APHUG Chapter 8 Vocab

Political Geography

A subdivision of human geography focused on the nature and implications of the evolving spatial organization of political governance and formal political practice on the earth's surface. It is concerned with why political spaces emerge in the places that they do and with how the character of those spaces affects social, political, economic, and environmental understandings and practices.

State

A politically organized territory that is administered by a sovereign government and is recognized by a significant portion of the international community. A _ has a defined territory, a permanent population, a government, and is recognized by other states.

Territoriality

In political geography, a country's or more local community's sense of property and attachment toward its territory, as expressed by its determination to keep inviolable and strongly defended.

Sovereignty

A principle of international relations that holds final authority over social, economic, and political matters should rest with the legitimate rulers of independent states.

Territorial Integrity

The right of a state to defend sovereign territory against incursion from other states.

Mercantilism

In a general sense, associated with the promotion of commercialism and trade. More specifically, a protectionist policy of European states during the 16th century to the 18th centuries that promoted a state's economic position in the contest with other countries. The acquisition of gold and silver and the maintenance of a favorable trade balance (more exports than imports) were central to the policy.

Peace of Westphalia

Peace negotiated in 1648 to end the 30 Year's War, Europe's most destructive internal struggle over religion. The treaties contained new language recognizing statehood and nationhood, clearly defined borders, and guarantees of security.

Nation

Legally, a term encompassing all the citizens of a state. Most definitions now tend to refer to a tightly knit group of people possessing bonds of language, ethnicity, religion, and other shared cultural attributes. Such as homogeneity actually prevails within very few states.

Nation-State

Theoretically, a recognized member of the modern state system possessing formal sovereignty and occupied by a people who see themselves as a single, united nation. Most nations and states aspire to this form, but it is realized almost no where. Nonetheless, in common parlance, _ is used as a synonym for a country or state.

Democracy

Government based on the principle that the people are the ultimate sovereign and have the final say over what happens within the state.

Multinational State

State with more than one nation within its borders.

Multistate Nation

Nation that stretches across borders and across states.

Stateless Nation

Does not have a state.

Colonialism

Rule by an autonomous power over a subordinate and alien people and place. Although often established and maintained through political structures, _ also creates unequal cultural and economic relations. Because of the magnitude and impact of the European colonial project of the last few centuries, the term is generally understood to refer to the particular colonial endeavor.

Scale

Representation of a real-world phenomenon at a certain level of reduction or generalization. In cartography, the ratio of map distance to ground distance; indicated on a map and/or verbal statement.

World-Systems Theory

Theory originated by Immanuel Wallerstein and illuminated by his three-tier structure, proposing that social change in the developing world is inextricably linked to the economic activities of the developed world.

Capitalism

Economic model wherein people, corporations, and states produce goods and exchange them on the world market, with the goal of achieving profit.

Commodification

The process through which something is given monetary value. occurs when a good or idea that previously was not regarded as an object to be bought and sold is turned into something that has a particular price and that can be traded in a market economy.

Core

Processes that incorporate higher levels of education, higher salaries, and more technology; generate more wealth then periphery processes in the world-economy.

Periphery

Processes that incorporate lower levels of education, lower salaries, and less technology, and generate less wealth than core processes in the economy.

Semiperiphery

Places where core and periphery processes are both occurring; places that are exploited by the core but in turn exploit the periphery.

Ability

In the context of political power, the capacity of a state to influence other states or achieve its goals through diplomatic, economic, and militarists means.

Centripetal

Forces that tend to unify a country-such as widespread commitment to a national culture, shared ideological objectives, and a common faith.

Centrifugal

Forces that tend to divide a country-such as internal religious, linguistic, ethnic, or ideological differences.

Unitary

A nation-state that has a centralized government and administration that exercises power equally over all parts of the state.

Federal

A political-territorial system where in a central government represents the various entities within a nation0states where they have common interests-defnse, foreign affairs, and the like-yet allows the various entities to retain their own identities and to have their own laws, policies, and customs in certain spheres.

Devolution

The process whereby regions within a state demand and gain political strength and growing autonomy at the expense of the central government.

Territorial Representation

System wherein each representative is elected from a territorially defined district.

Reapportionment

Process by which representative districts are switched according to population shifts, so that each district encompasses approximately the same number of people.

Splitting

In the context of determining representative districts, the process by which the majority and minority populations are spread evenly across each of the districts to be created therein ensuring control by the majority of each of the districts; as opposed to the results of majority-minority districts.

Majority-Minority Districts

In the context of determining representative districts, the process by which a majority of the population is from the minority.

Gerrymandering

Redistricting for advantage,or the practice of dividing areas into electoral districts to give one political party an electoral majority in a large number of district while concentrating the voting strength of the opposition in as few districts as possible.

Boundary

Vertical plane between states that cuts through the rocks below, and the airspace above the surface.

Geometric Boundary

Political boundary defined and delimited (and occasionally demarcated) as a straight line or an arc.

Physical-Political Boundary

Political boundary defined and delimited (and occasionally demarcated) by a prominent physical feature in the natural landscape- such as a river or the crest ridges of a mountain.

Heartland Theory

A geopolitical hypothesis, proposed by the British geographer Halford Mackinder during the first 2 decades of the 20th century, that any political power based in the heart of Eurasia could gain sufficient strength to eventually dominate the world. Mackinder further proposed that since Eastern Europe controlled access to the Eurasian interior, its ruler would command the vast "heartland" to the east.

Critical Geopolitics

Process by which geopoliticians deconstruct and focus on explaining the underlying spatial assumptions and territorial perspectives of politicians.

Unilaterism

World order in which one state is in a position of dominance with allies following rather than jointing the political decision-making process.

Supranational Organization

A venture involving three of more nation-states involving formal political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives. The European Union is one such organization.

Deterritorialization

The movement of economic, social, and cultural processes out of the hands of states.

Reterritorialization

With respect to popular culture, when people within a place start to produce an aspect of popular culture themselves, doing so in the context of their local culture and making it their own.

Territory

A system of political units that came into being with fixed, distinct boundaries and at least a quasi-independent government.