4.8 topic

Devolution is when a centralized government within a country conveys power to national government subdivisions.

What is devolution?

Physical geography leads to devolution because mountains, large bodies of water, and deserts can separate state regions, making it difficult for them to interact and communicate with each other, to repair this predicament, subnational governments are needed within the state’s borders.

How does physical geography lead to devolution?

Northern Ireland and the UK are an example of this because Northern Ireland and the UK are separated by a body of water, resulting in UK letting northern Ireland govern itself.

An example of physical geography

when minority groups fight for independence from the larger group.

what is ethnic separatism?

the central government ends up giving the separatist group some of its demands to keep the peace.

how does ethnic separatism lead to devolution?

an example of this are the Basques in Spain

example of ethnic separatism

a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent means the population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.

what is ethnic cleansing?

Hitler's attempt to remove all Jews from Germany.

example of ethnic cleansing

Terrorism is organized violence aimed at government and civilian targets to create fear for the advancement of political goals.

What is terrorism?

Terrorism leads to devolution because the group of people doing the terrorism typically does it because they do not have any political power or have their voices heard, so once they are given some political power from the centralized government they stop doing these acts.

how does terrorism lead to devolution?

the Basque nationalist/separatist group ETA has fighting for independence from Spain, typically using violence to try to achieve this.

example of terrorism leading to devolution.

People in one region might want to use locally produced wealth for local benefits, such as better schools, infrastructure, and healthcare but the the central government might argue that these resources should benefit the entire country.

How does economics lead to devolution?

In Scotland, revenues from North Sea oil helped fuel talk of independence from the United Kingdom.

example of economics leading to devolution

Social issues lead to devolution when there are geographic divisions between religious, linguistic, and historical regions.

how do social issues lead to devolution?

Belgium is spilt into two regions the Flemish-speaking north and the French-speaking south that both have local sovereignty.

example of social issues leading to devolution

Irredentism leads to devolution like if a country wants to take over a region of another country because most of that regions population is of their nationality but then allows that region to belong to their government.

how does irredentism lead to devolution?

An example of this would be how russia wants part of Ukraine because a lot of Ukraine's population is of russian descent.

example of irredentism