AP Human Geography Review - Unit 4: Political Patterns and Processes

4.1 Introduction to Political Geography

  • Independent states are the primary building blocks of the world political map.
  • STATE: An area organized into a political unit, ruled by an established government, and controls internal & external affairs.
  • Requirements of a State:
    • (1) Defined territory
    • (2) Permanent population
    • (3) Some kind of structure (government)
    • (4) Sovereignty
    • (5) International recognition
  • Types of political entities:
    • Nations
    • Nation-States
    • Stateless nations
    • Multinational states
    • Multi-state nation
    • Autonomous & semi-autonomous regions

4.2 Political Processes

  • The concepts of sovereignty, nation-states, and self-determination shape the contemporary world.
    • Sovereignty: The authority of a state to govern itself.
    • Nation-states: 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.
  • Contemporary political boundaries have been influenced by:
    • Colonialism
    • Imperialism
    • Independence movements
    • Devolution

4.3 Political Power and Territoriality

  • Political power is expressed geographically as control over people, land, and resources.
  • Illustrated by:
    • Neocolonialism: The practice of using economic or political influence by a more developed country (MDC) to control a less developed country (LDC) indirectly.
    • Occurs after WWII to continue to economically control former colonies.
    • Connections:
      • Wallerstein’s World System Theory Model (core-periphery).
      • Agriculture: Example is Monsanto, an agricultural company.
      • Industry: Example is Nike, a multinational corporation.
      • Use of Special Economic Zones.
      • New International Division of Labor.
    • Shatterbelt: A region threatened by local conflicts within the state, between the states, as well as outside global influences.
    • Example: Balkan Peninsula
    • Choke points: Strategic narrow passages that have great geopolitical significance
    • Countries that have control over them have a lot of political and economic power
    • Examples: Danish Straits, Suez Canal, Turkish Straits, Strait of Hormuz, Bab el-Mandab Strait, Strait of Malacca
  • Connections to Make:
    • People to their land and culture.
    • People and their economic systems to their land.

4.4 Defining Political Boundaries

  • Political boundaries and divisions of governance, between states and within them, reflect boundaries of power that have been negotiated or imposed.
  • Types of Boundaries:
    • Geometric: Straight lines drawn on a map.
    • Example: The 49th parallel between the U.S. and Canada.
    • Superimposed: Boundary imposed by outside powers that may not reflect existing cultural or political landscapes.
    • Often seen in Africa due to European colonialism
    • Subsequent: Boundary drawn after the development of the cultural landscape.
    • Relic: A boundary that no longer exists but still impacts the cultural landscape.
    • Example: East Germany; focus on the impact that is still there today
    • Connections to make with demographics and economic impact.
    • Antecedent: A boundary drawn before the cultural landscape was developed.
    • Consequent: A boundary that is drawn to accommodate existing cultural differences
    • Example: Partition of India and Pakistan

4.5 The Function of Political Boundaries

  • Boundaries are defined, delimited, demarcated, and administered to establish limits of sovereignty.
    • Definition: Written description of the boundary.
    • Delimitation: Drawing the boundary on a map.
    • Demarcation: Physically marking the boundary with structures.
    • Administration: Enforcement of boundary
  • Political boundaries often coincide with cultural, national, or economic divisions.
  • Some boundaries are created by demilitarized zones or policy.
    • Berlin Conference
  • Land and maritime boundaries and international agreements can influence national or regional identity.
  • United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
    • Defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in the use of international waters.
    • Territorial waters: Extends 12 miles from the shore.
    • Contiguous zone: Extends 12-24 miles from the shore.
    • Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): Extends 24-200 miles from the shore; states have sole rights to natural resources in the area (oil, fish).
    • International waters: Waters beyond the EEZ.
    • Biggest area of dispute: South China Sea

4.6 Internal Boundaries

  • Explain the function of internal boundaries
  • Voting districts
  • Redistricting
  • Impact of scale
  • Gerrymandering: Redrawing of legislative boundaries to benefit the party in power.

