Proposing Anti-LGBTQIAP Resolutions at the Municipal Level in Poland: Meeting the Social Demand or Making Use of the Available Resources?

Abstract

During the eight months preceding the 2019 parliamentary election in Poland, resolutions aimed against the LGBTQIAP minority were adopted by over 60 out of 2,477 municipalities. They were proposed by a local right-wing organization called Ordo Iuris. Based on the prerequisites from the political opportunity structure approach, I test two sets of explanations as to why certain municipalities were targeted by the organization, while others were not. One set of hypotheses is associated with social demand; municipalities chosen by Ordo Iuris are expected to be more religious and supportive of the political right. The other approach assumes that the activity of the organization was determined by the resources available in the community, such as high percentage of members of the local council representing the right-wing Law and Justice party, electoral turnout, membership in religious organizations, and population density. The empirical analysis confirms the significance of resources and disproves the argument associated with social demand. The study has implications for understanding how the social movements of the radical right gain political influence in Eastern European countries. It shows that they do not serve a particular demand from the society for the worldview they represent, but they rather rely on the aid from political elites and the resources provided by them and the community to promote their agenda where they can.