The article concerns the analysis of mechanisms of functioning of the party system and political market. The main problem, which is analyzed in the text, is the answer to the question to what extent the parties’ relationships are dependent on market factors, and to what extent they are autonomous and independent from the processes taking place in the market. Market factors are: the level of the political awareness of electors, their loyalty and the stability of election behaviours as well as character of media particularly their programme and political profile. However amongst factors from beyond market, the author focuses on the political tradition, the ideological identification of the party and the attitude of parties’ leaders.