unit 4 vocab

State

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

Sovereignty

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

Nation

A group of people with a shared cultural heritage, beliefs, and values, who often see themselves as distinct from others and desire self-determination.

Nation-State

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

Self-determination

The concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves.

Multinational State

A state that contains more than one ethnicity with traditions of self-determination and self-management.

Multiethnic State

A state that contains more than one ethnicity.

Stateless Nation

A nation that does not have a territory to call its own (e.g., the Kurds, Palestinians).

Centripetal Force

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

Centrifugal Force

An attitude or force that tends to pull people apart, weaken support for a state, and can lead to devolution.

Boundary

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

Physical Boundary

A political boundary that coincides with significant features of the natural landscape, such as mountains, rivers, or deserts.

Cultural Boundary

A political boundary that follows the distribution of cultural characteristics, such as language or religion.

Geometric Boundary

A political boundary drawn in a regular, geometric manner, often using lines of latitude and longitude.

Antecedent Boundary

A boundary drawn before the cultural landscape was well populated.

Subsequent Boundary

A boundary drawn after a cultural landscape is already established, considering the existing cultural patterns.

Superimposed Boundary

A boundary that has been imposed on an area by a conquering power or a colonizing authority, ignoring the existing cultural landscape.

Relict Boundary

A former boundary that no longer functions as an official boundary but is still visible in the cultural landscape.

Territoriality

A country's sense of property and attachment toward its territory.

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 places most power in the hands of central government officials.

Confederation

A system in which sovereign states delegate power to a central government for specific purposes.

Devolution

The transfer of power from the central government to regional or local governments within a state.

Autonomous Region

An area within a state that has a high degree of self-government and freedom from the central authority.

Supranationalism

Cooperation among three or more countries for mutual benefit.

United Nations (UN)

An international organization founded in 1945 to promote peace, security, and cooperation.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

A military alliance formed in 1949 by nations of Western Europe and North America.

European Union (EU)

A political and economic union of member states located primarily in Europe.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

A political and economic organization of ten Southeast Asian countries.

African Union (AU)

A continental union consisting of all 55 member states of the African continent.

Electoral Geography

The study of the spatial organization of political preferences and their impact on election outcomes.

Gerrymandering

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

Majority-Minority District

A legislative district deliberately created to include a majority of minority voters.

Geopolitics

The study of the effects of geography on politics and international relations.

Mackinder's Heartland Theory

A geopolitical hypothesis that control of Eurasia was key to world domination.

Spykman's Rimland Theory

A geopolitical hypothesis that control of the coastal fringes of Eurasia was key to world power.

Separatism

The advocacy of or support for separation of a particular group or region from a larger political unit.

Irredentism

A political principle advocating the restoration of territory formerly belonging to a country.

Terrorism

The systematic use of violence by a group to create an atmosphere of fear to achieve political objectives.