How Equal is the Electoral Representation in Municipalities? A Study of Disproportionality in Polish Local Councils

The disproportionality is one of the main problems of political representation. Nonetheless, the empirical research on disproportionality is focused on parliaments, studies of local councils occur only as an exception. In our paper we demonstrate how disproportionality can be studied at the local level. We relate the quantitative research on disproportionality to the problems of electoral representation at the local level. Following van Puyenbroeck (2008), we distinguish the postulates of “equal votes” and “equally treated parties”. Using the results of recent Polish local elections, we demonstrate how the disproportionality varies between the municipalities of different size and type, how it is affected by the electoral districting, seat-assignment method and local differences in turnout. Moreover, as a preparation for the empirical study of the electoral reform, effective in 2014 (November) elections, we formulate several hypotheses on how the introduction of single-member districts would affect political representation at the local level.