Historical and geographic regionalization versus electoral geography

AbstractThe paper aims to accomplish two key goals: 1) The identification of electoral geography as a means of regionalizing geographic space, 2) The identification of the degree of correlation between social, economic, and political aspects of history and the civilizational and cultural factors that shape communities across different regions.The paper utilizes long-term trends observed based on election data such as voter turnout and political preferences (voting for specific political options). Election data were used to identify and regionalize areas with stable and variable electoral preferences as well as to show trends and political shifts in the electorate.The research was focused on countries where clear and permanent regional voter turnout patterns and political preferences can be observed, including Poland, Romania, Spain, Great Britain, and the Ukraine.Other important social factors such as ethnicity, religion, native tongue, and professional background are also considered in the paper, which aims to show the degree of correlation between the aforementioned issues and electoral preferences. In effect, the paper looks at a wide array of factors that shape permanent differences in the electoral landscape in a number of countries. The role of traditional social and demographic factors and their impact on electoral preferences are analyzed, as are key civilizational and cultural differences. The differences considered herein are ones that have evolved over the long term, including ones that have evolved within ethnically, linguistically, and religiously homogeneous societie