Spatial Change in Bulgaria’s Political Elite, 1878–2014

The question of who should, and who actually does, govern has long been at the centre of empirical and theoretical analyses. This article focuses on the evolution of regional inequality in Bulgaria in terms of political representation. A specially created gis data set facilitated the assessment of changes in the composition of different Bulgarian governments during a long period of political transformation. The database incorporates information about the positions occupied, the time spent in government, the political affiliations, and the places of birth of more than 600 individuals who held cabinet positions in more than 1500 ministerial tenures. Combining different layers of information within the gis allowed the authors to map the evolution of the Bulgarian political elite, to identify historical centres of political influence, and to visualize the transition of power from the provinces of the interior to the capital, Sofia.