EEP recognizes research on populist attitudes in Poland
The awarded article, “Uninformed or informed populists? The relationship between political knowledge, socio-economic status, and populist attitudes in Poland,” was selected from Volume 38, 2022, of East European Politics journal. The EEP editorial team unanimously recognized the significant contribution of Professors Mikołaj Cześnik and Ben Stanley's work to an ongoing and crucial discourse in the field of political science. As part of the recognition, the article will be freely accessible to the public for the following year.
East European Politics is a widely respected academic journal focused on current research about government, politics, and societies in the post-communist space, covering regions like East Central and South Eastern Europe, Russia, and former Soviet Union countries. The journal publishes original studies on specific countries, connections between the post-communist region and the rest of the world, and cross-country comparative analyses.
Who votes for populists?
In their publication, Professors Mikołaj Cześnik and Ben Stanley from SWPS University's Institute of Social Sciences explore the relationship between political knowledge, socio-economic status, and populist attitudes using data from the 2015 Polish parliamentary election. Contrary to common beliefs, the research challenges the idea that populism primarily attracts the uninformed and those with low social standing.
While the expected relationship between populism and political knowledge holds among the electorate as a whole, it does not drive voting behavior in terms of choices between parties. While the uninformed and those lower on the social ladder may vote for populists, they are more likely not to vote at all, and populism plays no significant part in determining this. Instead, we find a clear divide between a set of parties on the right which attract the support of those who are politically informed and populist in their attitudes, and a set of liberal parties which attract the support of those who are politically informed and anti-populist in their views. This divide is particularly pronounced among those of high socio-economic status, and such citizens are more likely to vote anyway.
Mikołaj Cześnik, Ph.D. / Associate Professor and Ben Stanley, Ph.D. / Associate Professor
Quote from “Uninformed or informed populists? The relationship between political knowledge, socio-economic status, and populist attitudes in Poland”
Our academics' findings challenge the idea that populism is an abnormal part of democratic politics. Instead, they align with the view that populism is a regular feature in today's democratic landscape, not an outburst of irrational behavior of the masses. Their study lays the groundwork for a better grasp of how political knowledge, socio-economic status, and populist attitudes intertwine, contributing to a clearer understanding of populism within democratic systems.
Read the awarded article