APHG - Unit 4: Political Boundaries and Forms of Governance V2 2024-202
Political System
The political system consists of the institutions, organizations, and constitutional arrangements that form a government or state (country).
The nation-state is the world's main political system, but past examples include empires, leagues, city-states, tribes, and clans.
State/Country
A state/country is an independent and internationally recognized territory with a defined boundary, a permanent population, and full sovereignty over its domestic and international affairs.
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the power of a political unit or government to rule over its own affairs, meaning independence from control of its internal affairs by other states.
Boundaries
Boundaries are lines that establish the limits of a state's (country's) authority.
The boundary line separates states and can also apply to counties, municipalities (cities, towns, etc.), and voting districts.
Nation
A nation is a group of people with a common cultural heritage, a set of unifying beliefs and values, a traditional claim to a particular space as their homeland, and/or a desire to establish their own state or express self-rule.
Nation-State
A nation-state is a nation of people who fulfill the qualifications of a state.
Multinational State
A multinational state is a state/country that contains more than one nation.
Autonomous Region
An autonomous region is a defined area within a state with a high degree of self-government and freedom from its parent state.
Semiautonomous Region
A semiautonomous region is a state that has a degree of, but not complete, self-rule.
Stateless Nation
A stateless nation is a nation/cultural group that has no independent political entity.
Examples include the Navajo Indians in the Americas, the Palestinians, and the Kurds.
Multistate Nation
A multistate nation is when a nation has a state of its own but stretches across borders of other states.
An example is the Korean nation, divided primarily between North and South Korea, but with large numbers of Korean people in China and the United States.
Physical Geographic Boundaries
Physical geographic boundaries are natural barriers between areas, such as oceans, deserts, and mountains.
For example, the Missouri River divides Iowa and Nebraska, and the Himalayan Mountains separate India and China.
Cultural Boundaries
Cultural boundaries divide people according to some cultural division, such as language, religion, or ethnicity.
These boundaries may exist in the midst of a gradual change over space.
Antecedent Boundary
An antecedent boundary is a boundary that preceded the development of the cultural landscape.
Subsequent Boundary
A subsequent boundary is created while the cultural landscape is evolving and is subject to change over time.
These boundaries are characteristically ethnographic and may be drawn to accommodate ethnic, religious, linguistic, or economic differences among groups.
Subsequent boundaries are often altered as a result of non-cultural developments such as governmental negotiations or war.
Ethnographic
Ethnographic relates to cultural phenomena.
Balkanization
Balkanization is when a small geographic area cannot be successfully organized into stable countries because it is inhabited by many ethnicities with complex, long-standing antagonisms toward each other.
It is the process by which a state breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities.
Superimposed Boundary
A superimposed boundary is drawn by outside powers and may ignore existing cultural patterns.
These boundaries often lack conformity to natural features and are superimposed on the landscape.
Berlin Conference (The Scramble for Africa)
The Berlin Conference (1884-1885) paved the way for the colonization of Africa, or what Europeans regarded as "effective occupation" of the continent.
At the time of the conference, only some coastal areas were colonized by the Europeans, and around 80 percent of the continent was under traditional and local control.
As a result of the conference, a series of superimposed boundaries were established, initially with little knowledge of the terrain or the cultural borders.
One of the legacies of this "Scramble for Africa" was the creation of around 50 irregularly shaped countries out of the more than 1,000 indigenous cultures that inhabited the continent.
Of the 54 current African countries, 17 are landlocked states.
Ethnic Cleansing (Genocide)
Ethnic cleansing (genocide) is the systematic killing, torturing, or removal of persons with the intention of eliminating a specific group based on race, ethnicity, religion, or nationality.
Landlocked States
Landlocked states are states without territory connected to an ocean.
The increased cost of importing and exporting goods through neighboring countries presents these states with a perpetual geographic and political disadvantage.
Governments of landlocked states inherently deal from a weakened position and struggle to effectively negotiate with neighboring countries.
While landlocked states, such as Botswana and Rwanda, have recently prospered through effective business growth policies, many landlocked states are among the most-impoverished and least-developed countries in the world.
Relic (Relict) Boundary
A relic (relict) boundary is a boundary that has been abandoned for political purposes, but evidence of it still exists on the landscape.
These boundaries are nonfunctional in the political sense but are sometimes preserved for historic purposes.
Geometric Boundary
A geometric boundary is a straight line boundary or arc drawn by people that does not closely follow any physical feature.
Historically, many boundaries have fallen upon lines of latitude or longitude, and since the surface of the earth is rounded, extended boundaries may more accurately form arcs.
Consequent Boundary
A consequent boundary is a border that is drawn taking into account language, ethnicity, religion, or other cultural traits.
These boundaries are created with the cultural landscape as a primary consideration.
