Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/67286 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 7012
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper analyses the interrelationship between the process of suburbanization and a changing political and ethnic landscape in the Vilnius urban region. The region surrounding Vilnius city is dominated by Polish identity residents while those who suburbanise into the region are mainly ethnic Lithuanians. This may lead to potential tension and conflicts in the region which may find its expression in the voting behaviour of residents of the region. Using data from the 1997 and 2011 municipal elections we found that the share of votes for the Polish party in the region decreases over time, while the absolute number of votes for this party increases. At the same time we find increasing voting activity in the suburban ring. The changing electoral behaviour can be regarded as an indicator of a growing ethnic identity. The voting results also identify the zones of the most intense changes in the electoral behavior and thus indicate areas of potential social tensions between two ethnic groups.
Subjects: 
suburbanisation
ethnicity
conflict
voting behaviour
electoral data
Lithuania
JEL: 
D72
J15
R11
R14
R23
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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