Unit 4: Political Patterns and Processes

Unit 4 List 1 vocabulary

Nation

a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.

Nation-state

a sovereign state whose citizens or subjects are relatively homogeneous in factors such as language or common descent.

Democratization

the process of creating a government elected by the people

Multi State Nation

nation that transcends the borders of two or more states

Stateless Nation

A nation that does not have a state. Example: Palestinians, Kurds, Basque, Rohingya

Colonialism

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

Capitalism

an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

Centripetal forces

An attitude that tends to unify people and enhance support for a state

Centrifugal forces

things that cause division within the state (ex: political, religious, or economic conflict)

Unitary State

An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials

Federal State

An internal organization of a state that allocates strong power to units of local government

Devolution

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

Reapportionment

the process of reassigning representation based on population, after every census

Boundary

vertical plane between states that cuts through the rocks below, and the airspace above the surface

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.

autonomous region (semi autonomous)

self ruled region within another country - examples: Xinjiang, China or Native American reservations

supranational organization

A venture involving three or more states ceding SOME sovereignty for political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives. (EU)

UN (United Nations)

A supranational organization formed after WWII to promote international peace, security, and cooperation.

League of Nations

Supranational organization established after World War I; Failed precursor to the United Nations.

EU(European Union)

A supranational organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members.

ASEAN

an association of nations dedicated to economic and political cooperation in southeastern Asia and who joined with the United States to fight against global terrorism

NAFTA (now USMCA)

A trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico that encourages free trade between these North American countries.

OPEC

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries