Geography Unit 4 Flashcards
Balkanization
The contentious political process by which a state may break up into smaller sections or countries.
Antecedent Boundaries
A boundary line established before an area is populated
Buffer state
A relatively small country sandwiched between two larger powers. The existence of buffer states may help prevent dangerous conflicts between powerful countries.
Centrifugal forces
Forces that tend to divided country
Centripetal forces
Forces that tend to unite or bind the country together.
Colonialism
The expansion and perpetuation of an empire.
Commonwealth of Independent states
Confederacy of Independent states of the former Soviet Union that have united because of the common economic and administrative needs.
Compact state
A state that possesses a roughly circular, oval, or rectangular territory in which the distance from the geometric center is relatively equal in all directions.
Confederation
Form of an international organization that bring several autonomous states together for a common purpose.
Democratization
Process of establishing representative and accountable forms of government led by popularly elected officials.
Devolution
The delegation of legal authority from a central government to lower levels of political organization, such as the state or country.
Domino theory
The idea that political destabilization in one country can lead to collapse of political stability in neighboring countries, starting a chain reaction of collapse.
East/West divide
Geographic separation between the largely democratic and free-market countries of Western Europe and the Americas from the communist and socialist countries of Eastern Europe and Asia.
Electoral college
A certain number of electors from any state proportional to and seemingly representative of that states population. Select church uses a candidate leaving there representing their constituency’s choice. The candidate who receives a higher proportion of electoral votes within the state receives all the electoral votes for that state.
Electoral vote
The decision of a particular state elector that represents the dominant views of the elector’s state.
Elongated state
A state whose territory is long and narrow in shape.
Enclaves
Small and relatively homogenous group or region run by another larger and different group or region.
European Union
International organization comprised of Western European countries to promote free trade among members.
Exclave
A bounded territory that is a part of a particular state but if separated from it by the territory of a different state.
Federalism
A system of government in which power is distributed among certain geographical territories rather than concentrated within the central government.
Fragmented state
A state that is not contiguous hole but rather separated parts.
Frontier
An area where borders are shifting and weak and where peoples of different cultures or nationalities meet and lay claim to the land.
Geometric boundary
Political boundaries that are defined and delimited by straight lines.
Geopolitics
The study of the interplay between political relations and the territorial context in which they occur.
Gerrymandering
The designation of voting districts so as to favor a particular political party or candidate.