41/2021
2021-12-21
Looking Back on Martial Law
Just under half of adult Poles (47%) remember the exact date martial law was brought in, 13 December 1981, while almost a fifth (19%) are completely unfamiliar with this date. More than half of respondents over the age of 44 remember the date, while only about a quarter of those aged up to 34 do so.
The more time that passes since the introduction of martial law, the more critically is this move evaluated. In the 2000s most Polish people were of the opinion that it was the right decision and only a quarter thought it was an unjustifiable mistake. The following decade saw a levelling out of opinions, though there was still a preponderance of those who thought that, in the geopolitical circumstances of the time, bringing in martial law was unavoidable. At the beginning of the 2020s, forty years after the event, opinions have reversed, with a somewhat larger percentage of people feeling that bringing in martial law was unjustified and mistaken (37%) than those who think it was right at the time (33%).
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More on this subject in the CBOS report.
This ‘Current Events and Problems’ survey (379) 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.
– 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 4 – 14 November 2021 inclusive on a sample of 1100 people (56.1% using the CAPI method, 29.8% CATI and 14.1% 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.
