A majority of the Polish electorate has become somewhat politically apathetic, neither identifying with the government nor the opposition, new polling shows.
Currently, 53 percent of Poles do not identify with the mainstream political parties, a 9-percentage point increase compared to 2017, according to a survey conducted the Center for Public Opinion Research (CBOS).
Support for the government is most strongly associated with the intensity of religious practices. The more often someone takes part in them, the higher their support for ruling Law and Justice (PiS). The lower the participation is, the higher the support for the opposition.
Compared to 2017, declarations of support for the government have dropped by 6-percentage points, to 26 percent, while support for the opposition has remained at 20 percent.
Support for the government is more or less prevalent among respondents older than the age of 45. The opposition, meanwhile, has more support among younger voters (aged 18-34). Among the eldest voters, 50 percent of them support the government while only 24 percent favor the opposition.
Age influences support for the ruling camp at a linear rate — the older the respondents, the more often they supported the government.
Only 14 percent of people aged 25-34 supported the opposition and a shocking 74 percent did not support either political option. This is the highest such index among all the age groups.
The CBOS survey highlighted that older voters are the ones who are the most engaged with political conflicts. “This is confirmed by the fact that the index of people located outside of the bipolar political system is smallest among the group aged 65 and above,” the Warsaw-based polling institute noted.
Such a dependency is not recorded in the case of opposition supporters, where the highest support is present among those aged 18-24, as well as people aged 45-54 (22 percent) and 55-64 (21 percent).
Only 14 percent of people aged 25-34 supported the opposition and a shocking 74 percent did not support either political option. This is the highest such index among all the age groups.
High resilience to the current political division was also noticed in the 18-24 and 35-44 age brackets with 68 percent of them choosing not to express support for either the government or the opposition.
The survey was carried out as part of the mixed-mode procedure on a representative group of adult Polish citizens chosen randomly through their personal identity numbers.
