This paper provides a critical review of a long-neglected issue in geography: The role of the state in geographic processes. Five major interpretations of this role are discussed, with emphasis on their interrelationships and analytical implications: the state as supplier of public goods and services; as facilitator and regulator of the economy; as social engineer; as arbiter; and as agent of some ruling elite. This overview clarifies the question of what the state actually is, and emphasizes the significance of three crucial research issues: the legitimation and fiscal crises of the state; the role of the local state; and comparative analysis of the state in socialist systems.
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