Ron Johnston - Developments in Electoral Geography

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

Volume 7

DEVELOPMENTS IN ELECTORAL GEOGRAPHY

Edited by

R.J. JOHNSTON, F.M. SHELLEY AND P.J. TAYLOR

First published in 1990

This edition first published in 2015
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

1990 R.J. Johnston, F.M. Shelley and P.J. Taylor

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-138-80830-0 (Set)
eISBN: 978-1-315-74725-5 (Set)
ISBN: 978-1-138-80991-8 (Volume 7)
eISBN: 978-1-315-74974-7 (Volume 7)

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The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

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Developments in Electoral Geography

edited by

R.J. JOHNSTON, F.M. SHELLEY,

and

P.J. TAYLOR

First published 1990
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
a division of Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc.
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

1990 RJ. Johnston, F.M. Shelley and P.J. Taylor

Typeset by LaserScript Limited, Mitcham, Surrey

Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Billings & Sons Limited, Worcester

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Developments in electoral geography.

1. Politics. Geographical factors

I. Johnston, R. J. (Ronald John, 1941) II. Shelley, F. M. 1947 III. Taylor, Peter J. (Peter James, 1944)

320.12

ISBN 0415041333

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Developments in electoral geography / edited by R.J. Johnston, F.M. Shelley, and P.J. Taylor.

p. cm.

Bibliography: p.

Includes index.

ISBN 0415041333

1. Elections. 2. Geography, Political. I. Johnston, R. J. (Ronald John) II. Shelley, F. M., 1947 . III. Taylor, P. J., 1944 . IV Title: Electoral geography.

JF 1001.D47 1990

324dc20

8910562

CIP

Contents

Fred M. Shelley, R. J. Johnston, and Peter J. Taylor

.

John A. Agnew

David R. Reynolds

N. P. Passchier and H. H. van der Wusten

John OLoughlin and A.J. Parker

Rex Honey and J. Ross Barnett

Monroe Eagles

R. J. Johnston

A. Lijphart

Rebecca S. Roberts, Frances M. Ufkes, and Fred M. Shelley

David C. Hodge and Lynn A. Staeheli

Diane Whalley

Bernard Grofman, Robert Griffin and Amihai Glazer

Nancy Ettlinger

Alexander B. Murphy

Gordon L. Clark

Peter J. Taylor

.

.

R. J. Johnston Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.

F. M. Shelley Department of Geography, University of Southern California, University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0063, USA.

P. J. Taylor Department of Geography, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK.

J. A. Agnew Department of Geography, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA

N. P. Passchier and H. H. van der Wusten Department of Geography, University of Amsterdam, Jodenbreestraat 23, 1011 NH Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

J. OLoughlin Department of Geography, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0260, USA.

A. J. Parker Department of Geography, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Irish Republic.

R. Honey Department of Geography, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.

J. R. Barnett Department of Geography, University of Canterbury, Private Bag, Christchurch, New Zealand.

M. Eagles Department of Political Science, Saint Marys University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3C3, Canada.

A. Lijphart Department of Political Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0060, USA.

R. S. Roberts and F. M. Ufkes Department of Geography, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA

D. C. Hodge and L. A. Staeheli Department of Geography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

D. Whalley Department of Geography and Anthropology, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203-5277.

B. Grofman and A. Glazer School of Social Sciences, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92717, USA.

R. Griffin Department of Political Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.

N. Ettlinger Department of Geography, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.

A. B. Murphy Department of Geography, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 94703, USA.

G. L. Clark School of Urban and Public Affairs, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.

Fred M. Shelley, R. J. Johnston and Peter J. Taylor

Electoral geography, or the systematic spatial analysis of elections, has a long intellectual history. The mapping of voting statistics has provided important insights into the operation of modern polities. But such contributions have been rare. Electoral geography has been a victim of that most debilitating of all intellectual diseases rampant empiricism. Many electoral geography studies have consisted of mere descriptions of the spatial pattern of the vote in a particular election with little or no concern for wider issues. Hence the social theory underlying the analysis is left implicit as a status quo model of society. This has generated a very uncritical body of knowledge under the label electoral geography.

It was a generally felt dissatisfaction with this intellectual legacy that provided the stimulus for organizing a conference on electoral geography and social theory in Los Angeles in April 1988. The purpose was to slay the empiricist dragon once and for all and the results of this exercise are before you. What is very clear is that electoral geography is in a state of flux. In this it reflects the current pluralism of human geography as a whole. There is a sense of transition from empiricism but it is by no means obvious where we are going. A diversified product is to be welcomed as long as we avoid an eclectic blurring of theory. At Los Angeles the focus on social theory was manifest in two ways. First some papers provided critical evaluations of traditional theories in recent electoral contexts. Second, some papers attempted to look outwards to alternative social theories in which to situate electoral geography. Between them these approaches combine continuity and innovation to provide electoral geography with a fresh platform for researches in the 1990s.