Federalism and the Concept of Political Territoriality: Towards an Analytical Framework for Comparative Territorial Politics

Müller, Sean (2012). Federalism and the Concept of Political Territoriality: Towards an Analytical Framework for Comparative Territorial Politics. L’Europe en Formation, 2012/1(363), pp. 95-120. Centre international de formation européenne 10.3917/eufor.363.0095

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The core issues comparative territorial politics addresses are how and why territory is used to delimit, maintain, or create political power; and with what kind of consequences for efficiency (output) and legitimacy (input). The aim of this article is to integrate various research strands into the comparative study of territorial politics, with federal studies at its core. As an example of a conceptual payoff, ‘political territoriality’ refers the observer to three dimensions of the strategic use of areal boundaries for political power. By focusing on territory as a key variable of political systems, the actors, processes and institutions are first analytically separated and continuously measured, enhancing internal validity, and then theoretically integrated, which allows more valid external inferences than classic, legal-institutionalist federal studies. After discussing the boundaries and substance of comparative territorial politics as a federal discipline, political territoriality is developed towards an analytical framework applicable to politics at any governmental level. The claims are modest: political territoriality does not serve so much as an explanatory concept as rather an ‘attention-directing device’ for federal studies.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Institute of Political Science
03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Social Sciences

UniBE Contributor:

Müller, Sean

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 320 Political science

ISSN:

0014-2808

Publisher:

Centre international de formation européenne

Language:

English

Submitter:

Sean Müller

Date Deposited:

10 Nov 2014 09:09

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:37

Publisher DOI:

10.3917/eufor.363.0095

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.59769

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/59769

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