The conference “Local elections to municipal councils in 2006 in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Patterns of competition in local political systems”, organised by the Institute of Political Science of the University of Wrocław, was held on 11 September in the auditorium of the Youth Cultural Centre. The Wrocław researchers carried out the project in the eight largest cities of Lower Silesia as part of a grant awarded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
Representatives of local political elites and the media attended Tuesday’s meeting. A team of employees from the Institute of Political Science presented their conclusions and observations concerning the political scenes of our region. The summary was based, among other things, on surveys and electoral statistics. This is already the third edition of this type of research in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. The preliminary conclusions will be expanded in a publication due to appear soon.
The conference in Bolesławiec presented, from a scientific perspective, how the election campaign unfolded, what its consequences were and what role the media played in attempting to reach voters. According to the Wrocław researchers, the consolidation of the local political scene is clearly noticeable in Bolesławiec compared with other cities, although our city continues to experience electoral fluctuations. Andrzej Ferens spoke, among other things, about the specific nature of local elections. Drawing on the research conducted, the political scientist said that Bolesławiec stands out in terms of local activity.
Dariusz Skrzypiński, meanwhile, spoke about the relations between the individual electoral committees. The researcher acknowledged that Ziemia Bolesławiecka and Rodzimy Handel i Rzemiosło received the highest ratings. Interestingly, the research showed that, in the opinion of political rivals, Bolesławiec Mayor Piotr Roman is more right-wing than in the assessment of his own electoral committee. In addition, the mayor of our city performed well in the statistics (according to the Wrocław researchers, he ranked first in terms of good management; only Rafał Dutkiewicz performed better in attracting EU funds).
Skrzypiński also discussed the division of the political scene during the elections. The surveys clearly showed that in Bolesławiec (although the situation was similar in the other cities), interpersonal conflicts had the greatest influence on the election campaign. Only later did respondents mention disputes over municipal property or the budget. These results show that the local-election campaign involved not substantive disputes, but conflicts driven by personal ambitions.
Marzena Cichosz, in turn, commented on the course of the local elections themselves. In Bolesławiec, direct meetings with voters were considered the most politically effective (the situation was different in the other cities). The researcher also pointed out a certain regularity. Electoral committees considered their own negative campaigns to be of low intensity. However, every attack by political opponents was perceived as a blow below the belt.
The event concluded with a discussion led by Radosław Solarz. The discussion clearly showed how polarised our local political scene is.
(GA report)