APHG Unit Four Review Political Organization of Space

Political Geography Political Geography is the study of the political organization of the planet  Since the beginning of history, humans have divided the planet into political units, or territories Territoriality: effort to control pieces of the Earth’s surface for political and social reasons Political Culture: the collection of political beliefs, values, practices, and institutions that the government is based on

Boundaries A state is separated from its neighbor by boundaries, or invisible lines that mark the extent of a state’s territory and the control the leaders have Historically, frontiers separated states Frontier: a geographic zone where no state exercises power  Ex: Antarctica and the Rub al-Khali

Types of Boundaries Physical Boundary: Rivers, lakes, and oceans are the most common; also include mountains and deserts  Law of the Sea: coastal boundaries extend 12 nautical miles from the coast

Types of Boundaries Cultural Boundaries: boundary set by ethnic differences such as language and religion  Ex: India and Pakistan Geometric Boundaries: straight, imaginary lines that generally have a reason behind them

Morphology Territorial Morphology is a term that describes the shapes, sizes, and relative locations of states

Shapes of States. Compact – The most efficient form. A state whose territory is nearly circular. Because all places could be reached from the center in a minimal amount of time making it the most efficient for roads, railway lines, other infrastructure. Examples: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda

Prorupt - A state that is nearly compact but possess one or two narrow extensions of territory, which isolates a portion of the state. The proruption can be a physical (penninsula) elongation of land or may have economic or strategic significance – access to resources, sea, establishment of a buffer zone, etc… Examples: Democratic Republic of the Congo Shape of States

Elongated – A state whose territory is long and narrow. The least efficient shape administratively. It may sacrifice national cohesion to promote eco strength. Example: Chile, Italy, and Gambia Shape of States

Fragmented – Entirely made up of islands or territory, separated by another state, or is a state with an offshore island. - contains isolated parts, separate and discontinuous. Examples: Indonesia, United States, former East and West Pakistan

Perforated - A state that completely surrounds a territory that it does not rule. That area is called an ‘enclave’ and it may be independent or part of another state. (Enclaves are territories or ‘outliers’ located inside another state.) Example: Italy or South Africa Shape of States

Size of States Microstates: a country with a land size of a few square miles  Examples: Vatican City, Monaco Russia is the largest country in the world, followed by Canada, China, the United States, and Brazil

Relative Location of States Landlocked State: countries lacking an ocean coastline, and surrounded by other states Sometimes a landlocked country will try to access a foreign port, or become prorupted  Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked state

Functions of Boundaries Boundaries serve as symbols of sovereignty, or the ability of the state to carry out actions or policies within its borders Sovereignty promotes nationalism, or a sense of unity with fellow citizens and loyalty to the state Internal Boundaries: boundaries within a state  Ex: The United States, Canada, China

Boundary Disputes Almost half of the world’s states have been involved in boundary disputes Positional Dispute: occurs when states argue about where the boundary actually is  Ex: Argentina and Chile

Boundary Disputes Territorial Disputes: arise over ownership of a region, usually around mutual border Usually one state claims the other should belong to them due to ethnic and language commonalities  Ex: German invasion of Poland

Boundary Disputes Resource Dispute: dispute involving natural resources that lie in border areas  Ex: Iraq and Kuwait Functional Dispute: arise when neighboring states cannot agree on policies that arise in a border area  Ex: US and Mexico border

The Nation-State State: a territorially organized piece of land, or country Institution: stable, long-lasting organizations that help to turn political ideas into policies Nation: a group of people that is bound together by a common political identity

The Nation-State A nation-state is a state whose territorial extent coincides with a group of people, or nation  Examples: Denmark, Iceland, The United States Binational/Multinational State: a state with more than one nation  Ex: The former USSR Stateless Nation: a group of people without a country  Ex: Palestine, the Kurds

Organization of States Core Area: the heartland of an area; identified by levels of population concentration and transportation networks Multicore State: a state with more than one core area  Example: Nigeria

The Capital City In most states, the capital is not only the center of government, but also the economic and cultural center Primate City: the largest city in a nation and one where the second largest city is significantly smaller Forward Capital: the capital city serves as a model for national objectives  Ex: Japan

