The State and Geographic Process: A Critical Review

M Dear and G Clark

Environment and Planning A, 1978, vol. 10, issue 2, 173-183

Abstract: This paper provides a critical review of a long-neglected issue in geography: The role of the state in geographic processes. Five major interpretations of this role are discussed, with emphasis on their interrelationships and analytical implications: the state as supplier of public goods and services; as facilitator and regulator of the economy; as social engineer; as arbiter; and as agent of some ruling elite. This overview clarifies the question of what the state actually is, and emphasizes the significance of three crucial research issues: the legitimation and fiscal crises of the state; the role of the local state; and comparative analysis of the state in socialist systems.

Date: 1978
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:10:y:1978:i:2:p:173-183

DOI: 10.1068/a100173

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