Conferences

The article will examine the effects of socio-economic variables on the parties’ results in local Romanian elections in 2008. Econometric model of voting was simply filled with socio-economic variables. Moreover, studies (Kramer, 1971) on the link between electoral success and economic conditions (especially macroeconomic) or between their policies and election results up to the penalty / reward voting mode (Key, 1966; Hibbs, 2006) were based on the causal links between the electoral conduct and socio-economic status around elections. We follow that through multivariate analysis to determine whether mayors who belonged to a particular party or that party (if it has changed election candidate) have managed to win elections, or instead were penalized by the electorate. Among political variables may include: the share of votes obtained by the mayors (differentiate here those who were re-elected, those belonging to the same party and those who were not re-elected), the number of seats that re-elected and not elected mayors had, the parties that the mayors who have won the election are part of, etc. Among the socio-economic variables are mentioned: the unemployment rate, the rate of migration, the natural increase rate etc.

The results show that in Romania the election is partisan, somewhat atypical against consolidate democracies and the socio-economic component plays an important role in some cases but not determining in others.