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International Journal of Public Opinion Research Advance Access published online on May 7, 2008
International Journal of Public Opinion Research, doi:10.1093/ijpor/edn016
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The World Association for Public Opinion Research. All rights reserved.

The Struggle for the Freedom to Publish Pre-Election Poll Results: The Case of Poland

Antoni Sulek

Address correspondence to Professor Antoni Sulek, Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw, 00-927 Warsaw, Poland, suleka{at}is.uw.edu.pl

Poland abolished, in 2001, its severe legal restrictions on the publication of pre-election polls that had been existing since 1991. This article presents the history of these restrictions—why they were introduced and then abolished, how they functioned throughout the years, causing disputes, and finally what led to their abolition. The role of sociologists and pollsters in the struggle for the freedom to publish poll results is underlined. A description of the case of Poland reveals the general problems that are related to the introduction of restrictions on publishing opinion poll results in democratic societies and highlights arguments that have led to the abolition of these restrictions. This article may be useful for opinion researchers in various countries where such restrictions still exist or where they are being introduced or exacerbated.

It is a revised version of a paper presented at the 7th Conference of the European Sociological Association, September 9–12, 2005, Torun, Poland, and at the seminar ‘Survey Democracy in Poland’, organized by The Polish Sociological Association and the Lodz University, Lodz, December 6, 2005. The insightful comments of Mr. Slawomir Nowotny and the two anonymous reviewers of IJPOR are greatly appreciated.

Received for publication December 13, 2006. Revision received August 9, 2007.
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