An Ecological Study of the Socialist Vote in Rural and Urban Areas in Andalusia, 1999-2011

This article aims to strengthen electoral studies in Spain by expanding their thematic and methodological scope. It offers an ecological study of the vote. Specifically, it explores, from an aggregate approach, the relationship between urbanization, electoral participation and support for the Socialist Party from 1999 to 2012 in the region of Andalusia. Our empirical analysis uses two approaches: the first provides a geography of the vote, which is more descriptive than explanatory, and it shows that both turnout and voting for the Socialist Party are negatively correlated with urbanization in Andalusia; the second, through spatial regression analyses, examines socio-structural factors and shows that the socialist vote, particularly in national and regional elections, is correlated with the economic instability and precariousness of municipalities - primarily levels of unemployment and the proportion of the population receiving agricultural subsidie