Objective and Subjective Party Leadership Selection: Regulations, Activists, and Voters in Poland

Abstract

Over the last two decades, an increasing number of political parties have gradually formalized the influence of members in the process of leadership selection. This evolution has determined two partly contrasting behaviors in the new democracies of Eastern Europe: inclusive decision-making was formally mentioned but empirical evidence indicates implementation problems. Consequently, it remains an empirical question to what extent the East European political parties apply the formal provisions of inclusiveness when selecting their leaders. In order to provide an answer, this article compares the statutes and election regulations of four Polish parties with opinions of party members and voters. This study combines qualitative content analysis with aggregate statistics from individual-level data collected at the national level and covers the 2007–2011 electoral cycle.