Electoral geography in Poland (original) (raw)
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Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, 2011
Electoral Geography as a New Mean of Analyzing Social Change. Kraków City and Małopolskie Voivodship Case Study The paper describes political support for Polish political parties as aggregated into four principal options (left-wing, liberal, populist, and right-wing) as well as flux in the electorate in Małopolskie voivodship in the last two decades in order to show regions of electoral stability that tend to do favour the four principal social and political options. Stabilization of cultural and political identity and gradual changes therein are shown by comparing dominant political options with selected social and economic data. The comparison should also allow for a reasonable prediction of future gains and losses for each political option.
Erdkunde, 2015
The main goal of the paper is to discuss various interpretations of the heritage created during the so-called ‘partition’ of Poland in the 19th century and the ways of its possible reproduction. This goal will be achieved by analyzing patterns of Poland’s electoral geography, which is known for its considerable stability. After a discussion of the historical background and a summary of the main patterns of the country’s electoral geography, the main types of dominating interpretations of the reproduction of structures, brought about in the Polish space during the period of its partitions in the 19th century, will be discussed. The paper will show how the recent transformation of the Polish political scene, which happened about 2005–2007, affected both the structures of the electoral geography and the dominant ways of its interpretation. As it will be argued, the above mentioned changes have emphasized the role of the East-West differentiation of the Polish space. The rise to prominence of that dimension was also related to the emergence of a number of new interpretations, many of which could be seen as heavily relying on orientalistic stereotypes, including those of the very negative images related to the heritage of the Russian rule. These mainstream interpretations, based on models of opposition between the positive Western “civilization” and the negative Eastern (Russian) “backwardness”, will be confronted with what seems to be a more nuanced view on the basic East-West split of the Polish space. The proposed model will be an attempt to apply the theory of different types of capital by Pierre Bourdieu. In particular, Eastern Poland and its heritage of the Austrian and Russian rule will be presented as more cultural-capital oriented, while Western Poland and its heritage of the Prussian rule - as more economic-capital oriented. In this way the paper will propose a new, more general model of analysis of the spatial longue-durée effects.
Geography of electoral volatility in the Warmia and Mazury voivodeship of Poland
The authors describe the impact of administrative reforms on the electoral volatility in the Warmia and Mazury voivodeship of Poland. The administrative reforms resulted in the formation of a new territorial organization of power. Using three large administrative units of Poland as an example, the authors analyse the experience of the formation of a geographic region by merging several politically diverse territories. The merger took place in a changing political environment. It inevitably affected the strategy and tactics of the development of local self-governance. The formation of the region has been going on in such a manner that differences in the electoral preferences and political behaviour of the urban population (the regional metropolis) and the periphery remain unchanged. Having performed the index analysis and a comparative analysis of the electoral data, the authors conclude that the consistency of administrative decisions on the formation of the region and the elec- toral performance have been weakening over time. During the initial phase, the electoral volatility was mainly due to the sluggishness and inertia of the previous territorial organization. After the phase of stabilization, the electoral volatility indices in different geographical areas changed due to a combination of social and political factors. The authors show that the ‘looseness’ of the Polish party system affect the electoral volatility in the region more than institutional decisions of the administrative reforms.
The City as an Onion? Case Studies of Electoral Geography in Prague and Warsaw
Sociológia - Slovak Sociological Review, 2020
The City as an Onion? Case Studies of Electoral Geography in Prague and Warsaw. Electoral geographical research into urban territories shows a distinction in voting behaviour between a city centre and its surroundings. A recent exploratory study of the electoral geography of Prague found that distance from the city centre was the variable that best explained the spatial variation of votes, which might follow a concentric pattern and, thus, it recommended seeking a theoretical explanation in urban sociology, e.g. in the Burgess model of the city. Following this recommendation, I compared spatial patterns of voting behaviour in two cities-Warsaw and Prague. Using component analysis, I reduced the number of analysed variables to one for each city representing the main spatial polarisation. In Prague, voting behaviour showed a distinction between the city centre, inner suburbs and outer suburbs. While the city centre and the outer suburbs were conservative, the inner suburbs tended to vote for the left. This partially follows the Burgess model. On the other hand, the electoral geography of Warsaw showed a different structure. In this article I present a way of visualising urban electoral data in maps that avoid distortion caused by varying polygon size.
CONTEMPORARY SOCIO-ECONOMIC DIFFERENCES IN POLAND: (2) POLITICAL SCENE AND ELECTORAL BEHAVIOR
13th World Congress of the RSAI. Smart Regions – Opportunities for Su`stainable Development in the Digital Era. Moroccan Section of the Regional Science Association International., 2021
The results of political elections in Europe and the world in the second decade of the 21st century show a clear trend of strengthening populist movements. One of the fundamental root causes is the persistent and even growing differentiation of the socio-economic development level, which results in permanent peripheralisation and marginalisation of some areas. This results in polarization and radicalization of electoral behaviour as a consequence to the unsatisfactory effectiveness of earlier implemented development activities and the economic exclusion of a part of the society living below the social minimum. The results of our study indicate the persistence of development disparities in Poland, despite the relatively positive trends in economic growth at the national level. We draw attention mainly to the strong significance of historical conditions (relict borders). Against this background, we identify the scope and direction of geographical changes in Poles' electoral behaviour. We aim to determine the relationship between the level of socio-economic development and the support of political parties in spatial terms. The final conclusions emphasize the persistence of "territorial underpinnings" and socio-economic conditions of electoral populism in Poland, which to a large extent results from historical factors. Not only has the distribution of populism not been changed as a result of transformation and integration changes in Poland, but it has in fact been reinforced. The research procedure consists of three stages presented on separated presentations: (1) spatial polarization of development, (2) political scene and electoral behaviour, (3) relations between development level and political preferences. This presentation is about stage 2, the purpose of which was to characterize the Polish political scene and the electoral behaviour of Poles. The temporal scope of the analysis covers mainly the years 2005 and 2015. The analysis is conducted at the level of LAU-2 units (gmina), enabling detailed identification of intra-regional disparities. During analysis there were used desk research and indicators of electoral support level noticed in the parliamentary elections in 2005, 2007, 2011, and 2015. The formation of the Polish political scene during the transformation period was dynamic and characterized by the emergence of new antagonisms. In a generalized perspective the Polish political scene can be divided along two axes: conservatism vs. liberalism and individualism vs. communitarianism. Political parties can be further aggregated into two main political camps: "Solidary Poland" – more conservative and ‘Liberal Poland’ – more progressive. The results of the parliamentary elections justify the statement that the Polish political scene is subject to polarization, which in fact brings the party system closer to the bipolar system. The highest concentration of support for the "Solidary Poland" camp was observed in the south-eastern part of the country. On the other hand, the relatively highest support for the "Liberal Poland" camp was in north-western Poland. This study is carried out as part of the FORSED research project (www.forsed.amu.edu.pl) funded by the National Science Centre (No. 2015/19/B/HS5/00012): New challenges of regional policy in shaping socio-economic development factors of less developed regions.
Polish presidential election of 2010: a study of the power of voters in big and medium-sized towns
Geographia Polonica, 2011
In the literature on the subject, urbanisation is regarded as one of the most important factors shaping electoral behaviour. The effect of this factor has also been corroborated by studies in Poland, where one can speak of urban-and rural-oriented parties. To determine the significance of the urban electorate in Poland, use was made of the procedure of backward elimination of voters in the successive biggest towns. The next step involved identifying the structure of support for the leading presidential contenders in the 2010 election at each stage of the rank elimination of the towns. It was already in the parliamentary elections at the start of the 21st century that big cities and the larger of medium-sized towns turned out to be their 'engines': with their highest voter turnouts, they crucially affected the results at the national scale. That is why an analysis was made of voter alignment in towns of this size category over the years 2001-2007, and on this basis various electoral types of towns were distinguished.
Political Divisions and Socio-Economic Disparities in Poland: A Geographical Approach
SUSTAINABILITY, 2021
This article attempts to identify the relationship between the persistent polarisation of political opinions and diverse levels of social and economic development. The coexistence of these phenomena may indicate a barrier to inclusive economic development, which connects with the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development. A research aim was to test two hypotheses: Hypothesis 1 (H1)—The increase in the spatial disparity of political support in Poland is persistent; and Hypothesis 2 (H2)—The spatial distribution of support for specific political options shows significant correlations with the distribution of social and economic growth. The study involves the following research methods implementation: desk research, intensity indicators and regression analysis. The results confirmed the persistence of spatial divisions in political support, whose distribution reflects to a large extent the diverse levels of social and economic development that exist. Two axes dividing Poland are identified, one between west and east and the other between urban and rural areas. The article connects with the international debate regarding “places that don’t matter” and the reasons behind the growing popularity of populist ideas in society.
The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of Polish Political Geography
Geopolitics, 2014
The article presents an outline of the history of Polish political geography. Its development as a science in fact began in the nineteenth century and its golden age lasted all the way through to the fall of the Polish state in 1939. The loss of independence in the period 1939/1945-1989 also brought with it the fall of political geography in Poland. After 1989, along with the restoration of freedom of research in Poland, a new period started in the history of Polish political geography.
Basic Spatial Patterns of Electoral
2014
The aim of this article is to explore the spatial paaerns of electoral support for candidates in the 2013 direct presidential election in the Czech Republic. Firstly, variability in the election results is analysed. AAer which, the effect of socioeconomic variables on the results of candidates is tested using regression analysis. By means of regression analysis we are able to explain a considerable proportion of the spatial differences affecting candidates' election results, as identified in the initial section of the article. Finally, our results are compared with theoretical assumptions and findings from previous research in the field of electoral geography in the Czech Republic. Keywords elections, direct presidential elections, electoral behaviour, electoral geography Note Text byl zpracován v rámci projektu specifického výzkumu Katedry politologie FSS MU "Volby, politické strany a prosazování zájmů II". (Kód MUNI/A/0846/2013.) * Student doktorského studijního prog...