GEOG - Module 5 | For Exam 2

Political Geography

The study of the political organization of the world, focusing on how spatial patterns reflect power, politics, and governance.

The Three Ps of Political Geography

Power (ability to exert control), Politics (mechanisms regulating people/places), and Place (geographic setting where power/politics operate).

The State

A politically organized territory governed by a sovereign central government, containing a permanent population and defined boundaries recognized internationally.

Territoriality

The attempt to affect, influence, or control people and phenomena by asserting legal or physical control over a specific geographic area.

Sovereignty

The legally recognized and supreme right of a state to exercise exclusive political and military control over its territory and population.

Geopolitical Model of State Power

Focuses on the state's capacity to control external space, protect borders, secure resources, and manage international relations using hard and soft power.

Hard Power vs Soft Power

Hard power uses military force and economic sanctions; Soft power uses cultural influence, diplomacy, and international goodwill.

Biopolitical Model of State Power

The extension of state power over the physical bodies, health habits, and social behaviors of a population (e.g., public health initiatives, census tracking).

Repressive vs Ideological State Apparatus

Repressive apparatus compels compliance through direct force (police, courts); Ideological apparatus shapes beliefs voluntarily (schools, media).

Nation

A culturally defined group of people who share a common identity, language, history, or heritage without necessarily having a sovereign state.

Imagined Community

Benedict Anderson's concept that members of a nation share a mental image of national unity despite never meeting most fellow members.

Nation-State

A sovereign state whose political borders match a single culturally homogeneous nation (e.g., Japan, Iceland).

Multinational State

A state containing two or more distinct cultural nations living within its borders (e.g., Canada with Quebec, the United Kingdom).

Multistate Nation

A single cultural nation whose population is split across the borders of multiple sovereign states (e.g., Koreans in North and South Korea).

Stateless Nation

A distinct national group that lacks its own sovereign political territory or state (e.g., the Kurds, Palestinians).

Physical-Political Boundary

Borders formed by prominent physical landscape features like river channels or mountain ridges (e.g., Rio Grande).

Geometric Boundary

Straight-line borders drawn using grid coordinate systems like latitude and longitude, ignoring physical or cultural features (e.g., US-Canada 49th parallel).

Definitional Boundary Dispute

Disagreements over the legal wording, language, or interpretation of a boundary treaty or contract.

Locational Boundary Dispute

Disagreements over where to physically place or mark a border line on the ground due to changing landforms or mapping errors.

Operational Boundary Dispute

Disagreements between neighboring states over how a shared border should function regarding customs, trade, and migration control.

Allocational Boundary Dispute

Conflicts over rights to extract valuable natural resources that cross or straddle international boundaries (e.g., subterranean oil pools, shared rivers).

Territorial Representation

A political system where representatives are elected from specific geographic districts tied to physical location rather than non-spatial traits.

Reapportionment

The redistribution of the 435 seats in the US House of Representatives among states based on population changes recorded in the decennial Census.

Redistricting

The physical redrawing of internal electoral district boundaries within a state to accommodate population shifts after a census.

Gerrymandering

Redrawing electoral district boundaries specifically to give one political party or candidate an unfair electoral advantage.

Cracking and Packing

Cracking splits opposition voters across many districts to dilute their vote; Packing concentrates opposition voters into a single district to waste their excess votes.

Supranational Organization

An institution created by three or more sovereign states to promote international political, economic, or security cooperation (e.g., UN, EU).

European Union (EU)

A regional supranational organization of 27 European states featuring a single economic market, borderless travel, and a shared currency (Euro).

Brexit

The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union following a 2016 referendum, driven by sovereign control and immigration debates.