Urban And Rural Effects On Party Preference In Russia: New Evidence From The Recent Duma Election

Using rayon-level data from Russia's 1999 Duma election, two geographers investigate the extent to which regional variations in voters' preferences for political parties are influenced by their location along the rural-urban continuum. National party-list electoral data from almost 300 rayons drawn from nine representative oblasts are investigated for their associations with rural-urban categories ranging from cities (100 percent urban) through 75+ percent rural rayons. The category of cities also is disaggregated into various size classes that are scrutinized in terms of the party preferences evinced by voters. A concluding section identifies anomalies and outlines directions for future research.