Has positional economic voting taken root in Eastern Europe?

In recent years scholars started exploring new dimensions of the economic vote: patrimony (asset ownership) and positional economic voting. Mushrooming literature in this field finds evidence that both of these dimensions make important contributions to the explanation of voters’ choices. This empirical confirmation may carry a strong “advance democracy bias.” Previous scholarly work has only scratched the surface of studying positional economic voting in other countries. We know little about positional economic voting in Eastern Europe (EE). Whether and to what extent this is happening, remains an open question that needs an empirical investigation. While we remain agnostic, at the outset of the study, we formulate a working hypothesis in favor of positional economic voting. By combining data from nine rounds of the European Social Survey (ESS) and five modules of Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES), the study tests these propositions and seeks to identify which factors contribute to positional voting in the region. We found evidence that some positional voting is happening in EE. This occurs significantly more often for individuals who follow politics. Additionally, the rate of unemployment and fragmentation of the party system contribute to more positional voting in EE.