Urban–rural political divide

In political science, the urban–rural political divide is a phenomenon in which predominantly urban areas and predominantly rural areas within a country have sharply diverging political views.[1] It is a form of political polarization. Typically, urban areas exhibit more liberal, left-wing, cosmopolitan and/or multiculturalist political attitudes, while rural areas exhibit more conservative, right-wing, right-wing populist and/or nationalist political attitudes.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

An urban–rural political divide has been observed worldwide in many nations including the United States,[2][3][4][5] the United Kingdom,[6][7] France,[8] Hungary,[4][10] Poland,[4][10] Belgium,[8] Italy,[8] the Netherlands,[9] Turkey,[4][10] Thailand,[4] and Malaysia.[4] Political divisions between urban and rural areas have been noted by political scientists and journalists to have intensified in the 21st century, and in particular since the Great Recession.[8] In Europe, the increasing urban-rural polarization has coincided with the decline of center-left parties and concomitant rise of far-left and far-right parties, a trend known as Pasokification.