Czynniki warunkujące liczbę kandydatek w wyborach bezpośrednich organów wykonawczych gmin w Polsce po 2002 roku

Abstract

This article presents the determinants of a certain number of women running for municipal executive positions in direct elections from 2006 to 2018 in 2421 municipalities in Poland. The results reveal a persistent pattern of determinants of female candidates’ recruitment. The increased interest of women in these positions is influenced, among other things, by the candidacy of women in previous elections both for municipal councils and, above all, for executive positions. Fewer female candidates are found in municipalities with stronger political incumbents. The levelling of the discovered pattern is disrupted when municipalities are in debt. High debt initially deters women from running and then attracts them. This means that female candidates appear in indebted municipalities in which men are less interested, behave as representatives of minority groups and do not compete in numbers unlike men.