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Историческая география выборов как формирующееся направление
Historical electoral geography as emerging area of intersection between history, historical geography and electoral geography, this discipline’s problems and prospects, are discussed in the context of explanation logics in electoral geography, in comparison with historical explanation. Historians approach is ”historism” or sensitiveness to qualitative differences between historical periods, while most of students in electoral geography realize elections-in-past as a part of homogenous “continuous present”, mostly in connection with problem of geographic patterns stability and changeability.
Main models of explanation in electoral geography are evaluated as more and less “historical”, depending on their compatibility with historism principle. Explanations are ranged from “nonhistorical” economic, geo-structural and cultural approaches to mainly “historical” concepts of critical elections and electoral epochs, which was elaborated in American electoral studies.
Also, set of stimulant conditions (political, historic, geographic) for studies historical electoral geography is discussed. According to author’s argument, in Russia historic and geographic conditions seem to be favorable for this discipline: (1) obvious gap between “past” (before 1917) and “modern” (after 1989) elections; (2) regional (cultural) boundaries are vague, thus, “nonhistoric” geo-structural and cultural approaches resources are restricted and problematic there.