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European Urban and Regional Studies
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Geographical Patterns of Party Support in the Baltic States, Russia, and Ukraine

Andrey Meleshevich

National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv, Ukraine, ameleshe{at}ukma.kiev.ua

This article analyses spatial patterns of party support in the five post-Soviet transitional countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine. Data on electoral geography is employed to measure the degrees and dynamics of political autonomy and institutionalization of party systems in the former republics of the Soviet Union. A comparison of post-independence electoral cycles reveals a number of important similarities and differences between the regional strength of party support in the Baltic states, Russia, and Ukraine over time. Although all five countries manifest a tendency towards a greater regional homogeneity of the regional support for the major political organizations, the pace of this trend and patterns of party-system nationalization are different in different countries.

Key Words: geographical patterns of party support • political institutionalization • nationalization of party systems • political parties and party systems in Eastern Europe

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European Urban and Regional Studies, Vol. 13, No. 2, 113-129 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0969776406062522
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This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
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