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Theoretical and Methodological Framework

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Party Organization and Communication in Poland

Abstract

This chapter outlines the purposes of our research, introduces its theoretical framework and discusses the methodology for gathering and analysing data. We discuss various approaches to studying political parties, pointing out they can be approached either as organisations or institutions. Then, we move to explaining these perspectives and how they were applied to the study presented in this book. The chapter also includes a presentation of the framework for the communicational analyses. We go beyond campaign communication and consider the internal aspect which is equally vital. The chapter ends with a section that describes the six parties examined in our research and explains how the mixed method scheme was applied to answer questions regarding the strength, sustainability, vitality and social perceptions of Polish parties.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In the 2005 election, the combined support for PiS and PO was 51.13%. In 2007, it was as much as 73.63%. In 2011—69.06%. In 2015—61.67% and in 2019—70.99%.

  2. 2.

    According to PSL, neo-agrarianism ‘re-evaluates the historic heritage of the agrarian thought in line with the achievements of science and acknowledges the need to adjust socio-economic life to the requirements of the scientific-technical revolution’ (Polska lepszych szans 2007).

  3. 3.

    The numbers of respondents from each party were as follows: the PiS – 124; the PO – 737; the .N – 591; the PSL – 400; the SLD – 279 and the Together Party – 456.

  4. 4.

    The three selected districts were as follows: Dolnośląskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie and Podkarpackie.

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Jacuński, M., Brodzińska-Mirowska, B., Pacześniak, A., Wincławska, M. (2021). Theoretical and Methodological Framework. In: Party Organization and Communication in Poland. Political Campaigning and Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59993-5_1

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