This article analyzes the origins of the concept of issue ownership as a paradigm of explaining electoral campaigns, that dominated the English-language literature on the subject. The presentation encompasses the emergence of the central concept of „issue ownership” and its variants, and an overview of the most important empirical theorems associated with them. The following part of the article presents the use of the logic of the discussed theory in Polish literature on electoral campaigns. While references to the paradigmatic publication of the author of the concept of issue ownership, John Petrocik (1996), are almost absent in Polish-language literature on the subject, the reasoning typical for this paradigm is used by many Polish researchers. The article presents examples of this type of analysis. The postulate of introducing this concept in a systematic manner to the research of political competition in Poland and to the academic teaching is put forward.