Political Redistricting and Geographic Theory

Political Redistricting and Geographic Theory
Author: Richard L. Morrill
Publisher:
Total Pages: 92
Release: 1981
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

Intended for geography students, professors, and researchers, this publication deals with the process of political redistricting and shows how geographers can help devise plans that are responsible to office-holders, to voters, to legitimate community interests, and to a sense of territorial integrity. There are eight chapters. Chapter 1 examines the territorial basis of redistricting. Chapter 2, focusing on redistricting in the United States, discusses malapportionment and gerrymandering. The third chapter looks at criteria for redistricting, discussing constitutional, geographic, political-geographic, and political criteria. Electoral reform is the focus of chapter 4. Redistricting methods are examined in chapter 5. Chapters 6 and 7 deal with redistricting in the Mississippi legislature and in the State of Washington, respectively. The concluding chapter emphasizes the importance of a sense of community in the drawing of electoral districts. A bibliography is provided. (RM)

The Concept of Constituency

The Concept of Constituency
Author: Andrew Rehfeld
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2005-06-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1139446487

In virtually every democratic nation in the world, political representation is defined by where citizens live. In the United States, for example, Congressional Districts are drawn every 10 years as lines on a map. Why do democratic governments define political representation this way? Are territorial electoral constituencies commensurate with basic principles of democratic legitimacy? And why might our commitments to these principles lead us to endorse a radical alternative: randomly assigning citizens to permanent, single-member electoral constituencies that each looks like the nation they collectively represent? Using the case of the founding period of the United States as an illustration, and drawing from classic sources in Western political theory, this book describes the conceptual, historical, and normative features of the electoral constituency. As an institution conceptually separate from the casting of votes, the electoral constituency is little studied. Its historical origins are often incorrectly described. And as a normative matter, the constituency is almost completely ignored. Raising these conceptual, historical and normative issues, the argument culminates with a novel thought experiment of imagining how politics might change under randomized, permanent, national electoral constituencies. By focusing on how citizens are formally defined for the purpose of political representation, The Concept of Constituency thus offers a novel approach to the central problems of political representation, democratic legitimacy, and institutional design.

Spaces of Democracy

Spaces of Democracy
Author: Clive Barnett
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2004-08-31
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780761947349

In an historically unprecedented way, democracy is now increasingly seen as a universal model of legitimate rule. This work addresses the key question: How can democracy be understood in theory and in practice?.

Spatial Dimensions of Public Policy

Spatial Dimensions of Public Policy
Author: J. T. Coppock
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2013-10-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1483146391

Spatial Dimensions of Public Policy deals with the spatial dimensions of public policy with particular reference to resource management, urban development, regional development, and poverty alleviation. Emphasis is on the geographer's actual and potential contributions to public policy. Comprised of 15 chapters, this book begins with an introduction to the nature of geographers' contributions to public policy and the reasons why they have not been as effective as the relationships between their interests and important issues of public policy might suggest. The next chapter describes how policy decisions are made in Canada and reviews the nature of disciplinary contributions to governmental decision-making at the highest level. Subsequent chapters focus on regional policy and broad issues of world strategy; specific contributions to public policy, particularly in the United Kingdom; spatial aspects of pollution policy; and policies outside the United Kingdom. Energy policy in Western Europe is discussed, together with a geographer's contribution to addressing environmental problems in New Zealand; the difficulties of achieving an accurate population census of Nigeria; and the reshaping of the legislative and congressional districts of the State of Washington. This monograph will be of interest to geographers and public policymakers.

Why Cities Lose

Why Cities Lose
Author: Jonathan A. Rodden
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2019-06-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1541644255

A prizewinning political scientist traces the origins of urban-rural political conflict and shows how geography shapes elections in America and beyond Why is it so much easier for the Democratic Party to win the national popular vote than to build and maintain a majority in Congress? Why can Democrats sweep statewide offices in places like Pennsylvania and Michigan yet fail to take control of the same states' legislatures? Many place exclusive blame on partisan gerrymandering and voter suppression. But as political scientist Jonathan A. Rodden demonstrates in Why Cities Lose, the left's electoral challenges have deeper roots in economic and political geography. In the late nineteenth century, support for the left began to cluster in cities among the industrial working class. Today, left-wing parties have become coalitions of diverse urban interest groups, from racial minorities to the creative class. These parties win big in urban districts but struggle to capture the suburban and rural seats necessary for legislative majorities. A bold new interpretation of today's urban-rural political conflict, Why Cities Lose also points to electoral reforms that could address the left's under-representation while reducing urban-rural polarization.