Open Boundary
An open boundary is unguarded, and people can cross it easily, with little or no political intervention.
These borders only occur between countries that have maintained friendly relations with each other over long periods of time.
Most states within the European Union (EU) fit this category.
In 1985, the Schengen Agreement abolished most border checks between member states (of the then European Economic Community), making most of the continent effectively borderless.
With goods and people flowing freely from one country to another, people seemed less willing to turn to violence to settle disputes.
Militarized Boundary
A militarized boundary is heavily guarded and discourages crossing.
While many of these borders only have a limited military presence, others are fortified, using a constructed barrier to prevent the flow of people.
In 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell, there were 15 border walls in the entire world. As of 2020, there were five times that number.
For example, India has constructed a guarded 1,700-mile barbed wire fence along its border with Bangladesh to curb immigration and smuggling.
DMZ (Demilitarized Zone)
One of the most well-known barriers in the world today is the Korean DMZ (demilitarized zone) that separates North and South Korea.
The 160-mile long, 2.5-mile wide strip of land serves as a buffer zone between the rival states.
It was established in 1953 after the cease-fire that ended the Korean War.
In 2020, the United States had more than 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea along the DMZ, a deterrent to any potential aggression by North Korea.
The DMZ almost completely blocks the flow of trade and people.
Defined Boundary
A defined boundary is a boundary established by a legal document, such as a treaty, that divides one entity from another (invisible line).
The entity could range from a country—in which points of latitude and longitude are specified—to a single plot of real estate—in which points in the landscape are described.
Delimited Boundary
A delimited boundary is when a boundary is drawn on a map by a cartographer to show the limits of a space.
Demarcated Boundary
A demarcated boundary is when a boundary is identified by physical objects placed on the landscape.
The demarcation may be as simple as a sign or as complex as a set of fences and walls.
Definitional Boundary Dispute
A definitional boundary dispute occurs when two or more parties disagree over how to interpret the legal documents or maps that identify the boundary.
These types of disputes often occur with antecedent boundaries.
One example is the boundary between Chile and Argentina. The elevated crests of the Andes Mountains serve as the boundary, but since most of the southern lands were neither settled nor accurately mapped, control of this territory lies in dispute.
Locational Boundary Dispute/Territorial Boundary Dispute
Locational boundary disputes center on where a boundary should be, how it is delimited (mapped), or demarcated.
These disputes are also called territorial disputes because of the fundamental question of who possesses the land.
An example of a locational dispute was the post-World War I boundary between Germany and Poland. Germans disputed the location because it controlled the land prior to the war, but the border drawn after the war left many ethnically German people on the Polish side.
Irredentism
Irredentism is a type of expansionism when one country seeks to annex territory where it has cultural ties to part of the population or historical claims to the land.
Many groups are divided between countries by a border.
When this occurs, a desire to unify their nation is a common national goal and can lead to irredentist feelings but not always action.
Annexation
Annexation is the formal act of acquiring territory by conquest or occupation.
Operational Boundary Dispute/Functional Dispute
An operational boundary dispute centers not on where a boundary is but how it functions.
Disagreements can arise related to trade, transportation, or migration.
As refugees fled Syria and attempted to enter Europe during the 2011 civil war, Europeans viewed their national boundaries differently. Refugees began migrating from southern Europe to the interior seeking safe haven.
Interior countries of Europe often viewed the countries to the south and east as responsible for stopping migrants, while others felt the boundaries should stay open in order to help the refugees.
Additional operational boundaries can occur with rivers and choke points that serve as boundaries. Questions related to who controls the transportation and shipping on a river or choke point can cause disagreements.
Allocational Boundary Dispute/Resource Dispute
An allocational boundary dispute is a dispute over natural resources separated by a boundary that may be used by both countries.
When it comes to natural resources, boundaries serve as vertical planes that extend both up into the sky and down into the earth.
The extraction of subterranean resources extending on both sides of the boundary may become complicated and lead to conflict.
In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait because it claimed that the Kuwaitis were drilling too many wells using directional drilling, thus breaking the vertical plane and extracting oil on the Iraqi side of the boundary.
Other resources that are often at the center of disputes include fresh water, minerals, and fishing rights.
Administered Boundary
An administered boundary is when countries sharing a common border establish procedures for how a boundary will be maintained, how it will function, what goods and people will be allowed to cross, settling disputes, regulating the use of water and waterways in the border area, and conducting other tasks.
As relations change between countries, and also between entities within a state, the means by which a boundary is demarcated and administered may change significantly.
The Israeli-West Bank barrier separates Israel's claims from those of the Palestinians through a multi-layered fence system. From Israel's standpoint, it is necessary to prevent terrorism, while the Palestinians argue that it promotes racial segregation.
