Challenging Informal Institutions: Political Contestation, Public Attention, and Electoral Responses in Poland
When:
—
Venue:
Online
We are pleased to announce the 4th Seminar Series on Governance, Institutions, and Sustainability jointly hosted by the Centre for Political Economy and Institutional Studies (CPEIS) and by the Birkbeck Responsible Business Centre, within the Birkbeck Business School.
In our rapidly evolving world, the intricate web connecting governance, institutions, and sustainability has become increasingly prominent. We invite scholars, researchers, and practitioners to enhance this very important debate and to join us in exploring the profound intertwining of these critical elements at our upcoming seminar series.
Abstract
Deeply embedded informal institutions are widely regarded as fundamental determinants of political behaviour and an important source of its durability over time. Yet convincing empirical evidence of such persistence remains limited. This paper investigates how individuals respond when an organisation that carries and reproduces deeply embedded informal institutions is publicly challenged, and what these responses imply for institutional resilience or erosion. We illustrate this mechanism through a unique case study of the interaction between religion and politics in Poland. Two weeks before the 2019 European Parliament election, the release of a documentary alleging child abuse within the Catholic Church triggered an intense public controversy. The documentary directly challenged the Church as an organisation, but given its longstanding role in Polish society, the controversy also posed an indirect threat to informal institutions associated with national identity and social values. We reconstruct how this challenge unfolded politically, tracing its uptake by political actors, its prominence in the electoral campaign, media coverage, public attention, and electoral responses. Drawing on data from public and parliamentary discourse, media coverage, and internet search trends, we show that the issue rapidly came to dominate the electoral campaign and was incorporated into the strategies of two main political camps, which adopted sharply divergent positions. Combining opinion poll and municipal-level voting data, we demonstrate that the campaign debate reinforced existing political alignments, increasing electoral participation on both sides of the religious divide. Despite expectations that the controversy would weaken support for the conservative government, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) won the election decisively. This victory of the party defending the existing institutional order in the context of a major political shock to the underlying informal institutions is consistent with a pattern of institutional resilience.
Speaker
Jan Falkowski (University of Warsaw, Poland)
Jan Falkowski, PhD, is an associate professor at the Faculty of Economic Sciences (Chair of Political Economy), University of Warsaw. His primary research interests lie in new institutional economics and political economy. His main fields of study include the interplay between politics and economics, the interaction between informal institutions and electoral outcomes, and the consequences of political conflict. He has published, among others, in European Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Institutional Economics, Party Politics, Public Choice, or World Bank Economic Review.
Convener/Organiser: Dr Luca Andriani
Contact name: Luca Andriani
Tags: