Axes of rivalry in elections to the Sejm in Wielkopolska Province in the 21st century: Selected issues

Abstract

The study aims to characterise changes in political orientations in the Wielkopolska Province electorate, from the 2001 to the 2019 Sejm elections. The research also analyses the rivalry between the main political parties – Law and Justice (PiS) and Civic Platform (PO, or its ally Civic Coalition (KO) in 2019) in 2007–2019, as well as the transgression of the supremacy of PiS voters. An attempt was also made to define the role of women candidates for MPs in the 2015 and 2019 elections. Finally, the electoral behaviour in certain types of special circuits was presented.

The rivalry between the two main parties in Wielkopolska Province led to the spread of the supremacy of Law and Justice over Civic Platform. The only barrier to its domination in 2019 was highly urbanised areas (Poznań city and Poznań county), counties located to the west of this area and the medium city of Leszno. This territorial rivalry took the form of a diffusion and transgressive process of support for Law and Justice in the analysed period. The highest level of support for PiS in relation to those eligible to vote was in the five poviats of this party’s original nucleus in Wielkopolska Province alongside other territorial and administrative units in the eastern part of the region.

Support for female candidates for deputies in the elections to the Sejm in Wielkopolska Province in 2015–2019 rose slightly in the region, although the strategies for supporting women by different parties in individual constituencies changed. While in 2015 the greatest support for the female candidate was obtained in district no. 36 (Kalisz – the south-eastern part of the province), in 2019 women competing in district no. 39 (Poznań) were the most successful.