Territorial and Electorate Size Influence: Participation/Competitiveness in Costa Rica’s 2016 Local Scale Elections

Abstract

In recent years, political geography has begun to revisit traditional geographical theories using quantitative methodologies. Size, location, density, position, and other important geographic characteristics have reemerged as central data points in the analysis of political phenomena. In this article, we analyze possible relationships between size (territorial and electoral) and electoral outcomes (competitiveness and participation) in Costa Rica’s 2016 local (canton) elections. In this effort, we seek to revisit a tradition abandoned by some currents of geography, often erroneously associated with geographic determinism and widely criticized by geography researchers since the 1960s. Costa Rica was chosen for the study because it is considered one of the most successful democratic systems in Latin America, and it is now facing important issues about its new decentralization process. Linear Ordinary Least Squares (ols) regressions were used to analyze the 2016 elections in 82 Costa Rican cantones. This article reveals that there are important causal relationships between territorial size and electoral participation/competitiveness in Costa Rica. Conclusion Geographical analyses are crucial to understand voter turnout and competitiveness. Our conclusion could help Costa Ricans create new strategies to further develop their democracy and its decentralization process.\xa0