Unit 4 Part 2 Political Geography

A comprehensive set of flashcards covering key terms and concepts related to political geography and governance.

Autocracy

A system of government in which one person has absolute power.

Democracy

A system of government in which the whole population or all eligible members have the power, typically through elected representatives.

Anocracy

A political system which is neither fully democratic nor fully autocratic, often being vulnerable to political instability.

Centrifugal Force

Forces that tend to divide a state, such as internal religious, linguistic, ethnic, or ideological differences.

Centripetal Force

Forces that tend to unify a state, such as widespread commitment to a national culture, shared ideological objectives, and a common faith.

Federal State

An internal organization of a state that allocates most powers to units of local government.

Unitary State

An internal organization of a state that allocates most powers to the national government.

Census

Used to gather information about where people live within a state and determine if redistricting is necessary.

Reapportionment

The process of redistributing seats in the House of Representatives or other legislative bodies according to population.

Redistricting

The process to divide or organize an area into new political or school districts.

Gerrymandering

When a politician manipulates the boundaries of an electoral constituency to favor one party or class.

Cracking (wasted)

Diluting the voting power of the opposing party's supporters across many districts.

Packing (excess)

Concentrating the opposing party's voting power in one district to reduce their power in others.

Stacking (obvious)

Creates obviously shaped districts used to gain enough votes to win an election.

Geopolitics

Politics, especially international relations, as influenced by geographical factors.

Territoriality

The attempt to influence or control actions by asserting control over a specific geographic area.

Devolution

The movement of power from the central government to regional governments or the breakup of a large state into independent ones.

Balkanization

The process by which a state breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities.

Irredentism

A policy advocating the restoration of territory formerly belonging to a state.

Organic State Theory

The theory that states should be allowed to grow by consuming weaker states.

Heartland Theory

The hypothesis that any political power based in the heart of Eurasia could dominate the world.

Shatterbelt

A region caught between stronger external cultural-political forces and often fragmented.

Supranational Organization

An international group where member states share decision making beyond national boundaries.

N.A.T.O.

A military alliance of countries bordering the North Atlantic Ocean established to provide collective defense.

U.S.S.R.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a former communist country dissolved in 1991.

United Nations

A supranational organization formed in 1945 to promote political and economic cooperation.

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance of communist nations in Eastern Europe, organized in response to NATO.

Terrorism

The unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, for political aims.

Suspect States

States believed to possess illegal nuclear weapons.

Wallerstein’s World System Theory

A theory stating the world has one global economy and a global division of labor.

Periphery State

A state that provides raw materials needed by the global economy.

Semi-periphery State

A state that produces products using raw materials from the periphery.

Rimland Theory

The idea that the USA and NATO should contain the Soviet Union by creating a land rim around the Heartland.

Core State

States that are mass consumers of raw materials and goods produced in periphery and semi-periphery states.