APHG Unit 4 Vocabulary - Political Patterns and Processes

Administered Boundary

The final process in the creation of a state's boundary, this allows for a country to run the day to day operations.

African Union

Continental union of 55 member states within Africa with the goal of moving the continent towards peace and prosperity through boosting development, eradication of poverty, and bringing Africa into the global economy.

Antecedent Boundary

A boundary that existed before the cultural landscape emerged and stayed in place while people moved in to occupy the surrounding area.

Arctic Council

An intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination, and interaction among the Arctic States, Arctic indigenous communities, and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues, in particular on issues of sustainable development and environmental protection of the Arctic.

Association of South East Asian Nations

Supranational organization promoting the acceleration of economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region through joint endeavours.

Autonomous Regions

A region that exists within another larger entity and has the power to govern itself. Typically these regions are geographically distinct from the larger entity (Greenland and Denmark) or is populated by the state's ethnic minority.

Choke Points

Geographic features on land or sea that is much narrower than the overall landscape and causes decreased combat power militarily; as such, these are strategic targets for terrorism or colonial control.

Colonialism

The policy of a state seeking to have authority over other people and territories accompanied by the transfer of their population to these territories.

Consequent Boundary

A boundary drawn to accommodate existing religious, linguistic, ethnic, or economic differences between countries.

Cultural Cohesion

The capacity to live together in harmony with a sense of mutual commitment among citizens of different social or economic circumstances.

Defined Boundary

The second stage of the creation of a boundary where parties formally write down an agreement setting up the border.

Delimited Boundary

The first stage of the creation of a boundary where parties draw borders on a map.

Demarcated Boundary

The third stage of the creation of a boundary where borders are marked on the landscape through visible means.

Demilitarized Zones

An area in which treaties or agreements between powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel.

Democratization

The introduction of democratic systems or principles within a society.

Devolution

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

Economies of Scale

Cost advantages that businesses and enterprises obtain through the scale of the operation, typically with per cost unit decreasing with an increasing scale.

Equitable Infrastructure Development

The construction of infrastructure, usually with input from community members, that attempts to create a more equitable distribution of those resources for a population.

Established Territorial Seas

Based upon international law, countries have the right to establish a territorial border within the seas extending to 12 nautical miles.

Ethnic Cleansing

The attempt to create an ethnically homogeneous geographic area through expulsion, imprisonment, or killing of an ethnic minority.

Ethnic Nationalism (Ethnonationalism)

The right of a group of people who considered themselves separate and distinct from others to determine for themselves the state in which they will live and the form of government it will have.

Ethnic Separatism

Movements calling for greater independence or autonomy from a larger territorial unit.

European Union

A supranational organization designed to promote peace, well-being of its citizens, freedom, security, and justice along with sustainable development through balanced economic growth, combating social exclusion, promoting scientific progress, etc.

Exclusive Economic Zones

Coastal waters extending no more than 200 nautical miles from the territorial sea baseline and adjacent to 12 nautical mile territorial sea of a country within which the country claims exclusive rights for fishing, drilling, and other economic activities.

Failed States

A political body that has disintegrated to a point where basic conditions and responsibilities of governance cease to exist or operate normally.

Federal States

Governing systems that operate with a division of power that is shared among various levels of governance. (For example: state and federal levels).

Geometric Boundary

A political boundary defined and delimited as a straight line or arc.

Gerrymandering

The reapportionment of political boundaries that benefit or favor one political party or class over another.

Imperialism

The practice of domination of one people over another through various forms like settlement, sovereignty, or indirect mechanisms of control.

Independence Movements

Regions and people who are attempting to seek control over their internal political affairs through devolution, balkanization, etc.

Independent State

A country free of external control

Irredentism

A policy of attempting to establish cultural cohesion and potential political expansion by a country aimed at a group of nationals living in a neighboring country.

Land Boundary

A physical boundary composed of features of land like mountains and deserts.

Maritime Boundary

A physical boundary composed of features of the seas like rivers, lakes, etc. and includes those designated in the UNCLOS

Military Alliances

Supranational organization promoting the cooperation of member states through military measures, like defense treaties.

Multinational State

A country whose people derive from many different national backgrounds.

Multistate Nation

A group of nationals who are living within two separate states.

Nation

A group of people who share a common ethnic background (history, language, culture, hearth), and who seek or hold political self-determination - not just ethnic togetherness, but implies political togetherness as well.

Nation-State

A state whose borders coincide with the current distribution of the nationals of that state.

Neocolonialism

A more modern form of colonization that refers to the control that MDCs exert over global affairs economically and culturally through multinational corporations.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

A military alliance aimed at protecting the United States and Western European allies during the Cold War through a defense treaty and promise of war against aggressor nations.

Redistricting

The redrawing of electoral districts that coincides with the census so that equal representation exists in the House of Representatives.

Relic Boundary (Relict)

A boundary that no longer serves a purpose, but that once did.

Self-Determination

The process by which a country determines its own statehood and forms its own governmental system.

Semiautonomous Region

The ability of a region to govern itself in certain agreed upon areas, but without full/complete power to govern.

Shatterbelt

A region whose internal geographical, cultural, religious, and political fragmentation is compounded by pressures from external powers attracted to the regions strategic location and/or economic resources.

Sovereignty

The authority of a state to govern itself or another state.

State

A politically organized body of people that occupies a defined territory and includes sovereignty, circulation of money, permanent populations, and international recognition.

Stateless Nation

An ethnic group that is potentially dispersed between multiple state and that does not have a state of their own.

Subsequent Boundary

A boundary that is established after the settlement of a people with an attempt to accommodate cultural differences between peoples that exist in the area.

Superimposed Boundary

A boundary that is established by an outside power or conquering people without concern to pre-existing cultural boundaries of people that already lived in a space.

Supranationalism

Political, economic, cultural, or military cooperation among multiple states to promote shared objectives through the ceding of some authority to a higher power.

Territoriality

Attitudes and behavior held by a person or group that is based on perceived, attempted, or actual control of a physical space, object, or idea, which may involve habitual occupation, defense, personalization, and marking of the territory.

Terrorism

The unlawful use of violence and intimidation especially against civilians in the pursuit of political aims.

Trade Agreements

Contractual arrangement between states concerning their trade relationships.

Uneven Development

The unequal distribution of people, wealth, and resources. A critique of capitalism, especially from the Marxist point of view.

Unitary State

A country whose governing power is rested in a central body.

United Nations

A supranational organization developed after WWII with the intention of creating a more peaceful world through collective security, shared scientific endeavors, shared economic ventures, among others.

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

An international conference (UNCLOS III) developed the agreement that defines rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world's oceans.

Voting Districts

A territorial subdivision for electing members of the legislative body (also called electoral districts).