Why Do Non-partisans Challenge Parties in Local Politics? The (Extreme) Case of Poland

Abstract

The article concentrates on recent successes of non-partisans (independents) in Polish local government. A majority of mayors and councillors remains unaffiliated with any party—in this respect Poland is an outlier among European countries. The article examines both the factors determining the cross-national variation in the level of local government partyness and those causing the differences between the municipalities. The analyses of local elections held in 2006 and 2010 demonstrate that non-partisans' successes are primarily due to the previous election results (the advantage of incumbency); a possible ‘partisan offensive’ to colonise new resources in local politics is sluggish.

Notes

¹ The term ‘partyness’ refers to the dominance of political parties (party organisations) in electoral competition, government formation, and policy-making.

² Percentage of respondents who claimed that they ‘feel closer to a particular party than all other parties’ (countries listed in order from those with more frequent identifications): Sweden—72.2%; Denmark—69.4%; Norway—63.0%; Netherlands—62.5%; Cyprus—56.9%; Switzerland—54.3%; Hungary—53.5%; Slovakia—52.7%; Finland—51.5%; Belgium—50.1%; France—48.9%; Bulgaria—48.6%; Germany—48.5%; United Kingdom—48.3%; Portugal—44.6%; Spain—42.8%; Russian Federation—40.8%; Estonia—39.5%; Israel—35.8%; Czech Republic—34.7%; Ukraine—34.1%; Croatia—31.9%; Greece—31.4%; Poland—30.2%; Slovenia—28.0%; Ireland—23.8% (European Social Survey 2010).

³ In the 2014 local elections, the new electoral system will be used. 66 councils of the largest cities will be elected with the use of a proportional open list formula. Councils in smaller municipalities will be elected with the use of a majoritarian formula in single-member districts.

⁴ For the 2006 elections—2,476 municipalities; for the 2010 elections—2,479 municipalities.