Chapter 4 political geography Flashcards
Political geography
the study of the political organizations of the world
State
a politically organized territory with a permanent population, a defined territory and gov. ex. modern US and canada
Territory
central to the state.
territoriality
process by which such units come into being.
sovereignty
the right of individual states to control political and economic affairs within their territorial boundaries without external interference. the supreme and absolute authority within territorial boundaries
territorial integrity
The right of a state to defend sovereign territory against incursion from other states.
mercantilism
belief in the benefits of profitable trading.
Peace of Westphalia
Peace negotiated in 1648 to end the Thirty Years’ War, Europe’s most destructive internal struggle over religion. The treaties contained new language recognizing statehood and nationhood, clearly defined borders, and guarantees of security
Nation
A group of people who think of themselves as one based on sense of culture and history and who seek same degree of political territory.
nation-state
a state whose population possesses a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and unity. example: Japan
democracy`
The idea that people are the ultimate sovereign that is the people, the nation, have the ultimate say over, what happens within the state.
Multi-national state
State that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities.
multi-state nation
When a nation stretches across the borders and across states. EX-north and south sudan, and North and South Korea.
stateless nations
a nation without a state. Ex-Kurds
colonialism
attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory.
scale
Representation of a real world phenomenon at a certain level of reduction or generalization.
world-systems theory
to understand any state, we must also understand its spatial and functional relationships with the world economy.
commodification
process of placing a price on a good, service, or idea and then buying, selling, and trading that item.
capitalism
in the world economy, individuals, corp. states produce goods and services that are exchanged for profit.
core
processes that incorporate higher levels of education, higher salaries, and more technology.
Periphery
more commonly has lower levels of education and less technology, associated with more marginal position in the world economy.
semi periphery
places where core and periphery processes are both accuring; places that are exploited by the core, but in turn exploit to periphery.
centripetal forces
forces within the state that unify the people.
centrifugal forces
forces that divide states.
unitary
Central government has the power. (Example: Russia) An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials.
federal
an internal organization of a state that allocated most powers to units of local government.
devolution
the transfer of certain powers from the state central government to separate political subdivisions within the state’s territory.
territorial representation
system where in each representative is elected from a territory defined district.
reapportionment
The assigning by Congress of congressional seats after each census. State legislatures reapportion state legislative districts.
gerrymandering
to re-draw voting district boundaries in such a way as to give one political party maximum electoral advantage and to reduce that of another party, to fragment voting blocks, or to achieve other non-democratic objectives
geomatric boundaries
boundaries that are drawn using grid systems such as latitude and longitude or township and range political geographers refer to these boundaries as geometric boundaries.
physical-political boundaries
political boundary defined and delineated by a prominent physical feature in the natural landscape such as a river or the crest ridges of a Mtn range.
heartland theory
A geopolitical hypothesis, proposed by British geographer Halford Mackinder during the first two decades of the twentieth century, that any political power based in the heart of Eurasia could gain sufficient strength to eventually dominate the world.
sovereign state
a state which administers its own gov. and is not dependent upon, or subject to another power. ex-UK, Rep of Ireland.
frontier
a zone where no state exercises has complete political control. Example:Kurds.
compact state
state that possesses a roughly circular, oval, or rectangular territory in which the distance from the geometric center is relatively equal in all directions. example: Switzerland, Poland, Kenya
