Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2014, 50(1): 3-28 | DOI: 10.13060/00380288.2014.50.1.30

The Spatial Context of Voter Behaviour: How Do Local and Regional Factors Impact Voter Decisions

Josef Bernard, Tomáš Kostelecký
Sociologický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., Praha

Among the many factors that influence the voting behaviour of individual voters, various spatial characteristics have repeatedly been cited as important factors. The diverse impacts of spatial characteristics are collectively referred to as contextual effects. Contextual effects impact voters in different ways: through differences in the local geographical and socio-economic conditions, the varying influence of local communication interactions, observational influences, differences in local political socialisation and local campaigning, or through the effect of candidate residency. This article presents an overview of the most frequently discussed contextual effects and formulates a general typology of them.

Keywords: contextual effects, electoral behaviour, local context, neighbourhood effect, electoral geography

Published: February 1, 2014Show citation

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Bernard, J., & Kostelecký, T. (2014). The Spatial Context of Voter Behaviour: How Do Local and Regional Factors Impact Voter Decisions. Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review, 50(1), 3-28. doi: 10.13060/00380288.2014.50.1.30.
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