Policy Dialogue and Memo: All Politics is local

23/09/2024

Although more than 70 % of the population live in the regions and therefore vote outside of Tbilisi, politics in Georgia has traditionally focussed strongly on the capital. The policy memo „All Politics is Local“ by Nino Samkharadze (Georgian Institute for Politics) uses demographic data and expert interviews to examine the most important characteristics of the political behaviour of voters and parties in the regions. Three key political strategies for effective regional engagement are outlined and analysed through the ‘how, who and what’ framework: First, strengthen face-to-face communication with the electorate, especially through public meetings in the regions. Second, regional campaigns should also involve local politicians. Third, politicians should pay attention to a balance between geopolitical and local issues.

Two themes are relevant: Firstly, the Georgian political elite (government and opposition) is communicating the upcoming elections as a referendum on democracy and the European future. However, it often remains unclear what voters actually understand by the slogans on the European future. Secondly, it is important to which extent voters feel addressed by the election campaigns of the political parties: political parties do not have an adequate regional agenda and do not focus enough on the regions in the election campaign. While the general development of the country is important for the regional population, specific and locally relevant issues in the context of global and national challenges should play a greater role.

We discussed these and other issues revolving around the upcoming Georgian parliamentary elections during the first GEO4EU policy dialogue. The event kicked off a series of policy dialogues at the local level, and took place on 11 September in Kutaisi. The event was attended by representatives of local civil society.

Following the successful launch, the series of dialogues will continue on 3 October with an event in Tbilisi to discuss the conclusions with the political actors standing for election.