Chapter 9 Politics

Anocracy

A country that is not fully democratic or fully autocratic but rather displays a mix of the two types.

Autocracy

A country that is run according to the interests of the ruler rather than the people.

Boundary

An invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory.

City-State

A sovereign state comprising a city and its immediately surrounding countryside.

Colonialism

An attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory.

Colony

A territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than completely independent.

Compact State

A state in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly.

Democracy

A country in which citizens elect leaders and can run for office.

Elongated State

A state with a long, narrow shape.

Fragmented State

A state that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory.

Frontier

A zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control.

gerrymandering

The process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.

Landlocked state

A state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea.

Microstate

A state that encompasses a very small land area.

multiethnic state

A state that contains more than one ethnicity.

Multinational state

A state that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities.

Nation-state

A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity.

Perforated state

A state that completely surrounds another one.

Prorupted State

An otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension.

Self-determination

The concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves.

Sovereignty

Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states.

State

An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government that has control over its internal and foreign affairs.

Terrorism

The systematic use of violence by a group calculated to create an atmosphere of fear and alarm among a population or to coerce a government into actions it would not otherwise undertake or refrain from actions it wants to take.

Decolonization

the action of changing from colonial to independent status

Devolution

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

Imperialism

a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Enclave

Country or part of a country that is surrounded by another and does not belong to another country

Exclave

Almost completely separated from the main part of the country

Centrifugal Forces

divide a state

Centripetal Forces

hold a state together

Balkanization

State breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities