More Academic Gobbledygook

American Politics Research, Vol. 36, No. 6, 803-823 (2008)

Geographic Proximity Versus Institutions
Evaluating Borders as Real Political Boundaries

Wendy K. Tam Cho
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Erinn P. Nicley
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Scholars have recently begun to connect political phenomena with geographic proximity, noting that in addition to one's personal characteristics, individuals are strongly affected by their social context. We push this literature further by examining how institutions such as state borders mediate and condition the effects of geographic proximity. Our findings expand our understanding of geography by demonstrating that the geographic landscape has interesting facets beyond proximity and distance. Rather, geography is the product of political relationships that intersect in particular places.