The Electoral Geographies of a Polarizing City: Moscow, 1993-1996

Abstract

A Russian-American team of political geographers analyzes voting patterns in Moscow's rayons from the 1993 and 1995 Russian State Duma and 1996 presidential elections. More specifically, it investigates: (1) the extent to which spatial polarization manifest in economic and housing trends in the city is reflected in the development of political cleavages and voting behavior; and (2) whether contextual influences, in addition to these socioeconomic effects, are apparent in areas undergoing such polarization. Voting patterns in an inner-Moscow neighborhood undergoing gentrification and new commercial construction are examined in an attempt to uncover additional insights into how these processes unfold at a finer spatial scale. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: H10, O10, RIO. 5 figures, 8 tables, 58 references.