Chapter 4: The North American Political Economy

This week the topic is the political economy of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.  The different economic sectors, effects of suburbanization, and Delaware's political representation will be topics to discuss.  Cities along the coast of Delaware, such as Rehoboth Beach will be shown to differ from the more inland areas of Delaware.

There are four economic sectors, and they are: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary.  The primary sector covers activities associated with the identification and extraction of raw materials.  The secondary sector covers activities associated with the transformation of raw materials into finished products.  The tertiary sector covers the distribution and servicing of finished products, and finally the quaternary sector covers any activities associated with management, planning, technology, research, and development.  As one might expect, Inland areas tend to differ from coastal regions of Delaware like Rehoboth Beach in the sectors they identify mostly with.  Many inland areas of Delaware are flat fields used for agriculture.  I have driven through many corn fields on my trips to Delaware.  Factories can be seen scattered throughout the inland areas as well.  Thus, inland areas tend to be more associated with primary and secondary sectors.  However, a coastal city, such as Rehoboth Beach, is more built up and features numerous shopping centers and businesses rather than agricultural fields.

The Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth Beach, DE

For example, Rehoboth Beach features an outlet mall that spans across both sides of the highway and draws customers from all over.  Additionally, Rehoboth Beach is focused around drawing tourists in for vacations and thus getting them to buy goods and service in the city.  Rehoboth Beach, and other coastal cities nearby tend to be associated with the tertiary sector, rather than the primary and secondary sector.   However, this is not to say all coastal regions are the same, and that all inland areas are different.  For example, Dover, Delaware's capital, is not located right on a coast, but has many shopping centers that are associated with the tertiary sector.

Following the development of more roads and reliable transportation, suburbanization became popular throughout the United States.  With this, came the development of edge cities.

 Rehoboth Beach is not a major city compared to other US cities, but in the context of Delaware, Rehoboth Beach is a moderately sized city.  Because of this, some smaller cities have formed more inland in less urban areas, and residents commute to Rehoboth Beach to visit the outlets, go to restaurants, and go to work.  One such city where people commute into Rehoboth Beach, is Dagsboro, DE.  My grandparents live in Dagsboro, and when visiting we would make many trips into Rehoboth to visit the the outlets, go to dinner, or even see a movie.

Like all states, Delaware has 2 senators in The Senate.  However, Delaware's small size and population only result in one member being sent to the House of Representatives.  Delaware counts for 3 electoral votes in the presidential election and is typically a democratic state.  Despite this, in the 2012 presidential election, Rehoboth Beach residents as a whole favored the republican candidate.

Next week the topic will be the Atlantic Periphery.  Rehoboth Beach is not a part of the Atlantic Periphery, and thus there will be less relevant information in the chapter pertaining to the location.  Despite this, we will compare and contrast the two locations instead.
Until next time,
William