Chapter 8 APHUGS vocab

state

An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control over its internal and foreign affairs.

microstate

A state that encompasses a very small land area.

centripetal force

forces that tend to unify a country

centrifugal force

forces that tend to divide a country

Sovereignty

Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states.

nation-state

A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality

city-state

A sovereign state comprising a city and its immediate hinterland.

Self-determination

Concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves

Multiethnic state

A state that contains more than one ethnicity

multinational state

State that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities.

stateless nation

a type of stat whereby a group of people have a shared identity but lack a sovereign state

colony

A territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than completely independent.

Colonialism

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

boundry

An invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory

frontier

A zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control.

compact state

A state in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly.

elongated state

A state with a long, narrow shape.

Prorupted State

an otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension

Perforated State

a state that completely surrounds another one

fragmented state

A state that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory.

landlocked state

A state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea.

Democracy

A country in which citizens elect leaders and can run for office

Autocracy

A country that is run according to the interests of the ruler rather than the people

Anocracy

A country that is not fully democratic or fully autocratic, but rather displays a mix of the two types.

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 most powers to units of local government.

Devolution

The process whereby regions within a state demand and gain political strength and growing autonomy; resulting in the loss of central government power

Reapportionment

Process by which representative districts are redistributed according to population shifts; occurs after each census

Gerrymandering

Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.

Balance of Power

Condition of roughly equal strength between opposing countries or alliances of countries.

supranational organization

A venture involving three or more nation-states involving formal political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives. The European Union is one such organization

Terrorism

The systematic use of violence by a group calculated to create an atmosphere of fear and alarm among a population or to coerce a government into actions it would not otherwise undertake or refrain from actions it wants to take