Urban-Rural Differences in Voting Behaviour in Czechia and Slovakia

Within the period after 1989, we compare two societies with majority of the population residing in cities, which however applies more significantly to Czechia. Analyses of aggregated data from parliamentary elections confirm larger urban-rural cleavage than analyses based on survey research. Although both societies have a very similar profile of voter turnout regarding municipalities' population size, the difference in political preferences between countryside and cities is less prominent in Czechia than in Slovakia. Alternation of "urban" and "rural" coalition governments, which was occurring in Slovakia, was not observed in Czechia. Urban-rural political cleavage is significantly weaker in Czechia.