Presidentialization of Parliamentary Election. the Case of Polish Election of 2015

ROCZNIKI NAUK SPOŁECZNYCH Tom 8(44), numer 1 – 2016 DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.18290/rns.2016.8(44).1-6 WOJCIECH PESZYN´ SKI PRESIDENTIALIZATION OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION. THE CASE OF POLISH ELECTION OF 2015 1. INTRODUCTION The subject of this article is the growing resemblance of parliamentary and presidential election. This is mostly visible in the fact that the main goal of political parties in the parliamentary campaign is not to obtain the desirable number of seats in the Parliament, but to win the office of the Prime Minister for its leader. The fight for the aforesaid position can be observed not only in the choice of the campaign strategies but in the mass media reports and the voters’ behavior as well. The aim of this article is to examine to what extent the Polish parliamentary election of 2015 adopted features typical of the presidential ones. The author takes into consideration 8 committees that registered their lists in all the 41 voting constituencies1. Due to the fact that only the leading candidates of the Civic Platform (abbreviated to PO) and the Law and Justice (PiS) had a real chance to become the Prime Minister, the study will focus on these two major political parties. The analysis will concentrate on the last four weeks of the campaign and is conducted at six levels: (1) the aim of the election, (2) the nomination of candidates, (3) the main product of the cam- WOJCIECH PESZYN´ SKI PhD − Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University of Torun´; contact: ul. Gagarina 11, 87-100 Torun´; e-mail: [email protected] 1 The results of the 2015 parliamentary election of 2015, http://parlament2015.pkw.gov. pl/349_WynikiP_Sejm [DOA 20.12.2015]. 88 WOJCIECH PESZYN´ SKI paign, (4) the campaign strategy, (5) the reports of the mass media and (6) the figure of the opponent. The approach used in this study is the qualitative discourse analysis. The main, analytical part of the article, is preceded by the conceptualization of the basic theoretical and analytical categories. Here, the main sources are monographes and articles deriving from scientific magazines. The analytical part is based on traditional press (mostly opinion-forming journals), as well as Internet and television information services („Wiadomos´ci” TVP i „Fakty” TVN) from the period of the campaign. 2. ELECTORAL PRESIDENTIALIZATION The conceptualization of the main theoretical category ought to be started with the definition of „presidentialization of politics”. The term obviously comes from the word „president”, deriving from Latin praesidere, that is „sitting before others”2, which is particularly important as regards the under- standing of the process under consideration. This corresponds with the concept of the executive in the classic parliamentary system, especially when juxtaposed to a Polish word premier, deriving from Latin primus inter pares, that is „the first among the equal” or English Prime Minister, „the first of the ministers”. At first, the term „presidentialization” was used only to explain the process of assimilation between parliamentary and presidential regimes3. Ho- wever, its sense has become larger and the term has started to be used in relation to electoral campaigns as well. Therefore, electoral presidentialization (electoral face) refers to the growing importance of political leaders, who most frequently make potential Prime Ministers, which takes place during the campaign4. The studies concerning the phenomena and processes under consideration often mention the category of primeministerialization. This concept is fre- 2 A. LUDWIKOWSKA,R.LUDWIKOWSKI, System wyborów prezydenckich w Stanach Zjedno- czonych na tle porównawczym, „Krakowskie Studia Mie˛dzynarodowe” 2008, No. 3 (V), p. 19. 3 B. MADDENS,S.FIERS, The direct PM election and the institutional presidentialisation of parliamentary systems, „Electoral Studies” 2004, No. 23, p. 770. 4 T. POGUNTKE,P.WEBB, The Presidentialization of Politics in Democratics Societies. A Framework of Analysis, in: The Presidentialization of Politics, eds. T. Poguntke, P. Webb, Oxford−New York: Oxford University Press 2005, pp. 8-11. PRESIDENTIALIZATION OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION 89 quently used by British analysts who question the scientific value of presi- dentialization5. They claim that this specific term introduces „unnecessary systemic connotations”. Marek Mazur prefers to refer to the process in question as „centralized personalization”6. Also Marina Costa Lobo and John Curtice7 opt to use the word „personalization” in this specific context. The functioning of the President of the United States makes the perfect example for the majority of theoretical models of presidentialization. Some researchers regard presidentialization and Americanization as synonyms8. Following this trend, however, could be pretentious not only for linguistic reasons, especially when referred to Spain, Italy or Germany. In the first two countries the government is lead by „the President of the Ministry” and in German the word der Ministerpräsident9 is used. Therefore it is worth asking the question whether it is necessary to use the example of the United States in the studies concerning the phenomenon under consideration. Is it not possible to speak of prime minister, president of the ministry or chancellor instead, as proposed by Keith Dowding?10 Especially the electoral layer (electoral face) provides numerous and strong arguments that support the thesis of presidentialization. Importantly, it is not the presidential system, but presidential election, that makes the reference point here. That heads of states are chosen indirectly is not characteristic of only presidential or semipresi- dential regimes. Such a manner of election exists in a number of countries whose regime can be described as parliamentary, which can be most clearly observed in East-Central Europe11. 