Protest Surveys: March of Independence (Marsz Niepodległości)

Since 2003, researchers associated with the Institute for the Study of Protest and Social Movements (Institut für Protest- und Bewegungsforschung, ipb, http://protestinstitut.eu) have conducted surveys at demonstrations. This study is part of this ongoing series. In Poland, surveys were first carried out in 2018 during a research fellowship funded by the DAAD and later, between 2018 and 2021, within the project ‘Civil Society Unrest in Poland: A Comparative Analysis of Contemporary Protest’ (funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, grant no. FKZ 01UL1816X). The aim of this survey is to gain insights into the composition and attitudes of participants at the nationalist march held annually in Warsaw on Poland’s Independence Day. The focus is particularly on socio-demographic characteristics, political attitudes, and evaluations of immigration, EU membership, and issues of national identity of the respondents encountered at the demonstration. The demonstration took place on 11/11/2019 in Warsaw. According to the organizers, 150,000 people participated. Warsaw city of authorities estimated attendance at 47,000. The questionnaire consisted of 50 questions comprising a total of 171 items in Polish. In order to allow for comparison with other protest surveys, the questionnaire relied on questions used in earlier questionnaires of the ipb. The questionnaire consists of the following groups of questions: • Motivation: open question about the motivation to take part in the demonstration • Protest mobilization: knowledge about the demonstration, mobilization network • Political activity: Membership in civil society organizations, past protest activity, forms of action • Political attitudes: evaluation of democracy, trust in institutions, self-placement on the political spectrum, party affiliation, voting tendency • Evaluations of immigration, EU membership, and issues of national identity • Sociodemographic questions: gender, year of birth, education, occupation