Of Love and Hate. Origins and Effects of Positive and Negative Party Identification in Poland

The nature and effects of party identification in post-communist democracies have been an object of disputes, as the existing research does not lead to conclusive results. The present paper contributes to the discussion with analyses of four-fold typology of partisans (Rose, Mishler 1998), who either have a positive or negative party identification, or both, or none. We embed this typology in a contemporary Polish context. Using the PNES data for the 2005–2019 elections, we examine the proportions of each type of partisanship and their stability in time. We also verify what their determinants are and what their influence on electoral participation is. Our results demonstrate that positive and negative party identifications are of rational origin, although since 2015, expressive partisanship is also developing. We also prove that positive, negative, and combined motivations make Poles more prone to vote, contributing to the stability of democracy on a behavioral level.