Begun in 2000, during a period of increased tension and violence, the militarized border remains an ever-present point of contention.
Controlled Borders
Controlled borders are boundaries that have checkpoints where a passport or visa are required to enter the country.
Recently, because of the Syrian refugee crisis and the COVID pandemic, many of the borders between EU states have become much more restrictive and less open.
Exclaves
Exclaves are territories that are part of a state, yet geographically separated from the main state by one or more countries.
For example, Alaska is separated from the lower 48 United States by Canada.
Nakhchivan, an autonomous republic of Azerbaijan, is separated from the main territory of Azerbaijan by Armenia.
Exclaves may help to reunite ethnic groups with the main country, but communication and transportation challenges often exist.
Kaliningrad Oblast is an exclave of Russia because it is separated from the rest of the country by Lithuania and Belarus. Kaliningrad has a high percentage of Russians (over 85 percent) and is an important port for Russia.
Political Enclaves
Political enclaves are states, territories, or parts of a state or territory that are completely surrounded by the territory of another state.
At the national level, the sovereign states of San Marino and the Vatican City are completely engulfed by Italy, making them political enclaves.
Autonomy, national identity, and self-rule are often a benefit of an enclave.
Challenges for enclaves often include maintaining positive relationships with the surrounding country and transportation accessibility.
Shatterbelt
A shatterbelt is a place located between two very different and contentious regions.
These places are under consistent stress and may suffer instability or fragmentation due to external aggression.
Oftentimes this occurs because political boundaries often do not follow cultural and economic landscapes.
Sometimes boundaries separate people who speak the same language, practice the same religion, or share other traits.
Eastern Europe has historically been a shatterbelt between Western Europe and Russia. While Western Europe has historically been Roman Catholic or Protestant, Russia has been Orthodox.
For most of the 20th century, Western Europe was generally capitalist, and Russia was communist.
Other examples include Yugoslavia, The Caucasus, Vietnam, and Korea.
UNCLOS
Between 1973 and 1982, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea established water boundaries in the oceans and was signed by more than 150 countries.
It defined four zones.
Nautical Mile
A nautical mile is equal to 1.15 land-measured miles.
Territorial Sea
This area extends up to 12 nautical miles of sovereignty where commercial vessels may pass, but noncommercial vessels may be challenged.
Median-Line Principle
If two coastal states share a waterway and are less than 24 nautical miles apart, then the distance between the two coasts is divided by half.
For example, if only 20 miles of water separated two countries, then each would be entitled to 10 miles of territorial sea.
Contiguous Zone
Coastal states have limited sovereignty for up to 24 nautical miles where they can enforce laws on customs, immigration, and sanitation.
EEZ
Exclusive economic zone; Coastal states can explore, extract minerals, and manage natural resources up to 200 nautical miles.
High Seas
Water beyond any country's EEZ that is open to all states.
SIDS
Small island developing states (SIDS) in the world's oceans.
SIDS control nearly 30 percent of all oceans and seas, and their EEZs are much larger than their landmass.
Tuvalu's EEZ in the South Pacific is 27,000 times the size of its land, but its EEZ contains valuable minerals, natural gas and fishing stocks, and the prospect of tourism.
Blue Economy
Economic opportunities based on the ocean for SIDS have been given the term blue economy.
Choke Point
A choke point is a place of physical congestion between wider regions of movement and interaction.
Land-based choke points can be natural valleys or bridges.
However, the most vital choke points in the world today are predominantly water-based, such as straits and canals.
Around 90 percent, or annually, of all global goods are transported by sea.
Since the onset of the industrial age—beginning in the 18th century and especially in modern times—power and wealth is increasingly derived from controlling strategic maritime areas of the world.
The most densely populated cities and regions reside along coastal areas that are crucial to the global movement and distribution of resources.
Geopolitically, countries that aim for jurisdiction over these choke points often wield an inordinate amount of international clout and can benefit economically from these locations through fees and taxes, such as tolls, tariffs, and customs duties.
Democracy
A form of government in which the power to rule lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them.
Monarchy
A form of government in which the power to rule is held by a king or queen.
Autocracy
A form of government in which the power to rule is in the hands of a single individual.
Federal System
A system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and the provincial, state, and local governments.
Unitary System
A system of government that gives all key powers to the national or central government with very little power given to provincial, state, and local governments.
Confederal System/Confederation
A system of government in which the states are sovereign and hold the key powers.
The national government holds very little power and is allowed to do only that which the states permit.
Annexation
The process of legally adding territory to a city in the United States.
Federalism
The sharing of power between the national and local governments.
That's why some laws and policies apply to just a local area and others apply throughout the country. International boundaries create borders between countries, but internal boundaries in the United States are part of federalism.
