ABSTRACT

Although voting is an individual act, it is strongly influenced by the context in which the voter makes his or her choice. Whatever their individual characteristics – whether they are young or old, university graduate or not, employed or unemployed – voters behave differently depending on their place of residence. The demographic structure, social composition, economic conditions, spatial configuration, etc., characterising the electoral environment all influence people’s decisions whether or not to vote or abstain, and their ultimate choice of party and/or candidate. In this sense, electoral behaviour is necessarily territorial.