13: Concepts and Tradition of Political Geography Flashcards
first political geographer because his model of the State is based upon factors such as climate, terrain, and the relationship between population and territory
Aristotle
study of the organization and spatial distribution of political phenomena
examines how political forces shape geography
Political geography
examines how geography shapes politics
geopolitics
dominant form of political organization in the world
independent political unit with recognized boundaries.
State
state’s geographic characteristics
Land territory Permanent resident population Government Organized economy Circulation systems
A State must occupy a definite portion of the Earth’s
land surface and should have more or less generally recognized limits.
Land territory
The people should be living
permanently in an area
Permanent resident population
The administrative system which performs the
functions needed and desired by the people living within the territory
Government
The State invariably has responsibility for many
economic activities, even if they include a little more than the issuance and
supervision of money and trade, and even if economic activities are managed
badly
Organized economy
the organized means of transmitting good and,
people and ideas from one part of the territory to anothe
Circulation systems
Political Criteria
Sovereignty
Recognition
means power over the people of an area unrestrained by laws
originating outside the area, or independence completely free of direct external control (e.g. Hong Kong is still under China)
Sovereignty
For a political unit to be accepted as a State with an international personality of its own, it must be recognized as such by a significant portion of international community—the existing States (e.g. Taiwan’s sovereignty is disputed by China)
Recognition
often used interchangeably with the State
refers to a large group of people sharing the same elements of culture such as religion, language, history, or political identity
share a common identity, but
they need not reside in a common geographical area
nation
ideal form consisting
of homogeneous group of people governed by their own State
no entirely pure __exist
nation-state
political category, homogenize multiple and sometimes conflicting constituencies
citizenship
strengthen and unify a State. These include nationalism, shared ideologies, culture, religion, common outside threat, transportation networks, and raison d’être (reason for
existence).
centripetal forces
divide or pull apart a State. These include language, ethnicity, race, economic interests, or even religion (e.g. Christianity vs.
Islam)
centrifugal forces
the feeling of belonging to a nation as well as the belief that a national has a natural right to determine its own affairs, is a powerful centripetal force
healthy emotion that reinforces the unity of a State
encourages, stimulates, involves
self-determination and fragmentation
Nationalism
different forms of nationalism
Civic nationalism
Ethnic nationalism
Religious nationalism
A form of nationalism in which the State derives
political legitimacy from the active participation of its citizenry, from the
degree to which it represents the “will of the people”
Civic nationalism
Some citizens in a nation may feel nationalist
sentiments towards another State or an ethnic group
Ethnic nationalism
This form represents the relationship of nationalism
to a particular religious belief, dogma, or affiliation
Religious nationalism
self-determination and fragmentation of nationalism
Irredentism
Secession
Chauvinism
Desire to incorporate within the State all areas that had once been part of the State
Irredentism
When a people and their territory withdraw from a State to become independent
Secession
May be defined as the excessive and bellicose feelings of superiority over all other
peoples and countries
Chauvinism
territorial morphology. or the different shapes of States.
compact elongated prorupt fragmented perforated
The most efficient shape of a State
either round or rectangular where the distance from the center to the boundaries does not vary much
easier to administer and to secure, and it allows for faster communication and transportation.
Belgium, Cambodia, and Poland
compact State
A less efficient shape administratively speaking
long and narrow, the parts of the country that are farthest from the capital are likely to be isolated and to encompass a greater diversity of climate, resources, and
peoples compared to the compact States
Norway, Chile,
and Sweden
elongated State
This is when an elongated protrusion forms a
peninsula or corridor that leads away from the main body of the compact territory
may signify economic or strategic importance while in other cases they
are isolated
Thailand, Myanmar, and Croatia
prorupt State
consist of mainly islands that
are separated by land or waters
challenge for the
imposition of a centralized control over its territory, particularly when the
parts are far from one another
the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia
fragmented State
This is a type of State that completely surrounds another State
impossible to reach the perforating (land-locked) State without crossing the territory of the perforated State
South Africa that surrounds Lesotho.
perforated State
Acquisition of Territory
Effective Occupation Prescription Conquest and Annexation Voluntary Cession Accretion Acquisition of Rights
When a State occupies, inhabits, administers, and protects and area it has
“discovered”. Discovery of a territory is not enough; it has to be followed by __
Effective Occupation
when a State occupies an area that has been occupied by another State for many
years without Effective Occupation. An area occupied by another State for many years without
administering and protecting it can be considered abandoned and can be passed on to another
occupying State
Prescription
Conquest recognized through a peace treaty or any other legal instrument of cession
___ is when a State takes control of another state usually by force, but it is no longer accepted as legal by
international bodies
must be followed by Effective ___ which is a legal extension of sovereignty over another State (unilateral).
Conquest and Annexation
When a State transfers its territory (with its inhabitants) to another State through mutual agreement (e.g. through cash gifts, promise of servitude or protection).
Voluntary Cession
Addition of land to a State by natural processes (e.g. volcanic eruption, delta formation)
Accretion
The rights to use the territory is granted by one State to another without
title or sovereignty. The transfer of rights can be in a form of lease (rent) or servitude
Acquisition of Rights
