Vote-buying, canvassing, gerrymandering, welfare state policies, electoral reform and local government reform are all ways in which political parties manipulate electoral and administrative systems. In this book Professor Johnston argues that governments and the way in which they allocate public funds have a major impact on spatial variations in levels of social and economic well-being. Moreover, important component influences on the geography of public spending are the electoral and administrative geographies of the countries or regions concerned. Students of electoral and political geography, politics; those interested in government reform.