APHG Unit 4 - Political Geography Vocab

Antecedent boundary

A boundary line established before an area is populated.

Balkanization

The contentious political process by which a state may break up into smaller countries.

Buffer state

A relatively small country sandwiched between two larger powers. The existence of buffer states may help to prevent dangerous conflicts between powerful countries.

Centrifugal forces

Forces that tend to divide a country.

Centripetal forces

Forces that tend to unite or bind a country together.

Colonialism

The expansion and perpetuation of an empire.

Commonwealth of independent states

Confederacy of independent states of the former Soviet Union that have united because of their common economic and administrative needs.

Compact state

A state that possesses a roughly circular, oval, or rectangular territory in which the distance from the geometric center is relatively equal in all directions.

Confederation

A form of an international organization that brings several autonomous states together for a common purpose.

Democratization

The process of establishing representative and accountable forms of government led by popularly elected officials.

Devolution

The delegation of legal authority from a central government to lower levels of political organization, such as a state or country.

Domino Theory

The idea that political destabilization in one country can lead to collapse of political stability in neighboring countries, starting a chain reaction of collapse.

East/West divide

Geographic separation between the largely democratic and free-market countries of Western Europe and the Americas from the communist and socialist countries of Eastern Europe and Asia.

Electoral college

A certain number of electors from each state proportional to and seemingly representative of that state’s population. Each elector chooses a candidate, believing they are representing their constituency’s choice.

Electoral vote

The choice expressed collectively by the electoral college to determine the president and vice-president of the United States.

Elongated state

A state whose territory is long and narrow in shape.

Enclaves

Any small and relatively homogenous group or region surrounded by another larger and different group or region.

European Union

International organization comprising Western European countries to promote free trade among members.

Exclave

A bounded territory that is part of a particular state but is separated from it by the territory of a different state.

Federalism

A system of government in which power is distributed among certain geographical territories rather than concentrated within a central government.

Fragmented state

A state that is not a contiguous whole but rather separated parts.

Frontier

An area where borders are shifting and weak and where peoples of different cultures or nationalities meet and lay claim to the land.

Geometric boundaries

Political boundaries that are defined and delimited by straight lines.

Geopolitics

The study of the interplay between political relations and the territorial context in which they occur.

Gerrymandering

The designation of voting districts so as to favor a particular political party or candidate.

Heartland Theory

Hypothesis proposed by Halford Mackinder that held that any political power based in the heart of Eurasia could gain enough strength to eventually dominate the world.

Imperialism

The perpetuation of a colonial empire even after it is no longer politically sovereign.

Forceful extension of a nation's authority by conquest or by establishing economic and political domination of other nations that aren't it's colonies.

International organization

An alliance of two or more countries seeking cooperation with each other without giving up either’s autonomy or self-determination.

Irredentism

A policy of advocating for the return of a territory to a country it formerly belonged to.

Landlocked state

A state that is completely surrounded by the land of other states, which gives it a disadvantage in terms of accessibility to and from international trade routes.

Law of the sea

Law establishing states’ rights and responsibilities concerning the ownership and use of the earth’s seas and oceans and their resources.

Lebensraum

Hitler’s expansionist theory based on a drive to acquire “living space” for the German people.

Microstate

A state or territory that is small in both population and area.

Nation

Tightly knit group of individuals sharing a common language, ethnicity, religion, and other cultural attributes.

Nationalism

A sense of national pride to such an extent of exalting one nation above all others.

Nation-state

A country whose population possesses a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and unity.

North American Free Trade Agreement

Agreement signed on January 1, 1994, that allows the opening of borders between the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

An international organization of member states that have joined together for military purposes.

North/South divide

The economic division between the wealthy countries of Europe and North America, Japan, and Australia and the generally poorer countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Organic Theory

The view that states resemble biological organisms with life cycles that include stages of youth, maturity, and old age.

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

An international economic organization whose member countries all produce and export oil.

Perforated state

A state whose territory completely surrounds that of another state.

Physical boundaries

Political boundaries that correspond with prominent physical features such as mountain ranges or rivers.

Political geography

The spatial analysis of political phenomena and processes.

Popular vote

The tally of each individual’s vote within a given geographic area.

Prorupted state

A state that exhibits a narrow, elongated land extension leading away from the main territory.

Reapportionment

The process of a reallocation of electoral seats to defined territories.

Rectangular state

A state whose territory is rectangular in shape.

Redistricting

The drawing of new electoral district boundary lines in response to population changes.

Relic boundaries

Old political boundaries that no longer exist as international borders, but that have left an enduring mark on the local cultural or environmental geography.

Rimland Theory

Nicholas Spykman’s theory that the domination of the coastal fringes of Eurasia would provide the base for world conquest.

Self-determination

The right of a nation to govern itself autonomously.

Sovereignty

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

Shatterbelt

A region of persistent political fragmentation due to devolution and centrifugal forces.

State

A politically organized territory that is administered by a sovereign government and is recognized by the international community.

Stateless nation

A group of people with a common political identity who do not have a territorially defined, sovereign country of their own.

States’ rights

Rights and powers believed to be in the authority of the states rather than the federal government.

Subsequent boundary

Boundary line established after an area has been settled that considers the social and cultural characteristics of the area.

Superimposed boundary

Boundary line drawn in an area ignoring the existing cultural pattern.

Supranational organization

Organization of three or more states to promote shared objectives.

Territorial dispute

Any dispute over land ownership.

Territorial organization

Political organization that distributes political power in more easily governed units of land.

Theocracy

A state whose government is either believed to be divinely guided or a state under the control of a group of religious leaders.

Unitary state

A state governed constitutionally as a unit, without internal divisions or a federalist delegation of powers.

United Nations

A global supranational organization established at the end of World War II to foster international security and cooperation.