Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe w rywalizacji wyborczej do samorządu wojewódzkiego

Polish People’s Party (PPP), clearly distinguishable from other parties on the Polish political scene, is an exceptional organization due to several factors. First and foremost, it succeeded in preserving its local structures which existed dur-ing the former regime and has used them in the current political system. The circumstances allowed the party, as the only one of the Third Republic of Po-land, to fully take part in all competitive elections. Moreover, the electoral pro-gram of the party is focused on Polish agriculture and countryside issues, as well as it is consistent in its claim to the legacy of the Polish farmers’ move-ments and people connected with them: W. Witos, M. Rataj and S. Miko-łajczyk. As a result of regular electoral rivalry, PPP has been at the helm of the au-thority at various levels of government numerous times. Especially, the good results achieved in the local elections are worth noting. The analysis has prompted the present author to formulate a few rules which determine the election results in the provincial assembly. Firstly, it is not the farmers who constitute the party’s pool of staff and are responsible for the party’s organiza-tion but authorities from various public institutions. What works in favor of the PPP’s strong position is its well-developed structure, exercising authority at the lower government level and the support of local public opinion leaders. Fur-thermore, the party members as well as the constituency become more active only when the election results may have a significant impact on the party struc-tures, including the possibility of appointing numerous administrative posi-tions.