Focusing on the relationship between location and political activity, the subdiscipline of political geography offers a unique vantage point from which to examine the development of the American political system. This comprehensive text traces the theory and practice of American politics from the colonial era to the present day. The authors highlight the key role of geography in such crucial areas as the establishment of the nation's governing principles; the formation of political parties and coalitions; electoral history; the development of America's political economy; and its role in the world economy. Serving as a springboard for research and forecasting, the book also ventures into the future to discuss possible shifts in the political geography of twenty-first-century America.

The nation-states and peoples of South and Central America, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, that together form the political geographical region of Latin America, encompass a wide range of societies, politics and economies. This text exposes the differences between places, regions and countries, individuals and societies, offering an invaluable insight into the themes of political and economic development, and provides a guide to understanding power and space relations. From the Antarctic to the tropical jungles, the coastal communities to the highland villages, the mega-cities to isolated rural existence, the political geographies of lives, localities, cities and rurality are too sophisticated to be subjected to generalizations. Adopting a critical human geography perspective, Jonathon Barton provides an understanding of similarities, difference and sophisticated human geographies.

We live in a rapidly changing world in which politics is becoming both more and less predictable at the same time: this makes political geography a particularly exciting topic to study. To make sense of the continuities and disruptions within this political world requires a strongly focused yet flexible text. This new (sixth) edition of Peter Taylor’s Political Geography proves itself fit for the task of coping with a frequently and rapidly changing geo-political landscape. Co-authored again with Colin Flint, it retains the intellectual clarity, rigour and vision of previous editions, based upon its world-systems approach. Reflecting the backdrop of the current global climate, this is the Empire, globalization and climate change edition in which global political change is being driven by three related processes: the role of cities in economic and political networks; the problems facing territorially based notions of democratic politics and citizenship, and the ongoing spectre of war. This sixth edition remains a core text for students of political geography, geopolitics, international relations and political science, as well as more broadly across human geography and the social sciences.

From Kennebunkport to Kauai, from the Rio Grande to the Northern Rockies, ours is a vast republic. While we may be united under one Constitution, separate and distinct states remain, each with its own constitution and culture. Geographic idiosyncrasies add more than just local character. Regional understandings of law and justice have shaped and reshaped our nation throughout history. America’s Constitution, our founding and unifying document, looks slightly different in California than it does in Kansas. In The Law of the Land, renowned legal scholar Akhil Reed Amar illustrates how geography, federalism, and regionalism have influenced some of the biggest questions in American constitutional law. Writing about Illinois, “the land of Lincoln,” Amar shows how our sixteenth president’s ideas about secession were influenced by his Midwestern upbringing and outlook. All of today’s Supreme Court justices, Amar notes, learned their law in the Northeast, and New Yorkers of various sorts dominate the judiciary as never before. The curious Bush v. Gore decision, Amar insists, must be assessed with careful attention to Florida law and the Florida Constitution. The second amendment appears in a particularly interesting light, he argues, when viewed from the perspective of Rocky Mountain cowboys and cowgirls. Propelled by Amar’s distinctively smart, lucid, and engaging prose, these essays allow general readers to see the historical roots of, and contemporary solutions to, many important constitutional questions. The Law of the Land illuminates our nation’s history and politics, and shows how America’s various local parts fit together to form a grand federal framework.

This is a comprehensive survey of the field of political geography, but it goes far beyond traditional topics. No other book of its kind covers topics such as: anomalous political units, special purpose districts, indigenous peoples, outlaws and merchants of death, Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, to name a few. It is tightly packed with facts, ideas, suggestions, anecdotes and illustrations.

Making Political Geography acquaints readers with the major issues and conceptual problems that have dominated the discipline over the past two to three decades. Besides discussing and assessing current themes, Agnew provides a historical analysis of the emergence of modern political geography from the 1890s onwards, identifies and discusses the three "waves" of the revival of political geography during the last three decades, and discusses evidence for a new coherence to the discipline, centering around issues of geographical scale, place and politics, etc.