Partycypacja polityczna kobiet wiejskich
The political participation of rural women

Summary/Abstract: The subject of the article is the political participation of rural women involved in the work of local action groups operating in Małopolska voivodeship. The article presents the results of sociological research carried out in 2012 of a sample of 80 female members of local action groups and involves a direct survey conducted under the project “The Structure and Determinants of Local Action Groups’ Social Capital” (grant NCN no. 6996/B/H03/2011/40). The following elements were analysed: the level of interest of female members of local action groups in politics, participation in preparing election campaigns or in work for a candidate, a party or an election committee, their election behaviour (participation in self-government election, or considering standing for the election, including the position of a rural commune head), the will to make changes in the way of local authorities functioning, potential impact on the decisions taken by these authorities and submitting various proposals, requests or demands to them. The analyses served to create an index of local political participation. The results showed that only 5 of all the respondents (i.e. 1/16 of the total) displayed a high level of political participation, 45 (almost half of them) a medium level, and 26 (a bit more than 1/4) a low level. These results were compared to the results of the research on the levels of political participation of women from local action groups operating within Wielkopolskie and Podkarpackie voivodeships (with the execution of the same project, using the same methodology). Respondents from these regions had the higher level of political participation and a better chance of inclusion in the process of governance at the local level.

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