THE NEIGHBOURHOOD EFFECT IN A LOCAL ELECTION

One of the more popular ideas in electoral geography is that there is a positive correlation between residential proximity and voting behaviour. Often referred to as the neighbourhood effect, the idea is quite simply that individuals within a given local area tend to vote similarly. The process involves, it is suggested, social contacts between neighbours leading to political discussion and information flow which exerts an influence on the way people vote. Closely related to, but distinguishable from the neighbourhood effect is the friends-and-neighbours effect whereby neighbours of a particular candidate will tend to know him better, discuss him more, and support him more avidly than they will other candidates. Since the concepts of the neighbourhood effect and the friends-and-neighbours effect have been adopted into the literature of political geography, and have become central as explanatory models for certain spatial patterns of voting behaviour,¹ the rather inconclusive and contradictory findings of researchers using these concepts require examination, and the concepts and process require an empirical test.     

MAYAN OBSIDIAN: SOURCE CORRELATION FOR SOUTHERN BELIZE ARTIFACTS

High-precision neutron activation measurements have been made on mesoamerican obsidian from Ixtepeque and El Chayal which are thought to be the major sources of volcanic glass artifacts in pre-Columbian times. These results are compared with measurements on obsidian artifacts from Lubaantun, Wild Cane Cay, Frenchman's Cay and Moho Cay.     

Some Extensions of Mills's Method for Urban Population Density Gradient Estimation

This paper extends Milk's method for estimating urban population density gradients to general noncircular and asymmetrical urban forms, using Gauss-Legendre quadrature embedded in a Newton-Raphson root finding algorithm. We also examine the sensitivity of the Mills method to measurement errors in the assumptions. Several issues arising from the comparison of analytical, Mills type estimation procedures with statistical procedures are explored, particularly in light of recent work that questions the negative exponential formulation of urban density gradients. We note in particular the influence of secondary population centers as a source of estimation bias.     

Book reviews

Transmigration in Indonesia, by J M Hardjono. Oxford in Asia Current Affairs. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press 1977; xv, 116 pp, 8 maps, 15 tables. £6.00.

Myths and Legends of Indonesia, by Jan Knappert. Singapore: Heinemann Educational Books (Asia) Ltd, 1977; 198pp. £2.40.