25 Jerzy Kwieciński Minister of Investment and Economic Development 28 Elżbieta Rafalska Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy 31 Łukasz Szumowski Minister of Health 34 Marek Zagórski Minister of Digital Affairs 37 Jan Ardanowski Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development 40 Witold Bańka Minister of Sport and Tourism 43 Minister – Member of the Council of Ministers, Mariusz Kamiński Special Services Coordinator 46 Henryk Kowalczyk Minister of Environment 49 Zbigniew Ziobro Minister of Justice 52 Andrzej Adamczyk Minister of Infrastructure 55 Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Culture Piotr Gliński and National Heritage 58 Marek Gróbarczyk Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation 61 Beata Szydło Deputy Prime Minister 64 Krzysztof Tchórzewski Minister of Energy 67 Jacek Czaputowicz Minister of Foreign Affairs 70 Anna Zalewska Minister of National Education 73 How the ratings changed government 2018 2017 B– GENERAL RATING B– B- policy and governance B- B- political clout B- B- public perception B- ministers Mateusz Morawiecki Beata Szydło Prime Minister B+ B Joachim Brudziński Mariusz Błaszczak Minister of the Interior B+ and Administration C+ There was a joint ministry Teresa Czerwińska with Ministry of Investment Minister of Finance and Economic Development. B+ Jadwiga Emilewicz There was not such ministry. Minister of Entrepreneurship B+ and Technology Jarosław Gowin Jarosław Gowin Deputy Prime Minister, Minister B+ of Science and Higher Education B+ 4 2018 2017 Mariusz Błaszczak Antoni Macierewicz Minister of National Defence B B- Jerzy Kwieciński Mateusz Morawiecki Minister of Investment B and Economic Development A Elżbieta Rafalska Elżbieta Rafalska Minister of Family, Labour B and Social Policy A- Łukasz Szumowski Konstanty Radziwiłł Minister of Health B C+ Marek Zagórski Anna Streżyńska Minister of Digital Affairs B B Jan Ardanowski Krzysztof Jurgiel Minister of Agriculture and Rural B- Development C Witold Bańka Witold Bańka Minister of Sport and Tourism B- C Mariusz Kamiński Mariusz Kamiński Minister – Member of the Council B- of Ministers, Special Services C+ Coordinator Henryk Kowalczyk Jan Szyszko Minister of Environment B- C 5 2018 2017 Zbigniew Ziobro Zbigniew Ziobro Minister of Justice B- B Andrzej Adamczyk Andrzej Adamczyk C+ Minister of Infrastructure C+ Piotr Gliński Piotr Gliński Deputy Prime Minister, Minister C+ of Culture and National Heritage B- Marek Gróbarczyk Marek Gróbarczyk Minister of Maritime Economy C+ and Inland Navigation B- Beata Szydło Evaluated as Prime Minister. Deputy Prime Minister C+ Krzysztof Tchórzewski Krzysztof Tchórzewski Minister of Energy C+ B- Jacek Czaputowicz Witold Waszczykowski Minister of Foreign Affairs C C Anna Zalewska Anna Zalewska Minister of National Education C C+ 6 CABINET RATING 2018 Younger ministers strengthening the government Thanks to the reshuffle, the government has maintained relatively high ratings. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Minister of Finance Teresa Czerwińska stand out. B- policy and governance B– GENERAL RATING B- political clout B- public perception Polityka Insight Cabinet rating 2018 7 Rating unchanged since last year. The government’s overall rating has remained at the level of autumn 2017, i.e. B-. The components are also unchanged - the quality of gover- nance, political clout and public perception are still B-. However, many changes took place in the assessments of individual ministers. The majority of ministers who joined the cabinet during the last year did well in the ratings - almost all of them received assess- ments better than did their predecessor in 2017. MinInt Joachim Brudziński improved on last year’s overall rating for Mariusz Błaszczak by as many as 3 points (from C + to B +) mainly thanks to efficient modernisation of uniformed services and a strong political position. Ministers appointed in 2015 mostly did worse than a year ago, for example, the high rating of Elżbieta Rafalska dropped from A- to B because the effectiveness of Min- Fam in implementing social programmes was lower. Front runners are Morawiecki and Czerwińska. None of the ministers received the highest rating, straight A, although Mateusz Morawiecki did receive it in our previous edition. At the top of the 2018 rating stands the PM and MinFin Teresa Czerwińska (both of them on B+), and Brudziński comes in just behind them. Morawiecki is helped by the good eco- nomic situation, handles foreign policy and crisis management better than Beata Szydło. Czerwińska is effective in securing budget stability and continues to tighten the tax sys- tem. Brudziński avoids pitfalls and can deal with crises (just before the election, he staved off the police officers’ protests) and has a very strong position in the cabinet. Zalewska and Czaputowicz with lowest ratings. The reform of education introduced by Anna Zalewską brought chaos to schools and anxiety among teachers and parents of students. Zalewska recorded no successes in other fields and, in addition, her position in the government fell after the change of PM. Jacek Czaputowicz’s conduct of foreign policy is dependent on the political requirements of PiS and he plays no significant role in the most important crises - for example, the conflict with Israel and the US in connec- tion with the amendment to the IPN Law. The MinFor does not control the personnel policy in the ministry. His rating was slightly higher than his predecessor’s, given a lower propensity for media mishaps. Czerwińska brings star quality to governance. MinFin is the only one with A- rating in the quality of governance category. Jadwiga Emilewicz, Jerzy Kwieciński and Łukasz Szu- mowski (all B+) performed very well. Emilewicz has introduced simplifications for small businesses, and the business circles praise her for efficiency and openness in contacts. Kwieciński receives credit for efficient coordination of spending EU funds, and Szu- mowski for his fire-fighting talents and progress in digitising health care. Beata Szydło is definitely the worst member of the government as regards the quality of governance. The former PM cannot boast of any successes in the sphere of social affairs, for which she is theoretically responsible. Brudziński, the strongest member of the government. Several ministers with a relatively strong political position, such as Antoni Macierewicz and Krzysztof Jurgiel, left following the recent cabinet reshuffle. People from outside the party joined - Szumowski, Czerwiń- ska and Czaputowicz. After the dismissal of Szydło, the political position of Zalewska and Rafalska, both linked to her, declined sharply. At the same time, Brudziński joined the cabinet, bringing with him a really good relationship with Jarosław Kaczyński and a big influence on the party. This explains the highest political position among all members of the government (A), in our opinion stronger even than the PM (A-). Polityka Insight Cabinet rating 2018 8 Fewer slips, more unknown faces. A few ministers who had weakened the cabinet’s out- side image left the government - including MinFor Witold Waszczykowski, MinEnv Jan Szyszko and MinDef Antoni Macierewicz. The new members of CouMin - Emilewicz, Czerwińska or Czaputowicz – seldom have media mishaps, but at the same time, they are less recognisable. They are also less active in social media, so they did not improve the pu- blic perception of the government. In this category, Jarosław Gowin (the only one with a B+ rating) fares best: he has high recognisability, considerable social trust and often appe- ars in the media. The lowest grade (C) was given to Mariusz Kamiński, Andrzej Adamczyk and Czaputowicz (C-).