This book illustrates the degree of variability in voting behaviour within social groups and suggests reasons for that variability. It reviews and critiques conventional analyses and presents statistical analyses of the geography of voting in England. The book reveals that substantial geographical variations exist in the widely-held generalisations, such as that white-collar owner-occupiers favour the Conservatives or that blue-collar council tenants prefer Labour.

This book explores the place of nationalism in the modern world. It looks at the relationships between nationalism, politics and states, explores the rise of minority national movements and the problems they cause, and discusses the problems of national integration in particular countries. It analyses the problems in a general and thematic way and includes a number of important case studies.

The essays in this collection show how electoral geography has shifted from empiricist activity towards a closer involvement with the wider issues addressed by social scientists. They illustrate the potential contributions that electoral geographers can make towards the understanding of global, national and local societies.

Within an international framework, this work provides a fully comprehensive approach to the geographical coverage of elections. Numerous applications of ideas and concepts from human geography are incorporated into a new political context, illustrating the manner in which electoral patterns reflect and help produce the overall geography of a region or state. Discussions of various topics are well supported by numerous maps and diagrams which help clarify arguments and serve to define elections within their basic geographical context.