NATIONALIST POPULISM AND POST-COMMUNISM

4.1.2. Electoral success of the political parties exploiting nationalist populist language The distribution of votes in the elections 89 showed that the parties using nationalist populist slogans in their programmes were quite successful in the electoral competition. From ten most successful parties, only four did not use any nationalist populist slogans in their manifestos. Four out of the five parties with the highest percentage of votes used nationalist populist slogans more or less frequently in their party programmes. Moreover, at least three out of the top ten – WAK, PSL and POC – used nationalist populist appeals as the instrument for their communication with the voters. Since the POC, as well as the most significant part of the WAK – Zjednoczenie Chrześćijańsko Narodowe (ZChN) – became coalition partners of the People’s Alliance and jointly created the government led by Jan Olszewski, it could be argued that nationalist populist rhetoric played an important role in the official presentation materials of a significant majority of the analysed political parties. Although the semantics of the slogans of the political parties participating in the election differed, several common points might be identified. The category “positive self-presentation” includes statements in which the political parties stressed the importance of national and Christian values and the national interest. Some of them even expressed the fear from losing these values in the process of European integration. The PSL declared that the number one goal is to “defend the Polish national interests” and that “integration with Western Europe should not go along with the loss of Polish national and cultural values”. 90 The POC, on the other hand, emphasised that the Poles are the ones who “made history go faster” and the state should “serve the whole nation” and “respect the Christian traditions of the Poles”. 91 Accordingly, the WAK declared that “Christian and national values are fundamental for the state” and the state should be organised in order to “fulfill 89 See Figure 1 for further details. 90 Sources: Polskie stronnictwo Ludowe: Dokumenty programove na Nadzwyczajny Kongres, Warszawa, June 1991, PSL wobec najważniejzych problemów kraju, election leaflet, see also Inka Słodkowska (ed.) Wybory 1991. Programy partii i ugrupowań politycznych. (Warszawa: Instytut studiów politycznych PAN, 2001), pp. 93–100. 91 Sources: Porozumienie Obywatelskie Centrum, ulotka wyborcza, “Informator Parlamentarny Obywatelskiego Klubu Parlamentarnego i Komitetów Obywatelskich NSZZ ‘Solidarność’” nr. 44, September 9, 1991, also Inka Słodkowska (ed.) Wybory 1991. Programy partii i ugrupowań politycznych. (Warszawa: Instytut studiów politycznych PAN, 2001), pp. 146–159.

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