Political Divisions and Socio-Economic Disparities in Poland: A Geographical Approach

This article attempts to identify the relationship between the persistent polarisation of political opinions and diverse levels of social and economic development. The coexistence of these phenomena may indicate a barrier to inclusive economic development, which connects with the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development. A research aim was to test two hypotheses: Hypothesis 1 (H1)—The increase in the spatial disparity of political support in Poland is persistent; and Hypothesis 2 (H2)—The spatial distribution of support for specific political options shows significant correlations with the distribution of social and economic growth. The study involves the following research methods implementation: desk research, intensity indicators and regression analysis. The results confirmed the persistence of spatial divisions in political support, whose distribution reflects to a large extent the diverse levels of social and economic development that exist. Two axes dividing Poland are identified, one between west and east and the other between urban and rural areas. The article connects with the international debate regarding “places that don’t matter” and the reasons behind the growing popularity of populist ideas in society.