Geography Ch. 8

Political geography

Political geography

is the study of the organization and spatial distribution of political phenomena

Nationality

is a basic element in cultural variation among people

State

• Any of the political units forming a federal government OR.
• Independent political unit holding sovereignty over a
territory (country, nation).
Textbook usage.
• A state on the international scale is defined as an
independent political unit occupying a defined permanently
populated territory and having full sovereign control over its
internal and foreign affairs (country).

Nation

• Independent political unit holding sovereignty over a
territory OR.
• Community of people with a common culture and territory.
Textbook usage.
• A group of people with a common culture occupying a
particular territory, bound together by a strong sense of
unity arising from shared beliefs and customs.

Chiefdoms

that lacked rigid boundaries

Feudal system

based on personal allegiance and vassalage

Empire

culturally distinct regions held together by force

Territorial states

Nation-state

• State whose territory coincides with that occupied by a
distinct nation or people, or at least, whose population
shares a general sense of cohesion and adherence to a
set of common values.
• Very few countries can claim to be true nation-states, For Example, Poland and Slovenia.

Binational or multinational state

• Contains more than one nation, For Example, Switzerland.

Part-nation state

• Single nation dispersed across and predominant in two or more states, For Example, the Arab nation.

Stateless nation

• People without a state, For Example, the Kurds, Roma, Basques and Palestinians.

International boundaries

• Lines that establish the limit of a state’s jurisdiction and authority.
• Serve as powerful reinforcers of cultural variation over the earth’s surface.
• Are three dimensional.
• Frontier zones.

Natural (physical) boundaries

• Based on recognizable physiographic features such as mountains, rivers and lakes.
• Disadvantages.

Artificial (geometric) boundaries

Frequently delimited as sections of parallels or meridians

Boundaries classified by settlement Types of subsequent boundaries

Consequent (ethnographic) boundary.
• Drawn to accommodate existing cultural differences.
Superimposed boundary.
• Ignore existing cultural patterns.

Relic boundary

Marks a former boundary line

Colonial boundaries

Arbitrary administrative divisions.
• Not based on meaningful cultural or physical lines.
Problems with “nation-building” after independence.

Resource disputes

Neighboring states are likely to covet the resources – whether they be physical or cultural – lying in border areas and to disagree over their use

Physical size

• World’s largest country is Russia.
• Ministates-are vestiges of colonial systems that no longer exist or of the fragmented feudal system that applied to Europe throughout the medieval period, often less than 1000 square kilometers
• Advantages and disadvantages of large states vs. small states.
• Size alone is not critical in determining a country’s stability and strength, but it is a contributing factor.

Shape

ng factor.

Compact states

are fairly regular in shape and allow all places to be reached from the center in a minimal amount of time

Prorupt states

are compact but with one or two narrow extensions of territory

Elongated states

parts of the country are likely to be isolated and experience a greater diversity of climate, resources, and peoples

Fragmented states

include countries composed entirely of islands (e.g., the Philippines and Indonesia) and countries that are partly on islands and partly on the mainland (Denmark, Tanzania, and Malaysia)

Perforated states

completely surrounds a territory that it does not rule, like the Republic of South Africa surrounds Lesotho

Exclave

a special case of fragmentation occurs when a territorial outlier of one state

Enclave

the surrounded territory, may be independent or may be part of another state

Core area

• Nucleus and main center of industry, commerce,
population, political, and intellectual life.
• Capital is usually in the core and frequently the primate city.

Unitary states

capital typically associated with core

Federal states

capital may have been newly created

Capitals

Regional government/asymmetric federalism: regional
capitals.
Forward-thrust capitals: deliberately sited in frontier zone

Nationalism

Identification with the state and acceptance of national goals.
• Strengthens the political system.
• Helps integrate different groups into a unified population.
• Symbols (icons) are used to promote nationalism.

Although a powerful centripetal agency, is also potentially a very disruptive centrifugal force

Unifying Institutions

Schools, armed forces and sometimes a state church

Religion

• May compete with state for people’s allegiance.
• Conflict between majority and minority faiths may destabilize social order.
• Opposing sectarian views within a single dominant faith may promote civil conflict.

Subnationalism

• Feeling that one owes primary allegiance to a traditional group or nation rather than to the state.
Right to self-determination

Regionalism

• Minority group identification with a particular region of a
state rather than with the state as a whole.
• May be expressed as a desire for self-government or even
separation from the rest of the country.

Separatists movements may seek

• Regional autonomy or.
• Complete independence.

Preconditions common to all separatist movements.
• Territory.
• Nationality.
Other common characteristics of separatist movements.
• Peripheral location.
• Social and economic inequality.

Devolution

Decentralization of political control

Ethnic cleansing

• Tactic used to transform a multinational area into one
containing only one nation.
• Killing or forcible relocation of one traditional or ethnic
group by a more powerful one.

Minority group identification

• Conflicts can arise if the people
of one state claim and seek to
acquire a territory whose
population is historically or
ethnically related to that of the
state but is now subject to a
foreign government.

Potential trouble spots.
• Irredentism.
• Desire of a state to gain or regain territory inhabited by people
who have historic or cultural links to the country.
• Location of ethnic homeland spans border.
• Internal separatist movement.

Supranationalism

• Associations of three or more states created for mutual benefit and to achieve shared objectives.
• Nearly all countries are members of at least one – most are members of many – supranational groupings.

United Nations (U N)

• 193 members in 2021.
• Provides a forum where countries can discuss international problems and regional concerns and a mechanism for forestalling disputes or ending wars.
• Sponsors 40 programs and agencies.

Recent changes:
• “Interventionism”.
• “International jurisdiction over inalienable human rights”.

Gerrymandering

• Drawing the boundaries of legislative districts so as to unfairly favor one political party over another, fragment voting blocs, or achieve other nondemocratic objectives.
• Stacked gerrymandering.
• Excess vote technique.
• Wasted vote strategy.

Stacked

involves drawing circuitous boundaries to enclose pockets of strength or weakness of the group in power

Excess vote

technique concentrates the support of the opposition in a few districts, which it can win easily, but leaves it few potential seats elsewhere

Wasted vote

strategy dilutes the opposition’s strength by dividing its votes among a number of districts