Persistence and change of voting patterns in the territory of the Czech Republic since the introduction of universal suffrage (causes and consequences)

The research project analyzes causes and political consequences of persistence and change of the voting patterns. It analyses results of all parliamentary elections on the territory of the contemporary Czech Republic since universal suffrage has been established. The hypothesis about the relevance of contextual factors in preserving the relative time-space stability of the voting patterns and the alternative hypothesis about mainly compositional type of explanation of persistence and change of voting patterns are tested by the analysis of electoral results and underlying demographic and socio-economic data. Mechanisms by which the place specific political orientations of voters are sustained or changed over time are analysed by the case studies in selected municipalities and regions that display specfic patterns of electoral behaviour.