Political Behavior in Metropolitan Areas in the Czech Republic between 1990 and 2002 - Patterns, Trends, and the Relation to Suburbanization and its Socio-Spatial Patterns

The presented study deals with the political consequences of the suburbanization process in the four largest metropolitan areas in the Czech Republic after 1989. The aggregate socio-economic data on the level of municipalities are used first for the creation of typology of suburban communes. Then the electoral turnout in suburban municipalities is studied in relations to their socio-economic, cultural and geographical features. Finally, the effects of the suburban development for the voting behavior are analyzed. The analyses show that not all features of political behavior of suburban population in the Czech Republic do follow trends observable in the West, but most of relations between socio-economic development and political behavior in suburbs are similar.