State: geographic area with defined borders, permanent population, and sovereign government

Nation: a group of people with shared culture, history, and desire to govern themselves

Different Political Entities

• Nation state: self-governing state with a uniform population and strong national identity

  • Examples: Japan, Iceland, South Korea

• Multinational state: consists of multiple nations within its borders

  • Example: Canada with English and French linguistic groups

• Multi-state nation: a nation that exists across multiple states

  • Example: Kurdish population in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Armenia, and Azerbaijan

• Stateless nation: a nation with a history of self-determination but no officially recognized state

  • Example: Kurds and Basques

Autonomous and Semi-Autonomous Regions

• Autonomous region: located within a state, with a high degree of independence

  • Example: Native American reservations in the United States

• Semi-autonomous region: controlled by another state, with a moderate degree of self-governance

  • Example: Hong Kong under the authority of the central government of China

Impact of Historical Events on Political Processes

• Colonialism: acquiring territories to exert control

• Imperialism: growing a state or empire by exerting force over other nations

• Decolonization: process by which colonies gain independence from their colonizers

• Devolution: transfer of political power from a central government to a regional government

Territoriality and Influence

• Territoriality: the tendency to establish and defend a specific geographic area

• Neocolonialism: indirect use of political, cultural, or economic power to influence or control another country

• China's neocolonial tactics in Africa: investment in infrastructure, creating political alliances, and gaining more influence and control

Shatter Belts

• Shatter belts are areas subject to political, cultural, and economic pressure from conflicting external powers, leading to instability and uncertainty.

  • Eastern Europe during the Cold War is an example, where people were caught in the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.

• The Korean War also illustrates a shatter belt region, with both sides fighting for control of the Korean Peninsula, resulting in the splitting of North and South Korea.

Choke Points

• Choke points are geographic areas that must be passed through to reach a destination, and controlling them holds significant political power.

  • Countries can exert influence over choke points by stationing military forces, investing in infrastructure, or creating treaties.

  • Examples of choke points include the Panama Canal, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Suez Canal.

Political Boundaries

• Boundaries are defined, delimited, and demarcated, with various types such as geometric, antecedent, relic, superimposed, subsequent, and consequent boundaries.

  • Geometric boundaries follow latitude and longitude lines, while antecedent boundaries are determined by local geography.

  • The Berlin Wall represents a relic boundary, and subsequent boundaries in Europe are based on linguistic and cultural landscapes.

  • Consequent boundaries, like the Pakistan-India border, separate various ethnic, religious, or linguistic groups.

• Stateless nations are geographic areas where no state has direct power or control.

Functions of Boundaries

• International boundaries separate sovereign states and are established through treaties and agreements.

  • Internal boundaries separate regions within a single state and are used to distribute power and ensure representation.

• Boundary disputes include definitional, locational, operational, and allocational disputes, often requiring third-party intervention for resolution.

• The United Nations convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS) addresses allocational boundary disputes in the sea, with territorial waters, contiguous zones, and exclusive economic zones.

• Internal boundaries, such as voting districts, are redrawn through redistricting to reflect changes in the population.

Territorial Waters

• Territorial Waters extend 12 nautical miles from the shore, allowing states to set laws regulating passage by ships registered in other states.

  • The contiguous zone is between 12 and 24 nautical miles from the shore, where a state may enforce laws concerning pollution, taxation, customs, and immigration.

  • The exclusive economic zone (EEZ) extends 200 nautical miles, granting states the sole right to natural resources in the area.

Internal Boundaries

• Internal boundaries, established by the state's government, include congressional districts, county boundaries, city boundaries, and voting districts.

  • Redistricting, carried out after the census, involves redrawing districts to better reflect the area's population and is often handled by third-party organizations or state legislators.

Gerrymandering

• State legislators are primarily responsible for creating voting districts.

  • Some states use an independent commission for this purpose, but they are in the minority.

• Gerrymandering methods include cracking (spreading like-minded voters across many districts) and packing (stacking like-minded voters into a few districts).

  • Gerrymandering can lead to unfair representation and decreased competition in political races.

Forms of Governance

• Unitary States

  • Power is centralized at the national level.

  • Typically seen in smaller states with a homogeneous population.

• Federal States

  • Power is distributed between the national and regional governments.

  • Used by states with a large geographic area or high diversity.

Devolution

• Refers to the transfer of political power from a central government to a regional government.

  • Factors leading to devolution include physical geography, cultural divisions, and political instability.

• Ethnic separatism and cultural division can also contribute to devolutionary pressures.

  • Examples include the Basques, Catalans in Spain, and the Kurds in the Middle East.

• Economic and social inequalities, government corruption, and irredentism can also lead to devolution.

Disintegration of States

• Sometimes, a state may disintegrate, leading to the creation of new states.

  • Examples include South Sudan's independence from Sudan and the disintegration of the former Soviet Union.

Impact of Technological Advancements

• Technological advancements and globalization can challenge a state's sovereignty.

  • Information sharing across the world can contribute to these challenges.

Influence of Social Media and the Internet

• Social media and the internet can contribute to the devolution, disintegration, or new challenges for a state's sovereignty.

• Access to more information can reduce the control and power of autocratic governments as people become more aware of their government's actions.

Impact of Technology and Globalization

• Advancements in technology and globalization have challenged state sovereignty, as countries need to consider the impact of their decisions on the global community.

• Reliance on commodities such as oil and natural gas traded in the global market can make countries dependent on other states with these resources.

Supernational Organizations

• Supernational organizations, consisting of multiple countries, impact a country's sovereignty by working together to achieve common goals or address specific issues.

• These organizations seek to maintain political stability in a region or around the world.

Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces

• Centrifugal forces, such as uneven economic and social development, cultural differences, and political corruption, can divide people, a state, or a group.

• Centripetal forces, including strong patriotism and shared history, language, and religion, help keep the state united and together.