Internal Boundaries
Boundaries are used at the subnational scale to divide countries into smaller units.
These units, such as states, counties, cities, and local districts, break up territory into more manageable units of governance.
These boundaries fall within the jurisdiction of the government, and therefore state and local governments can change these boundaries as needed.
Some subdivisions, such as states, serve multiple purposes, such as maintaining roads and operating hospitals. Others, such as park districts, are specialized.
Electoral Geography
Using spatial thinking techniques and tools to analyze elections and voting patterns.
Voting Districts
Internal boundaries that divide a country's electorate into subnational regions. They exist at multiple scales.
Electorate
People of a country who are eligible to vote for leaders in each district to govern on their behalf.
Census
In the United States, the Constitution requires the federal government to take a count of the population every 10 years to ensure the national congressional districts have approximately the same number of people.
Reapportionment
After the results of the census have been calculated, the national government determines each state's number of representatives in the House of Representatives, changing the number of representatives granted to each state so it reflects the state's population.
The total number of representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives has been fixed at 435 since 1912.
Regardless of reapportionment results, each state is guaranteed at least one representative in the House, along with its two members in the Senate.
Redistricting
After reapportionment occurs, state legislatures or state committees then redraw district boundaries so that each district contains roughly the same number of people. This process is known as redistricting.
Regardless of reapportionment results, each state is guaranteed at least one representative in the House of Representatives, along with its two members in the Senate.
Relationship between redistricting and the census
As people in the United States have moved south and west, states in these regions have gained seats in the House of Representatives, and states in the Midwest and Northeast have lost seats in the House of Representatives.
Gerrymandering
The drawing of boundaries to political districts by the party in power to protect or increase its power.
This practice has often been used to reduce representation of African Americans and other minorities in government.
The 1965 Voting Rights Act attempted to end these discriminatory practices. As a result, minority representation in Congress has increased.
In 2013, The Supreme Court ruled that the law had succeeded in remedying the racial disparity in representation, so key provisions of the act were no longer needed.
Cracking
Dispersing a group into several districts to prevent a majority.
Packing
Combining like-minded voters into one district to prevent them from affecting elections in other districts.
Stacking
Diluting a minority-populated district with majority populations.
Hijacking
Redrawing two districts in order to force two elected representatives of the same party to run against each other.
Kidnapping
Moving an area where an elected representative has support to an area where he or she does not have support.
Political Consequences that could result from Gerrymandering/Redistricting
By carefully drawing district boundaries, politicians can create "safe seats" that are highly likely to elect members of their own party. As a result, most races in legislative districts are not competitive.
Further, gerrymandering can enable one party that regularly loses statewide elections for president, senator, and governor to still win a solid majority of the district-wide races for the state legislature and Congress.
How do scales of analysis apply to elections
Gerrymandering can enable one party that regularly loses statewide elections for president, senator, and governor to still win a solid majority of the district-wide races for the state legislature and state Congress.
Electoral College
A group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president.
They are the official 538 Presidential electors who come together every four years during the presidential election to give their official votes for President and Vice President of the United States.
Electoral Votes
The votes cast by the electoral college for president and vice president.
The Total number of Electoral Votes = the number of members in the House of Representatives (435) + the number of Senators (100) + 3 for the District of Columbia (Washington DC.) = 538
So, in total, there are five hundred and thirty-eight electoral votes available in a presidential election.
The Quantity of Electoral Votes per State
Each state has electoral votes equal to the number of members of Congress they elect.
The total number of electoral votes per state = the number of representatives for the state in the *House of Representatives + 2 Senators. Remember that each state is reapportioned a number of seats in the House of Representatives dependent upon their state population that is determined during a census taken every 10 years.
Quantity of Electoral Votes needed to win a Presidential election in the United States
A candidate must have a majority of the Electoral votes to win.
That means the first candidate to get two hundred and seventy (270) electoral votes is our president. (This is equal to 538 divided by 2 + 1)
Winner-Take-All system
A system of granting electoral votes adopted by most states which means that the Presidential candidate who wins the most popular votes cast by the citizens in the state receives all of the state's Electoral votes.
Maine and Nebraska are the exceptions. In these two states, two electors are chosen by statewide popular vote. The other electors are chosen by popular vote in each of the congressional districts.
Popular Votes
The votes cast by citizens in an election
Two Ways a Candidate can win a presidential election in the United States
A candidate must have a majority of the Electoral votes to win.
That means the first candidate to get two hundred and seventy (270) electoral votes is our president. (This is equal to )
If neither candidate gets a majority of electoral votes, then Congress goes into action.
The House of Representatives meets and votes (by state) to choose the next president from the top three candidates. Representatives from each state must work together to cast one vote for one of the candidates. Each state gets only one vote. And, only an absolute majority decides who will be the president.