The implications of central place theory for urban structure in a declining region: The North American experience

1981 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. McPherson
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
American Experience ◽  
The North

Origins and Evolution of the North American Stable Peace

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Haglund
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
North American ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
Interstate Relations ◽  
American Experience ◽  
Back Seat ◽  
The North ◽  
Security Communities ◽  
Primary Focus

Interstate relations among the North American countries have been irenic for so long that the continent is often assumed to have little if anything to contribute to scholarly debates on peaceful change. In good measure, this can be attributed to the way in which discussions of peaceful change often become intertwined with a different kind of inquiry among international relations scholars, one focused upon the origins and denotative characteristics of “pluralistic security communities.” Given that it is generally (though not necessarily accurately) considered that such security communities first arose in Western Europe, it is not difficult to understand why the North American regional-security story so regularly takes an analytical back seat to what is considered to be the far more interesting European one. This article challenges the idea that there is little to learn from the North American experience, inter alia by stressing three leading theoretical clusters within which can be situated the scholarly corpus of works attempting to assess the causes of peaceful change on the continent. Although the primary focus is on the Canada–US relationship, the article includes a brief discussion of where Mexico might be said to fit in the regional-security order.

Rational-Choice Models and Asian Studies

1991 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Little
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Survival Strategies ◽  
Transport Cost ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
Late Imperial ◽  
The Individual

The rational-choice paradigm has been attractive to many area specialists in their efforts to arrive at explanations of social and political behavior in various parts of the world. This model of explanation is simple yet powerful; we attempt to explain a pattern of social behavior or an enduring social arrangement as the aggregate outcome of the goal-directed choices of large numbers of rational agents. Why did the Nian rebellion occur? It was the result of the individual-level survival strategies of north China peasants (Perry 1980). Why did the central places of late imperial Sichuan conform to the hexagonal arrays predicted by central-place theory? Because participants—consumers, merchants, and officials—made rational decisions based on considerations of transport cost (Skinner 1964–65). Why was late imperial Chinese agriculture stagnant? Because none of the actors within the agricultural system had both the incentive and the capacity to invest in agricultural innovation (Lippit 1987).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document