Electoral volatility is understood as a change in support by voters from one party to another in subsequent elections. It is usually pointed out that electoral volatility leads to many negative phenomena that reduce the quality of democracy (Bielasiak 2002, Innes 2002, Powell and Tucker 2013). On the other hand, some researchers draw attention to the positive aspects of electoral volatility (Bartolini Mair 1992). The problem of electoral volatility is particularly important in the case of democracies in the first years after the transitions from authoritarian regimes, e.g., in the post-communist countries in 1990s and the 2000s. High levels of electoral volatility were recorded there. Electoral volatility is usually measured by comparing the percentage of support for particular political parties in subsequent elections. This approach is associated with several problems. One of them is to ignore the phenomenon of electoral absence. Another problem is not paying attention that electoral volatility is partly caused by changes in the party system (Powell Tucker 2013).

In this paper, I will present analyses of electoral volatility in Poland obtained using the POLPAN panel data. These analyses are free from the problems mentioned above. Moreover, the proposed analytical approach is closer to the theoretical concept of electoral volatility than traditional approaches. Analyses shed new light on the phenomenon of electoral volatility in Poland and provide insights for studying volatility in other political contexts.