Conferences

Previous research suggests that political attitudes are taking shape in unique trajectories in former state socialist countries compared with previous waves of democratic transitions. However, many of these investigations focus on cross-sectional analyses and are thus unable to disentangle contemporaneous and causal effects among a set of political attitudes. This research utilizes POLPAN, a panel dataset collected every five years since 1988, to address the question of how political attitudes develop in synergistic fashion in Poland. Using a cross-lagged panel design, this research examines the relationship between democratic values and support for the welfare state during a period of rapid social change. In comparing factors driving the formation of these attitudes, cleavage, emerging political context, and generational hypotheses are examined. Results point to some support for each of the aforementioned hypotheses. Implications of this research are discussed.