19/2026
2026-07-17
Are Referenda Good for Local Democracy?
Most of the people CBOS asked were sure that referenda were a good thing for local democracy, both in urban and rural areas. However, there was much greater approval for referenda that elicited residents’ opinions on issues affecting their community (82%), than those whose aim was to overthrow local governments before their term was up (62%).
Only 8% of respondents were against local referenda which sought residents’ opinions on matters of importance to their community, while virtually one in four (24%) were against using them as a means of removing elected officials from their positions midterm.
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More on this subject in the CBOS report.
This ‘Current Events and Problems’ survey (434) was conducted using a mixed-mode procedure on a representative sample of named adult residents of Poland, randomly selected from the National Identity Number (PESEL) register. Respondents independently selected one of the following methods: Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI); Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI), respondents receiving researchers’ telephone numbers in an introductory letter from CBOS; Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI), where respondents filled in the online questionnaire independently, gaining access by means of a login and password provided in an introductory letter from CBOS. In all three cases the questionnaire had the same structure and comprised the same questions. The survey was carried out between 11 – 21 June 2026 inclusive on a sample of 991 people (66.4% using the CAPI method, 16.3% CATI and 17.3% CAWI). CBOS has been conducting statutory research using the above procedure since May 2020, stating in each case the percentage of personal, telephone and internet interviews.