5 K. DOWDING, The Prime Ministerialisation of the British Prime Minister, „Parliamentary Affairs” 2013, No. 66, p. 617-635; R. HEFFERNAN, There’s No Need for the -isation'. The Prime Minister is Merely Prime Ministerial, „Parliamentary Affairs” 2013, No. 66, pp. 636-645. 6 M. MAZUR, Polityka z twarza.˛ Personalizacja parlamentarnych kampanii wyborczych w Polsce w latach 1993-2011, Katowice 2014: Wyd. US´ ,p.13. 7 Personality Politics? The Role of Leader Evaluations in Democratic Elections, eds. M. Costa Lobo, J. Curtice, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2015, pp. 2-3. 8 B. DOBEK-OSTROWSKA, Profesjonalizacja kampanii wyborczych we współczesnym s´wiecie i jej konsekwencje, in: Kampania wyborcza: marketingowe aspekty komunikowania politycznego, ed. B. Dobek-Ostrowska, Wrocław 2005: Wyd. UWr., p. 29. 9 A. ANTOSZEWSKI,R.HERBUT, Systemy polityczne współczesnego s´wiata, Gdan´sk 2001: Wyd. Arche, p. 284. 10 K. DOWDING, The Prime Ministerialisation, pp. 617-635. 11 P. Z˙ UKIEWICZ, Przywództwo prezydenckie w pan´stwach Europy S´rodkowej i Wschodniej po 1989 roku. Analiza porównawcza, Torun´: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek 2013, pp. 212-260. 90 WOJCIECH PESZYN´ SKI What is more, the argument proposed by Costa Lobo and Curtice, that the party leaders have limited impact on the voting result12, cannot disprove the whole concept of presidentialization. This theory concerns most of all the competition between party leaders to win the position of the head of government (chancellor or prime minister) during parliamentary election, and its range goes beyond leaders’ impact on the result of the election, which can be illustrated with the strategies used by the parties and the manner in which the mass media speak about the campaign. 3. PRESIDENTIAL STYLE OF THE CAMPAIGN Presidentialization, that is adopting certain features of presidential campaigns by parliamentary ones occurs on the following levels: (1) the aim of the election, (2) the nomination of candidates, (3) the main product of the campaign, (4) the campaign strategy, (5) the reports of the mass media and (6) the figure of the opponent13. The aim of every presidential election is to choose the head of state (occa- sionally the head of government as well). As regards parliamentary elections, what is chosen by the voters are the members of a multiseat body. As regards the former type of election, it is not particularly difficult to appoint the win- ner. However, it may be more problematic in the latter case. The situation may become more complicated when no competitor wins the majority. In such a case the success of a given party depends not only on its strength, but on its relevance as well. It is the candidate who constitutes the core of the political product during the campaign (candidate centered politics). What complements their image is the party etiquette, their direct background (party or committee of honor), a spouse, and in certain cases, including the United States, the candidate for the vice-president. As far as parliamentary campaigns are concerned, the main product is the party, within which there are other important factors, such as program, doctrine and ideology (program layer), as well as the leader and other candidates (personal layer). 12 Personality Politics?, pp. 2-3. 13 M. JEZIN´ SKI, Wybory parlamentarne pomie˛dzy uniwersalizmem a partykularyzmem, in: Wybory parlamentarne 2005. Analiza marketingowa, ed. M. Jezin´ski, Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek 2006, pp. 7-32. PRESIDENTIALIZATION OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION 91 In parliamentary election candidates cannot boast a great level of autono- my, as their position depends on the situation of the party as a whole. In spite of this fact, they need to pay attention to the regional aspect, which despite certain limits makes an important element of the narration. As regards presidential candidates, their strategies must focus on national issues and the regional level is usually neglected. This obviously is visible in the choice of the campaign strategies. The activities taken during presidential campaign depend on whether the candidate is the incumbent (the present president). In this case, their need to make effort to draw public attention to what they achieved for the country (defensive strategy). Their competitors, on the other hand, can feel more freely in their choice of strategies.

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