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Echoes from the Past: The Relationship between Satisfaction with Economic Reforms and Voting Behavior in Poland

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  • Powers, Denise V.
  • Cox, James H.

Abstract

Electorates in several East European countries have thrown their support behind reconstructed communist parties. Is personal economic hardship driving this phenomenon? We argue that political behavior in postcommunist societies is fundamentally structured by interpretations of the transition histories, which were centrally constitutive events. We propose a structural equation model in which understandings of the past mediate the relationship between personal circumstances and satisfaction with economic reforms. We analyze cross-sectional data collected in Poland immediately after the 1993 parliamentary elections and find, consistent with our hypotheses, that understandings of the past exert as much of an effect on attitudes toward reforms as do personal economic assessments. We use multinomial logit to analyze vote choice and find that personal economic circumstances are of little importance. Attitudes toward economic reforms have a limited effect on voting behavior, but their importance is eclipsed by understandings of the past and other factors, such as religion.

Suggested Citation

  • Powers, Denise V. & Cox, James H., 1997. "Echoes from the Past: The Relationship between Satisfaction with Economic Reforms and Voting Behavior in Poland," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 91(3), pages 617-633, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:91:y:1997:i:03:p:617-633_21
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    Cited by:

    1. John E. Jackson & Jacek Klich & Krystyna Poznanska, 2001. "Economic Transition and Elections in Poland," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 391, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    2. R. Duane Ireland & Laszlo Tihanyi & Justin W. Webb, 2008. "A Tale of Two Politico-Economic Systems: Implications for Entrepreneurship in Central and Eastern Europe," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(1), pages 107-130, January.
    3. Dmitry Dagaev & Sofia Paklina & J. James Reade & Carl Singleton, 2024. "The Iron Curtain and Referee Bias in International Football," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 25(1), pages 126-151, January.
    4. Filippov, Mikhail G, 2002. "Russian Voting and the Initial Economic Shock of Hyperinflation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 111(1-2), pages 73-104, March.
    5. Doyle, Orla & Walsh, Patrick Paul, 2005. "Did Political Constraints Bind During Transition? Evidence from Czech Elections 1990-2002," IZA Discussion Papers 1719, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Klingemann, Hans-Dieter & Hofferbert, Richard I., 1998. "Remembering the bad old days: Human rights, economic conditions, and democratic performance in transitional regimes," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Institutions and Social Change FS III 98-203, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    7. repec:tcd:wpaper:tep15 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Smeets, Valerie & Warzynski, Frederic, 2006. "Job creation, job destruction and voting behavior in Poland," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 503-519, June.
    9. Norman Schofield & Alexei Zakharov, 2010. "A stochastic model of the 2007 Russian Duma election," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 177-194, January.
    10. repec:bla:etrans:v:15:y:2007:i::p:575-601 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Mach, Bogdan W. & Jackson, John E., 2006. "Employment change, attitude evolution and voting during Poland's transition: Longitudinal evidence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 472-502, June.

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