Why They Go Where They Go: The Political Imagery of Industrial Location

Abstract

Politicians can use their influence over the allocation of scarce resources for political as well as socio-economic ends. They also present interpretations of these allocation patterns to the electorate as 'public images'. In Northern Ireland the geography of government-sponsored manufacturing firms bears a superficial resemblance to the social and political geography of the province, and this paper examines the very different interpretations placed on this geographical 'connection' by government spokesmen, who stress the importance of non-political processes, and opposition politicians who claim political motives have been uppermost. A variety of different claims and counter-claims are presented by these two factions, and both can claim a measure of support from independent though different bodies of evidence. One of the toughest problems we have in this life is in seeing the difference between the apparent and the real, and in basing our actions only on that which is real. (John Ehrlichman, in his letter of resignation to Richard Nixon)