Electoral Geography Electoral Process: the methods used in a country for selecting its leaders Electoral Geography: the study of how the spatial configuration of electoral districts and voting patterns reflect and influence social life Gerrymandering: the attempt to redraw boundaries to improve chances of winning election Minority/Majority Districting: rearranging districts to allow a minority representative to be elected  Ex: North Carolina

Colonialism and Imperialism Colonies: Dependent areas given fixed and recorded boundaries where none existed before Imperialism: empire building

Systems of States Unitary System: one that concentrates all policymaking powers in one central geographic place (European States) Confederal System: spreads the power among many sub-units and has a weak federal government (Switzerland) Federal System: divides power between strong central government and sub-units (US, Canada, Australia)

Supranational Organizations Cooperating groups of nations that operate on either a regional or international level for all major decisions and rules

Challenges to the Modern State Centripetal Forces: bring people together  Includes Nationalism, Institutions, Television, and Transportation Centrifugal Forces: destabilizes the government and encourages the country to fall apart  Includes Multinationalism, Religious Conflicts, and Separatist Movements

Devolution Devolution is the tendency to decentralize decision-making to regional governments

Devolution-Ethnic Forces Ethnic forces that can cause devolution usually occur because of multinationalism; an ethnic group sees itself as a separate unity from the state  Examples: Canada and Ireland

Devolution-Economic Forces Economic forces can devolve a state if the economic activities of the state vary by region; one region of the state does better economically than the rest of the state  Examples: Italy and Spain

Devolution-Spatial Forces Spatial forces cause devolution if a part of the state is separated from the rest of the state due to physical or other barriers  Examples: East and West Pakistan and Puerto Rico

Geopolitics The study of the spatial and territorial dimensions of power relationships within the political-territorial order Friedrich Ratzel: developed the study of geopolitics; compared the state to an organism with a predictable rise and fall of power  Used by Hitler

Geopolitics Halford Mackinder was concerned with the power relationship around Britain’s empire; believed Britain’s empire revolved around the sea, but eventually a land-based power would rule the world Heartland Theory: the “pivot area” of the world (Eurasia), hold the resources to dominate the world  Used by Russia after WW II

Geopolitics Rimland Theory: challenges the Heartland Theory; says the Eurasian Rim holds the power to dominate the world; rim includes land that encircles the Heartland and includes China, Korea, Japan, SE Asia, India, the Arabian Peninsula, and Europe  Developed by Nicholas Spykman

Supranational Organizations The United Nations (UN)  191 Member States  Membership is voluntary  UN Peacekeeping Forces  Security Council (US, Britain, France, China, and Russia)  World Bank and International Court of Justice Anyone for Model UN next year?

Supranational Organizations North American Treaty Organization (NATO)  28 Member Nations including the US, Canada, and Turkey  Developed as a political association  The combined spending of NATO on defense is 70% of the world’s defense spending

Supranational Organizations Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)  12 Member Countries including Venezuela, Ecuador, and Nigeria  Purpose is to control the worldwide supply of oil  Powerful political force as well

Supranational Organizations North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)  Agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico  Trade bloc designed to promote economic prosperity

Supranational Organizations European Union (EU)  27 Member States  Economic and Political agreements  Three Pillars of the EU: Trade and other economic matters; including a single currency and European Central Bank Justice and home affairs; asylum, border crossing, immigration, and international justice Common foreign and security policy; joint positions and actions, common defense policy

Forces of Change Democratization Movement toward Market Economies Revival of Ethnic or Cultural Politics

Democratization The movement of a country’s government towards a democracy  First Wave: developed gradually over time  Second Wave: occurred after the Allied victory in WW II  Third Wave: began in the 1970’s and is continuing today; characterized by defeat of dictator or totalitarian rule in South America, Eastern Europe, and Africa; Samuel Huntington

Movement Towards Markets Many countries are moving from socialism towards capitalism  Command Economy: supply determined by the state  Market Economy: demand determined by consumer  Mixed Economy: Government has a say in what is produced, but competition still exists Ex: Germany  Privatization: the transfer of state-owned property to private ownership

Revival of Ethnic of Cultural Politics Fragmentation: divisions based on ethnic or cultural identities Nationalism: identities based on nationhood Politicization of Religion: the domination of religion in World Politics  Samuel Huntington claims our next worldwide conflict will be based on clashes of civilizations