“Electoral connection”, electoral geography and legislative production: a case study

Abstract

This article provides some reflections on the electoral geography of the 2006 election for state representatives in Minas Gerais, considering the representation profile of the municipalities in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte. The hypothesis considered here is that metropolitan regions are under-represented in the Legislative, given their high degree of electoral competition, compared to the rest of the municipalities. Thus, the candidates’ electoral strategies would favor action in non-metropolitan municipalities, which offer greater chances of maximization of votes. Georeferenced information is used at the level of polling places. After the voting patterns were identified, they were related to the characteristics of the representatives’ career trajectory and legislative production, in order to test some hypotheses, especially electoral connection.

sub-national politics; representative democracy; metropolitan management; electoral geography; electoral connection