Regional and social cleavages in the Slovak elections after the change of the regime

Year, pages: 2016, 195 - 212

The article gives an overview on the regional features of voting behaviour in post-socialist Slovakia. The aim of this study is to identify the main cleavages in the Slovak society through the analysis of the spatially solid voter base of the parties. It presents how enduring and strong are the traditional cleavages and those connected to the change of regime. Post-socialist Slovakia’s elections show that some of the regional and social cleavages (re)emerged immediately after the change of regime and have remained stable in the last twenty years. Due to the characteristics of the electoral system the election results clearly reflect the spatial embeddedness of the parties. A significant change of the party structure of Slovakia has undergone since 1992. It still does not fit the Western European patterns. The classic cleavages have proved to be durable in this period. The party preferences indicate that the division and stratification of the Slovak society are still determined by the classic cultural (ethnic and religious) and centre-periphery (urban-rural and West-East) cleavages. Along these cleavages five or six main, geographically identified, seemingly solid political blocks can be defined.

Szabó, B., Tátrai, P. 2016. Regional and social cleavages in the Slovak elections after the change of the regime. In Geografický časopis, vol. 68, no.3, pp. 195-212. 0016-7193.

Szabó, B., Tátrai, P. (2016). Regional and social cleavages in the Slovak elections after the change of the regime. Geografický časopis, 68(3), 195-212. 0016-7193.