Invention-Institutionalization-Implementation: The Origins of Childcare Policies in Poland

This paper argues that the development of Polish childcare polices represents an example of incremental institutional evolution. Applying the framework of historical institutionalism, the analysis is based on an examination of the following elements: political context marked by regime changes, ideas on gender that influenced the actions of key actors, and the resulting stage of institutional development. First, I describe the period of invention (pre-1918) involving the "production" of ideas, then the institutionalization of these ideational blueprints (1918–1946). Finally, I explain why and how institutions were implemented through a process of institutional conversion after the communist takeover in 1946.