POLCAND_ELEC (Allocation of Seats on Electoral Lists: A Dynamic Analysis of Candidate Positioning in Parliamentary Elections from 1991 to 2023)

The aim of the study was to supplement and expand the data contained in the EAST PaC database (Joshua Kjerulf Dubrow: East European Parliamentarian and Candidate Data (EAST PaC), 1985 - 2015 [dane]. Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences [producent], Warsaw, 2016. PADS21320. Polish Social Data Archive [dystrybutor], Repozytorium Danych Społecznych [wydawca], 2021. https://doi.org/10.18150/LSBNLO, V1).

Currently, an open-access database called EAST PaC (with a data structure similar to panel data, which allows for identifying candidates each time they participate in subsequent elections) contains information on all candidates who have ever run in elections to the Sejm in Poland, from the last elections in the People's Republic of Poland in 1985 to the elections in 2015.

This study allowed for the expansion of previous analyses regarding the ways of forming political representation and the associated quality of political elites. This is essential for conducting a dynamic analysis of candidate positioning on electoral lists, which enables tracing the electoral activity of all candidates in elections from 1991 to 2023. It allows for illustrating the occurrence of events over time by tracking candidates' electoral activities. Many previous empirical studies on the course and consequences of parliamentary elections have significant gaps, as they are limited to analyzing the situation of parliamentarians (often focusing on only selected categories). They lack the history of candidacies in elections, even though voters' final decisions are based on the assessment of previous results of candidates and the political entities they represent.These analyses are significant for explaining the dynamics of the political system and assessing the quality of democracy. They also enable empirical verification of hypotheses concerning the periodization of the institutionalization of the electoral system in Poland from 1991 to 2023.