From regional autonomy towards horizontal and vertical congruence coalition politics in Polish regions in the period 1998–2018

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 1999 regional self-government was established in Poland and, subsequently, politics began to operate in a new multilevel setting. The question raised in this article is, how did Polish parties adapt to functioning in a multilevel system focusing on coalition politics? The analysis of documents – regional assemblies’ resolutions were used to track regional coalition formation in the period 1998–2018 – was supplemented by data gathered from the author’s interviews with regional politicians. The tendency to avoid cross-cutting coalitions was evident from the first two elections when regional politics was rather autonomous. Vertically and horizontally congruent coalitions gradually became standard when advantageous conditions occurred after 2006. The particular features of the party system leading to the avoidance of cross-cutting coalitions were the role of socio-political cleavage, that is a ‘post-communist divide’ and, later, rising polarization within a bipolar party system. Cross-cutting coalitions were occasionally acceptable but never those requiring cooperation between a majority party forming the government and the main opposition party at the central level. Recent studies indicate the rise of divergent coalitions in Europe, but in Polish regions, the contrary tendency has been observed.