Polish legislative election, 1961
Encyclopedia
The Polish legislative election of 1961 was the third election
to the Sejm
, the parliament
of the People's Republic of Poland
, and fourth in Communist Poland. They took place on 15 April.
, but compared to the situation five years ago the Polish society was much more apathetic and disappointed with the government. The elections, as all the others under the communist regimes in Poland, were not free and the results of the 1961 elections are considered to be falsified, again a common occurrence of that time.
The electoral system was very similar to that in East Germany where ostensibly multiple parties were present but their involvement was tempered by mandatory membership of a "unity list" which was ever loyal to the communist hegemony. In practice, electors only had the choice to approve or disapprove the lists rather than genuinely get to pick their preferred candidate. There were independents, however, they would only get elected only if the majority of voters in a multi-member electorate voted against the official list. Additionally, those who were allowed to register and run as independents had to go through an approval process, which invariably rejected any who were too oppositional. (This last is likewise a feature of present-day Iranian electoral manipulation.) Although there wasn't blatant falsifications like ballot stuffing
, or overt intimidation of voters who turned out, historiographers of Polish history invariably consider these elections to have been fraudulent - due to the above peculiarities.
!colspan=2|Party
!Ideology
!Seats
!%
|-
|bgcolor=yellow|
|style="text-align:left"|Polish United Workers' Party
|style="text-align:left"|Communism
|256
|55.6%
|-
|bgcolor=red|
|style="text-align:left"|United People's Party
|style="text-align:left"|Agrarianism
|117
|25.4%
|-
|bgcolor=orange|
|style="text-align:left"|Independents
|style="text-align:left"|–
|48
|10.4%
|-
|bgcolor=green|
|style="text-align:left"|Democratic Party
|style="text-align:left"|Centrism
|39
|8.5%
|-
|colspan="3" | Total
|460
|-
|}
The official results were: attendance, 95%. Communist parties' list prepared by Front Jedności Narodowej received 89.5% votes. 460 members were elected, 256 from PZPR, 118 from ZSL
, 39 from SD
, 48 independents (majority, "Social independents" and several, "Catholic independents" from the Znak association). However, as the other parties and "independents" were in fact subordinate to PZPR, its control of the Sejm was, in fact, total.
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
to the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
, the parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
of the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
, and fourth in Communist Poland. They took place on 15 April.
Background
They followed the liberalized rules prepared for the Polish legislative election, 1957Polish legislative election, 1957
The Polish legislative election of 1957 was the second election to the Sejm, the parliament of the People's Republic of Poland, and the third in Communist Poland). It took place on 20 January, during the liberalization period following Władysław Gomułka's ascension to power. Although freer than...
, but compared to the situation five years ago the Polish society was much more apathetic and disappointed with the government. The elections, as all the others under the communist regimes in Poland, were not free and the results of the 1961 elections are considered to be falsified, again a common occurrence of that time.
The electoral system was very similar to that in East Germany where ostensibly multiple parties were present but their involvement was tempered by mandatory membership of a "unity list" which was ever loyal to the communist hegemony. In practice, electors only had the choice to approve or disapprove the lists rather than genuinely get to pick their preferred candidate. There were independents, however, they would only get elected only if the majority of voters in a multi-member electorate voted against the official list. Additionally, those who were allowed to register and run as independents had to go through an approval process, which invariably rejected any who were too oppositional. (This last is likewise a feature of present-day Iranian electoral manipulation.) Although there wasn't blatant falsifications like ballot stuffing
Ballot stuffing
Ballot stuffing is the illegal act of one person submitting multiple ballots during a vote in which only one ballot per person is permitted. The name originates from the earliest days of this practice in which people literally did stuff more than one ballot in a ballot box at the same time...
, or overt intimidation of voters who turned out, historiographers of Polish history invariably consider these elections to have been fraudulent - due to the above peculiarities.
Results
|-!colspan=2|Party
!Ideology
!Seats
!%
|-
|bgcolor=yellow|
|style="text-align:left"|Polish United Workers' Party
Polish United Workers' Party
The Polish United Workers' Party was the Communist party which governed the People's Republic of Poland from 1948 to 1989. Ideologically it was based on the theories of Marxism-Leninism.- The Party's Program and Goals :...
|style="text-align:left"|Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
|256
|55.6%
|-
|bgcolor=red|
|style="text-align:left"|United People's Party
United People's Party (Poland)
The United People's Party was an agrarian political party in the People's Republic of Poland. It was formed on 27 November 1949 from the merger of the communist Stronnictwo Ludowe party with remnants of the independent People's Party of Stanisław Mikołajczyk .ZSL became - as intended from its very...
|style="text-align:left"|Agrarianism
Agrarianism
Agrarianism has two common meanings. The first meaning refers to a social philosophy or political philosophy which values rural society as superior to urban society, the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker, and sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values...
|117
|25.4%
|-
|bgcolor=orange|
|style="text-align:left"|Independents
|style="text-align:left"|–
|48
|10.4%
|-
|bgcolor=green|
|style="text-align:left"|Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Poland)
The Democratic Party is a Polish centrist party. The party faced a revival in 2009, when it was joined by liberal politician Paweł Piskorski, formerly member of Civic Platform.-History:The party was established on April 15, 1939...
|style="text-align:left"|Centrism
Centrism
In politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...
|39
|8.5%
|-
|colspan="3" | Total
|460
|-
|}
The official results were: attendance, 95%. Communist parties' list prepared by Front Jedności Narodowej received 89.5% votes. 460 members were elected, 256 from PZPR, 118 from ZSL
United People's Party (Poland)
The United People's Party was an agrarian political party in the People's Republic of Poland. It was formed on 27 November 1949 from the merger of the communist Stronnictwo Ludowe party with remnants of the independent People's Party of Stanisław Mikołajczyk .ZSL became - as intended from its very...
, 39 from SD
Democratic Party (Poland)
The Democratic Party is a Polish centrist party. The party faced a revival in 2009, when it was joined by liberal politician Paweł Piskorski, formerly member of Civic Platform.-History:The party was established on April 15, 1939...
, 48 independents (majority, "Social independents" and several, "Catholic independents" from the Znak association). However, as the other parties and "independents" were in fact subordinate to PZPR, its control of the Sejm was, in fact, total.
Further reading
- Jerzy Drygalski, Jacek Kwasniewski, No-Choice Elections, Soviet Studies, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Apr., 1990), pp. 295-315, JSTOR
- George Sakwa, Martin Crouch, Sejm Elections in Communist Poland: An Overview and a Reappraisal, British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Oct., 1978), pp. 403-424, JSTOR
See also
- Polish legislative election, 1947Polish legislative election, 1947The Polish legislative election of 1947 was held on January 19, 1947 in the People's Republic of Poland. The anti-communist opposition candidates and activists were persecuted and the eventual results were falsified...
- first elections under communist regime in Poland - Polish legislative election, 1989Polish legislative election, 1989The Polish legislative election of 1989 was the tenth election to the Sejm, the parliament of the People's Republic of Poland, and eleventh in Communist Poland...
- last elections under communist regime in Poland