Geopolitics and Technological Changes: State & State-Building

Flashcards covering the definitions and concepts of states, government, sovereignty, and various political systems based on the lecture notes.

State (Polity)

A centralized political organization that regulates a society, such as Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Brazil, and Colombia.

State-building

The process through which a state is formed, for example, the unification of Germany and Italy.

Four essential elements of states

Population, Government, Territory, and Sovereignty.

Government

The most important agent of the state responsible for carrying out statecraft.

Regime

The system of a rule of the state, such as democracy, autocracy, dictatorship, or anocracy.

Fascism

An extreme political ideology where the state and government are the same, and opposition groups are never allowed.

Capital city

A special type of city where the central government (executive, congress, ministries, military commands, etc.) is situated, typically designated by law or constitution.

Planned capital cities

Capital cities that are not situated in the economic, cultural, political, or historical hub of a state, such as Brasilia, Ottawa, Jerusalem, Nursultan (Kazakhstan), and Canberra.

Populous states

States with large populations, such as China and India, which occupy almost $25\%$ of the total global population.

City-states

Small states such as San Marino, which has a population of $34,042$.

Sovereignty

Absolute authority in a state with no higher authorities within the border; it involves legislating laws, legitimate use of force, controlling society, and taxation.

Territory

Physical, geographical areas belonging to a state that are demarcated by borders.

Territorial integrity

The principle that sovereign states have the right to occupy territories under their control.

Anarchy

A condition in which a society lacks sovereignty, leading to the survival of the fittest and dominance by the powerful.

Taxation

The legitimate collection of money by the government from its citizens.

Conscription

The legitimate practice of a government forcing citizens to fight in the armed forces.

Rebel governance

Areas where civilians are controlled by rebels and which possess no sovereignty, such as FARC’s territory.

Unrecognized states

Entities with a functioning government (de facto sovereignty) that are not recognized by other states, such as Abkhazia, Kosovo, Taiwan, and Somaliland.

Confederation

A union of sovereign states where the sovereignty of individual states is respected, such as the European Union.

Colonies

Entities with a fully functioning government where sovereignty is held by a foreign state, such as British India or Angola under Portugal.

Unitary states

Centralized states with undivided sovereignty where local or regional governments have limited decision-making power.

Federation

Decentralized states with dispersed sovereignty where local or regional governments have extensive decision-making power, often occurring when states are huge in size.

Ethno-federation

A type of federation where the boundaries of local or regional governments almost coincide with ethnic boundaries, such as Quebec in Canada or Kalmykia in Russia.

Standard federation

A federation where local or regional government boundaries do not match ethnic boundaries, such as most states in the USA.

Hybrid system

A system combining a unitary system with autonomous regions to prevent separatist movements when ethnic minorities are clustered in certain regions.

State failure

A situation where sovereign states do not perform properly, causing internal and external problems, as seen in Myanmar, Afghanistan, Somalia, Lebanon, North Korea, and South Sudan.