The influence of the position of political parties in the district council on the election of the staroste. Evidences from Poland

Despite the growing number of studies devoted to the intricacies of the functioning of local government units in Poland (communes, districts and provinces), it is difficult to point to a scientific study that focuses on districts and the influence of the position of political parties operating at the level of legislature on the election of the staroste as the chairman of the executive. The paper is intended to fill this urgent research gap. The conducted research based on the use of methods and techniques - mainly comparative analysis and statistical analysis - as well as the nationwide data leads to the conclusion that the position of the staroste party (in the district) is weaker than the position of the president party (in the commune) and the marshal party (in the province). In other words, the leading parties operating in districts have the weakest position among the leading parties in all types of local government units included in the study.