The situation in Poland

2020 marks 30 years since the first democratic municipal elections were held. Since then, an increasing number of women have been assuming political roles: the current share of female mayors/city presidents is approx. 10 per cent. A few of the big cities, including Gdańsk (Danzig) and Łódź, are governed by women. 

At the start, the participation of women in local politics was a peripheral political theme. Today, however, there is greater social awareness of the importance of the political participation of women, particularly among women themselves, but to an increasing extent also among men.

This is because the image of Polish local governance is still changing, due to the influence of women in leading positions in it. The country’s female mayors/city presidents are very well educated and bringing their expertise and personal competencies, such as courage and determination, into their work. They’ve also introduced new priorities and themes, such as education, childcare/work-life balance, migration, demography, youth and senior citizen policy, unemployment among older people and single women, and discrimination and violence against women. 

At the same time, (cross-party) alliances among women, such as the Polish Women’s Congress, represent a strong pillar of democratic opposition and civil society. The strength of these alliances is mainly evident at the municipal level. All of this has contributed to an increase in the quality of life in cities and regions.

Municipal reform in 1990 and the introduction of the principle of subsidiarity have created the conditions for political participation at the local level. But at the start only few women exercised a political mandate. Many women lacked political experience as well as confidence in their own competencies. A further obstacle to standing as a candidate was the fear of being unable to reconcile family, professional and political responsibilities. The financial situation also played a key role, since not every woman was able to afford an election campaign. At the same time, women who had role models for political engagement within their family circles proved more courageous when it came to standing as a candidate for municipal elections. 

A further problem that women had to tackle in the first 20 years was the electoral system: it wasn’t until the electoral system was reformed that women’s chances of being included as candidates on electoral lists increased.

Municipal reforms and quotas 

A statutory quota regulation, introduced in 2011, provided for a 35 per cent share of women on the party lists for local, city and parliamentary elections – although there is no stipulation regarding the places where women are included as candidates on the lists. If women are fielded in less promising places on the party lists, their chances reduce accordingly. In addition, no quotas exist for the lower levels of governance (for elections to local councils in towns/cities of less than 20,000 inhabitants*). 

On the lists of the bigger parties, such as Law and Justice (PIS), the share of women is now more than 40 per cent; for The Greens (Partia Zieloni) the figure is more than 50 per cent. However in 2018, the average share of women in the higher places on party lists was just 24 per cent (2018).

The share of women candidates for the office of city president has risen from 13.2% (2010) to 17.3% (2018), and for the office of mayor from 13.2% (2010) to 18.1% (2018). If this pace were to continue, it would take 50 years to balance out the ratio between women and men among candidates* alone. 

Active women’s movement 

A key player is the Institute of Public Affairs, which also conducts research and analysis of the situation of women in municipal politics. The institute pays a great deal of attention to the problem of equal access of women to local politics as well as their share of broadcast time in the media and the way in which female candidates are presented. The Women’s Congress continues to play an important role in generating women’s interest in the topic of municipal politics, in the qualification of women for political offices and mandates, and in their networking among each other. In addition to the Women’s Congress, a range of other feminist organisations have been founded that campaign for the interests and concerns of women, above all at the regional level. This has sharpened awareness of how much women are needed and how important their presence is in municipal politics. 

In order to make it possible for even more women to participate in political life at the municipal level, it remains important to work on structural solutions that can ensure equality in a real sense. These would include, first and foremost, the introduction of alternating places for men and women on the parties’ electoral lists. In addition, in the parties themselves, co-ordination roles could be established that pay particular attention to the concerns of women within the parties, or support the running of mentoring and empowerment programmes. Finally, examples of good practice, networking and the opportunity to learn from each other remain key aspects that could be pursued more actively both nationally and internationally.