POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY. Topics in Political Geography Political culture Electoral geography ...

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POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

Topics in Political Geography

Political culture Electoral geography Gerrymandering Political iconography

Political culture and electoral geography

map of political cultures in the U.S. Source: Daniel Elazar Traditionalistic:

Family-based social order (patriarchal, anti-gov., racial hierarchy)

Individualistic: Pressure-group politics

Moralistic: Government as legitimate

protector of the public good

Ethnic: Government as protector

of ethnic identity

Barry Goldwater quotes “The income tax created more criminals

than any other single act of government.” “A government that is big enough to give

you all you want is big enough to take it all away.”

“You've got to forget about this civilian. Whenever you drop bombs, you're going to hit civilians.”

“I could have ended the war in a month. I could have made North Vietnam look like a mud puddle.”

George Wallace quotes “I draw the line in the dust and toss the

gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

“I've read about foreign policy and studied -- I know the number of continents.”

Political culture region (formal) Goldwater was a conservative Republican who

called for less government, a strong military, and the end of federal welfare programs; he lost to Johnson.

Wallace was a defender of racial segregation and personally stood in the way of Black students who were attempting to attend the University of Alabama

George Wallace’s 1963 speech at the University of Alabama The unwelcomed, unwanted, unwarranted and force-induced

intrusion upon the campus of the University of Alabama today of the might of the Central Government offers frightful example of the oppression of the rights, privileges and sovereignty of this State by officers of the Federal Government. This intrusion results solely from force, or threat of force, undignified by any reasonable application of the principle of law, reason and justice. It is important that the people of this State and nation understand that this action is in violation of rights reserved to the State by the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Alabama. While some few may applaud these acts, millions of Americans will gaze in sorrow upon the situation existing at this great institution of learning.

Only the Congress makes the law of the United States. To this date no statutory authority can be cited to the people of this Country which authorizes the Central Government to ignore the sovereignty of this State in an attempt to subordinate the rights of Alabama and millions of Americans. There has been no legislative action by Congress justifying this intrusion.

George Wallace’s 1963 speech at the University of Alabama When the Constitution of the United States was enacted, a

government was formed upon the premise that people, as individuals are endowed with the rights of life, liberty, and property, and with the right of self-government. The people and their local self-governments formed a Central Government and conferred upon it certain stated and limited powers. All other powers were reserved to the states and to the people.

Strong local government is the foundation of our system and must be continually guarded and maintained. The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

Voting patterns Voting patterns reveal

political culture regions, such as the South

These are a type of formal culture region

Political culture links to attitudes about authority, in general, which in turn ties in to attitudes about gender roles

One Projection of 2004 Presidential election

Similar to Goldwater pattern from 1964, with some diffusion outwards from two hearths, one in the South and the other in the “non-coastal West”

Another map…

From: http://www.electoral-vote.com/index.html

Why isn’t Bush’s lead as clear-cut as it looks here?

Electoral vote cartogram

From: http://www.electoral-vote.com/index.html

Population determines electoral votes

Population density in NE and the upper Midwest leads to an almost perfect balance

Why are populous states so important? Electoral College

Each state has as many electors as its senators & representatives combined

There are two groups of electors, one Rep. and one Dem.

Whichever party gets the majority in a state determines the party of the electors

Exceptions: Maine and Nebraska which essentially split their electors according to the D/R ratio in the state, but send two more for whichever party takes the majority

Effect: populous states with a nearly split vote can greatly affect the outcomes of close US elections depending on which way they tilt

Why is the census politically important? The census is used to determine each state’s number of

US Representatives (and therefore electoral votes) The use of statistical methods in the census has become

a political issue Research indicates that the last census missed about 5

million people, mostly children, immigrants and the poor (estimate based on post-census sampling & generalization) Why these groups? What is the political impact of these groups? Who would want these groups counted? Who would not?

Supreme Court ruled out the use of statistical inference for assigning Representatives in 1999

The 1956 Presidential Election

Rep.Rep.

Dem.Rep.

Dem.Dem.

Indep.

Dem.Rep.

Rep.Rep.

Dem.Rep.

Dem.Dem.

Dem.Dem. Similar to Goldwater pattern

Dem.Sim. to Goldwater pattern

Strongholds

What appear to be the Democratic and Republican strongholds in the US?

What regions have realigned themselves?

gerrymandering The project in your discussion section will

illustrate a few basic ideas Districting has a MASSIVE impact on the

outcome of the democratic process Whoever draws the jurisdictional boundaries can

tilt the balance of power in their favor unless they are greatly outnumbered

Clustered groups are most vulnerable to gerrymandering

Long, thin districts with convoluted (wiggly) borders are a telltale sign of gerrymandering

Term “gerrymander” was coined in an 1811 political cartoon mocking a Massachusetts districting scheme carried out under Governor Elbridge Gerry

Source: Fellman, Getis & Getis Human Geography

gerrymandering Many people disapprove of gerrymandering in

principle In practice, gerrymanders come from both dominant

and oppressed groups guarantees minority representatives in legislative

bodies simultaneously reduces the influence of minority

voters on the selection of non-minority representatives

tests implicit assumptions about communities of interest in democratic politics

in essence, it reveals a tug-of-war between place-based definitions of "community" and ethnic definitions of "community"

A famous gerrymander

Why are the boundaries drawn this way?

Look for clues in the demographics of these areas

Specifically, look in American FactFinder accessible from the US Census website

Percent Hispanic by census tract in South Texas

a problem

Harris County (Houston) Percent White

Harris County (Houston) Percent Black

Harris County (Houston) Percent Hispanic/Latino

Harris County (Houston)

blackblack

Hispanic

HispanicHispanic

Hispanic

POLITICS OF A SYMBOL

The conflict over Georgia’s flag

The Confederate Battle Flag

The Old Georgia Flag(…-2001)

2003 brought another new flag, plus a vote by the state legislature to permanently rule out the use of the Confederate Battle Flag for the state flag (passed by only 1 vote)

A “Better” New Georgia Flag(2003-?)

The First Official Confederate Flag

What is a flag? A flag is a symbol of a state or nation Like other symbols it is “overrun” by

meaning: broad, almost infinite associations with social order, personal identity, values, morals, etc.

Like other symbols, it can be “mistreated” in ways that does not just symbolize an attack on the entity it stands for, but is actually taken to be an attack on that entity

Flag Burning

Should burning of the US flag be illegal in the US?

“No.” According to the Supreme Court (Texas v. Johnson, 1989)

“Yes” Most states still have flag-burning bans on their books that have not yet been challenged

How can each of the following symbolize the nation or state? A map A museum A language A sport A weapons system A building A history book A restaurant A religion A monument A cartoon

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY. Topics in Political Geography Political culture Electoral geography ...

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