Key Concepts in Political Geography

Key Concepts in Political Geography
Author: Carolyn Gallaher
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2009-04-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1446243540

"A comprehensive reader for my political geography course. Good summaries at the end, and articles include effective case study examples." - Rachel Paul, Western Washington University "A very useful and comprehensive introduction to key concepts in political geography. This book provides useful context not just for ′traditional′ political geography modules, but also those examining broader issues of power, resistance and social movements." - Gavin Brown, University of Leicester "Vital for introducing basic concepts and terminology in a clear and concise fashion. The short chapters are accessible and well supplemented with pertinent examples." - Daniel Hammett, Sheffield University "I found the book to be very useful in a supplemental capacity, full of information that would be useful for an undergraduate or early graduate student." - Jason Dittmer, University College London This textbook forms part of an innovative set of companion texts for the human geography subdisciplines. Organized around 20 short essays, Key Concepts in Political Geography provides a cutting-edge introduction to the central concepts that define contemporary research in the field. Involving detailed yet expansive discussions, the book includes: An introductory chapter providing a succinct overview of the recent developments in the field Over 20 key concept entries covering the expected staples of the sub-discipline, such as nationalism, territoriality, scale and political-economy, as well as relatively new arrivals to the field including the other, anti-statism, gender, and post-conflict A glossary, figures, diagrams and further reading. It is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of political geography.

Encyclopedia of Geography

Encyclopedia of Geography
Author: Barney Warf
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 3543
Release: 2010-09-21
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1452265178

Simply stated, geography studies the locations of things and the explanations that underlie spatial distributions. Profound forces at work throughout the world have made geographical knowledge increasingly important for understanding numerous human dilemmas and our capacities to address them. With more than 1,200 entries, the Encyclopedia of Geography reflects how the growth of geography has propelled a demand for intermediaries between the abstract language of academia and the ordinary language of everyday life. The six volumes of this encyclopedia encapsulate a diverse array of topics to offer a comprehensive and useful summary of the state of the discipline in the early 21st century. Key Features Gives a concise historical sketch of geography′s long, rich, and fascinating history, including human geography, physical geography, and GIS Provides succinct summaries of trends such as globalization, environmental destruction, new geospatial technologies, and cyberspace Decomposes geography into the six broad subject areas: physical geography; human geography; nature and society; methods, models, and GIS; history of geography; and geographer biographies, geographic organizations, and important social movements Provides hundreds of color illustrations and images that lend depth and realism to the text Includes a special map section Key Themes Physical Geography Human Geography Nature and Society Methods, Models, and GIS People, Organizations, and Movements History of Geography This encyclopedia strategically reflects the enormous diversity of the discipline, the multiple meanings of space itself, and the diverse views of geographers. It brings together the diversity of geographical knowledge, making it an invaluable resource for any academic library.

Encyclopedia of Human Geography

Encyclopedia of Human Geography
Author: Barney Warf
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 649
Release: 2006-05-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 145226533X

Human geography in the last decade has undergone a conceptual and methodological renaissance that transformed it into one of the most dynamic and innovative of the social sciences. Long a borrower of ideas from other disciplines, geography has become a contributor in its own right, and a "spatial turn" is evident in disciplines as diverse as Sociology, Anthropology, and Literary Criticism. With more than 300 entries written by an international team of leading authorities in the field, the Encyclopedia of Human Geography offers a comprehensive overview of the major ideas, concepts, terms, and approaches that characterize a notoriously diverse field. This multidisciplinary volume provides cross-cultural coverage of human geography as it is understood in the contemporary world and takes into account the enormous conceptual changes that have evolved since the 1970s, including a variety of social constructivist approaches. Key Features Examines a range of themes characterizing different schools of thought and addresses long-standing topics, such as urban, economic, and medical geography, as well as contemporary topics, including feminism, the social dimensions of GIS, and the social construction of nature Explores many of the dualities that long characterized social science—nature versus society, the individual versus the social, the historical versus the geographical, consumption versus production—and breaks them down using postmodern and poststructuralist approaches Illustrates how social and spatial structures draw upon people′s daily lives, which in turn structures their actions Looks at how globalization has manifested differently from place to place by discussing topics such as transnational capital, international trade, global commodity chains, global cities, international financial and telecommunications systems, and how the global economy is reshaping geopolitics and governance Key Themes Cartography/Geographical Information Systems Economic Geography Geographic Theory and History Political Geography Social/Cultural Geography Urban Geography

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Political Geography

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Political Geography
Author: John A. Agnew
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 546
Release: 2015-10-12
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1118725883

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Political Geography aims to account for the intellectual and worldly developments that have taken place in and around political geography in the last 10 years. Bringing together established names in the field as well as new scholars, it highlights provocative theoretical and conceptual debates on political geography from a range of global perspectives. Discusses the latest developments and places increased emphasis on modes of thinking, contested key concepts, and on geopolitics, climate change and terrorism Explores the influence of the practice-based methods in geography and concepts including postcolonialism, feminist geographies, the notion of the Anthropocene, and new understandings of the role of non-human actors in networks of power Offers an accessible introduction to political geography for those in allied fields including political science, international relations, and sociology