Politics in Space: The Importance of Territoriality for Concept Formation and Theory Development

Abstract

Large-scale processes – such as state-building, economic development and democratization – occur in territorially uneven patterns and therefore tend to produce intra-country variation. In Latin America, these kinds of intra-country differences have spurred analyses of varying degrees of local democratization (Fox 1994; Snyder 1999; Gibson 2005). So far, however, the wealth of empirical research highlighting the importance of space and territory has not been matched by an equal amount of theoretical reflection on the subject. There is a striking disconnect between the empirical evidence for intra-state variation and our ability to theorize and conceptualize the observed patterns. The persistence of authoritarian enclaves within formally democratic states, for instance, clashes with the commonly held notion of democracy as a national-level variable. Considerable analytic costs inhere in failing to address the challenges of intra-state variation. Invalid conclusions may be drawn, for instance, where cross-national research relies on national averages to operationalize a concept, or infers national values from “best known cases”, e.g., drawing conclusions about the whole of Brazil from states like São Paulo (Hagopian 1996: xiii). Subnational research can offer valuable corrections for theory building regarding the “dynamic interconnection between levels and regions” of a regime (Snyder 2001: 100). This panel aims to bring together theoretical and conceptual insights from several empirical research programs related to the importance of space and territory. We are especially interested in papers that do not simply study phenomena that happen to be local, but rather systematically examine the ways in which space conditions political outcomes. Advances in the fields of Geographic Information Science (GIS) and network analysis provide political scientists with powerful tools not only for the visualization of spatial patterns but also for their analysis, and we welcome contributions utilizing these tools.

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