Does Health Matter Equally across Aging Democracies? Evindence from Poland

Annex for the paper: Does Health Matter Equally across Aging Democracies? Evindence from Poland Research on political participation has consistently shown that health influences electoral turnout among older adults, yet existing evidence comes predominantly from Western democracies. Whether these mechanisms operate similarly in rapidly aging Central and Eastern European societies remains underexplored. Using Poland as a theoretically informative case, this study examines the relationship between health and electoral participation among older citizens. Drawing on original survey data from a nationally representative sample of Polish adults aged 60/65 and older, we estimate logistic regression models predicting turnout in the 2023 parliamentary election. Better self-rated health significantly increases the likelihood of voting, whereas perceived improvements in health are associated with higher turnout only among respondents already reporting relatively good health. These findings support the view that health functions as a dimension of political capacity rather than merely a mobility-related resource. They also suggest that mechanisms linking health and electoral participation extend beyond the contexts in which they have been most frequently examined, contributing to broader theories of democratic participation in aging societies.