4.7 Forms of Governance

  • Federal States: System of dividing up power between a central national government and local state governments connected to one another by the national government
  • Unitary States: Strong centralized government with the same laws throughout the country.
    • Ideally works best in small nation-states
  • Explain how federal and unitary states affect spatial organization

4.8 Defining Devolutionary Factors

  • Devolution: The transfer or delegation of political power from the central government to a lower subnational level of government.
  • Factors:
    • More local control
    • Physical geography
    • Ethnic separatism
    • Ethnic cleansing
    • Terrorism
    • Economic & social problems
    • Irredentism
  • All of this causes spatial and societal change!
  • Can divide regions and populations
    • Example: Basque region of Spain (and southern France).
    • Remote location
    • Islands
    • East Timor (originally part of Indonesia)
  • Rise of minority ethnic groups within a state
    • Feel oppressed
    • Trying to gain own statehood
    • Examples: Chechnya, Nigeria, Afghanistan
  • Ethnic cleansing vs. Genocide
    • GENOCIDE: to specifically kill the people
    • ETHNIC CLEANSING: to move people out, can be done by genocide
    • Thus pulling a country apart – a devolutionary force
    • Examples: Rohingya - Myanmar
  • Terrorism
    • Many different definitions
    • All agree on the main idea: people or groups use violence & fear to bring change to a government or society
  • Economic problems:
    • Italy – northern section wanted to separate to remove the financial burden
  • Social Problems:
    • Canada (Quebec & Parti Quebecois)
    • Nigeria (Muslim North & Christian South)
    • Sudan (Muslim North & Christian South)
    • Belgium (Flemish & Waloon)
  • Irredentism
    • The effort to unite people who share cultural elements, but are divided by a national border
    • Examples: Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (Azerbaijan/Armenia)

4.9 Challenges to Sovereignty

  • Political, economic, cultural, or technological changes can challenge state sovereignty
  • Devolution occurs when states fragment into autonomous regions such as:
    • Spain (Catalonia & Basque regions)
    • Belgium
    • Canada (Quebec, Nunavut)
    • Nigeria
  • Devolution occurs when states disintegrate
    • Breakup of the Soviet Union
    • South Sudan
  • Advances in communication technology have facilitated devolution, supranationalism, and democratization.
  • Global efforts to address transnational and environmental challenges and to create economies of scale, trade agreements, and military alliances help to further supranationalism.
  • Supranational organizations can challenge state sovereignty by limiting the economic or political actions of member states
    • United Nations
    • North Atlantic Treaty Organization
    • European Union
    • Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
    • Arctic Council
    • African Union

4.10 Consequences of Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces

  • Failed state: political body that has disintegrated to a point where basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government no longer function properly
    • Development major factor
    • Strong correlation between failed & fragile states & less developed
    • Remember the legacy of imperialism?
  • Stateless nations
    • Centrifugal – a challenge for the states they are in
    • Centripetal – they themselves are united together
    • Examples: Kurds, Palestinians
    • Kurds – largest stateless nation
  • Centrifugal Forces: May lead to failed states, uneven development, stateless nations, and ethnic nationalist movements.
    • Multiple languages, religions, etc.
    • Shape of border
    • Scarce resources, arable land
    • Weak economy
    • Ideological differences
    • History of violence between groups
    • Death of strong/popular leader
    • Desire for “pure” nation-state à “Ethnic Cleansing”
    • Type of government
  • Centripetal Forces: Can lead to ethnonationalism, more equitable infrastructure development, and increased cultural cohesion.
    • Similar language
    • Similar religious values
    • Similar traditions, customs, material culture
    • Charismatic leader
    • Abundance of resources
    • Shape of border
    • Similar ideology
    • Strong economy
    • Common enemy
    • Type of government