Chapter  7: Politics and Power

Political power is typically confined by space.  Politics is the fight over how power is exercised within spaces defined by borders of some sort.  

Politics includes a variety of what many folks think of as “culture” – the rules that unofficially govern our everyday lives, that extend well beyond what goes on in the capital or city hall. 

Geographers are interested in spatial behaviors inherent in the political process – whether the governance is official (congress, etc.) or unofficial cultural politics.  

Where you are has significant implications for how power is arranged, shared or abused.  This chapter should help you better understand how those patterns of power have emerged and the implications presented by the maps of power.

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Last Update: July 2, 2020

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