Political Geographies and Cleavages in the Russian Parliamentary Elections

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Abstract
Spatial-structural regression models are fitted for the votes of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and for the combined vote of the Communist Party of Russia and the Agrarian Party in the parliamentary elections of 1993 and 1995. Analysis of the regression-model results indicates that sets of explanatory socioeconomic variables, as well as their relative importance in explanation of the anti-reform vote, vary widely across the country. More specifically, the paper documents an emerging European/Asian dichotomization of Russia's electoral geography, and assesses the increasingly important role of region in the democratization process as the spatial impress of the economic transformation of the country becomes more evident. 3 figures, 2 tables, 64 references. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: H10, J18, O50.