Territorial Differentiation and Societal Change in the United States and Canada.

A theory based on four stages of social and cultural changes for large territorial units is presented and three hypotheses are deduced linking territorial differentiation to societal change. The stages are measured by the degree to which the territorial units of a society display similar characteristics, and whether the units are diverging or converging from one another. Hypothesis I asserts that the form of societal change among territorial units over time is curvilinear. Hypothesis II maintains that changes in technological efficiency lead to changes in territorial differentiation on selected social and cultural characteristics. Finally, according to Hypothesis III, changes in territorial differentiation on technological efficiency are directly related to changes in territorial differentiation on selected social and cultural characteristics. The hypotheses are tested in terms of changes in the United States and Canada and receive strong support from the direction and magnitude of the relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]