Electoral behavior of citizens in regional elections in Spain (2020–2022): new trends

Abstract

The relevance of the topic is manifested in the need to find out the changes in the factors and parameters of electoral behavior in the regional communities of Spain in the context of a pandemic. The study is conducted on the materials of the Basque Country, Galicia, Madrid, Catalonia, Castile and Leon. The theoretical basis of the article is a socio-cultural approach to electoral behavior. The results of questionnaires and voting, election programs and statements of political parties’ representatives, statistical data are analyzed. Serious changes in party orientations and the identity of the electorate are shown in the context of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis. There is an increase in the influence of online technologies in the course of election campaigns. Short-term factors of changes in the support of parties in elections are revealed. The scientific significance of the work lies in the identification of spatial factors of uneven support for parties in the compared autonomous communities. The consequences of the defeat of “Unidas Podemos” in the elections in Madrid are determined. The author comes to conclusions about the transformation of party systems and the growth of the influence of right-wing populism in the studied autonomous communities.