PREDICTORS OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN POLAND: GENDER AND PERIOD EFFECTS IN THE CONTEXT OF POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION

The present study examined gender and generation differences in political participation of Poles twenty two years after the collapse of the communist regime in Central and Eastern Europe. Participation in various political activities (both electoral and legal non-electoral behaviors) was assessed in a nationwide random sample of 400 adults interviewed face-to-face in their homes at the end of 2011. A hierarchical regression analysis, that induced several relevant predictor variables, revealed a strong main effect of age and a significant Gender X Age interaction. Participation in political activities increased with age for both genders, but a clear gender gap of lower political participation among women emerged prominently in late middle adulthood (among respondents over 57 years of age). The levels of overall political participation among younger and middle-aged Poles were similarly low for both genders. In general, the youngest respondents, those entering their political lives during the post-communist transformation, were less politically active than middle aged and older age citizens.