Why is a minority continuing to decline? The representation of female MPs on Polish political commentary programmes, 2015–2019

ABSTRACT

As a result of the 2015 elections, women won 27% of the seats in the lower chamber of the Polish parliament (the Sejm) but this share was not reflected in their media representation. Indeed, during the study period (the full parliamentary term 2015–2019), female MPs presence on political commentary TV and radio programmes was only 19%. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the factors which explained the differences between the share of female MPs in the Sejm and their representation in the media. During the data analysis, media-related factors, party affiliation, and age of MPs were considered. The female MPs’ presence on political commentary TV and radio programmes was not associated with media-related factors, however, there was a statistically significant association with women’s affiliation to particular political parties. The age was found to be significant, albeit in an oblique way. The results were interpreted according to the typology of minority groups and cast doubt on the theory of critical mass at the range of tilted groups, as well as shed new light on the issue of “numbers and newness.”

KEYWORDS:

• Women in parliament
• women in the media
• minority groups
• theory of critical mass
• “numbers and newness”

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. For TV: open monthly reports from the Nielsen measurement telemetry survey. Available at http://wirtualnemedia.pl; for radio: open monthly reports from the Radio Track survey (by Kantar Poland). Available at http://wirtualnemedia.pl.

2. ANOVA test: p < 0.000. Scheffe’s test shows a significant difference in means between Nowoczesna and all other parties except PSL (small sample).

3. ANOVA test: p = 0.054. Scheffe’s test shows no significant differences in the means between Nowoczesna and other parties.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Beata Królicka

Beata Królicka – graduate in Polish studies; a graduate student in sociology at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland. E-mail: [email protected]

Radosław Sojak

Radosław Sojak – associate professor at Institute of Sociology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland; working in fields of sociology of knowledge and public discourse analysis. E-mail: [email protected]

Andrzej Meler

Andrzej Meler – graduate in sociology at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland; academic and market researcher and analyst; assistant at Institute of Sociology, Nicolaus Copernicus University. E-mail: [email protected]