Chapter in monograph
Šimon, Martin

Elections

Šimon, Martin. 2017. „Elections.“ pp. 109-119 in Martin Ouředníček, Jana Jíchová, Lucie Pospíšilová (eds). Historical Population Atlas of the Czech Lands. Prague: Karolinum Press. 136 pp. ISBN 978-80-24-63577-4. Dostupné z: http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/H/bo27427857.html.

This bilingual, English-Czech atlas of Czechoslovakia is one of the first to use statistical data to evaluate spatial aspects of population development over time. Its twelve chapters present various themes relating directly to population from a historical perspective, such as demographic structures and processes, migration, economic structure, cultural structure, social status, crime, and elections. Drawing on census results from 1921 to 2011, including population registers from the postwar years, more than three hundred maps present time series of these basic population statistical indicators from the beginnings of the independent Czechoslovak state up to the present. Uniquely, the atlas shows the development of each indicator over time within a single map sheet through a series of maps with a cohesive legend.

Elections. Electoral behaviour reflects both the historical development of the sate and regional changes in the social structure of the population. For this reason the atlas includes a chapter evaluating the results of parliamentary elections and the significance of the constituent parties in a historical perspective. The first two map sheets give a detailed description of the election results for the National Assembly of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1920, the Lower chamber of the Parliament in 1990 and the most recent elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The following three map sheets show the development of leftist, rightist and religious parties and certain interesting features of electoral geography. Two partial maps are dedicated to the first direct election of the President of the Czech Republic - to regional differences in electoral turnout and the results of the second round of the presidential elections.

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Topics: 
historical sociology
urban and rural studies
transformation
public administration
elections (and polls)