Unit 4, Part 2 Vocabulary Selection Flashcards
Anocracy
A country that is not fully democratic or fully autocratic but rather displays a mix of the two types.
Autocracy
A country that is run according to the interests of the ruler rather than the people.
Balance of power
A condition of roughly equal strength between opposing countries or alliances of countries.
Boundary
An invisible line that marks the extent of a state’s territory.
City-state
A sovereign state comprising a city and its immediately surrounding countryside.
Colonialism
An attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory.
Colony
A territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than completely independent.
Compact state
A state in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly.
Delineation
When we actually draw the lines on a map.
Demarcation
When we go out into the landscape and show where the boundary is.
Delimitation
The translation of the written terms of a boundary treaty (the definition) into an official cartographic representation.
Democracy
A country in which citizens elect leaders and can run for office.
Elongated state
A state with a long, narrow shape.
Federal state
An internal organization of a state that allocates strong power to units of local government.
Fragmented state
A state that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory.
Frontier
A zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control.
Gerrymandering
The process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.
Landlocked state
A state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea.
Microstate
A state that encompasses a very small land area.
Multiethnic state
A state that contains more than one ethnicity.
Multinational state
A 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.
Nation-state
A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity.
Perforated state
A state that completely surrounds another one.
Prorupted state
An otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension.
Self-determination
The concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves.
Sovereignty
Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states.
State
An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government that has control over its internal and foreign affairs.
Terrorism
The systematic use of violence by a group calculated to create an atmosphere of fear and alarm among a population or to coerce a government into actions it would not otherwise undertake or refrain from actions it wants to take.
Unitary state
An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials.
Autonomous or semi-autonomous region
Regions of a country with special economic or political privileges.
Examples: most of China, Tibet, Hong Kong.
Enclave
An “entity” inside of another.
Exclave
Land outside of its country.
Satellite state
States under the economical and political influence of another.
Compact state
Equidistant, easy to govern, homogenous.
Elongated state
Skinny or rectangular, diverse = conflict?
Fragmented state
Countries or exclaves, hard to govern.
Perforated state
A country has a country in it.
Prorupted state
“Arm” or extension.
Land-based boundaries
Antecedent/physical
Subsequent boundaries
Cultural; established after the settlement in the area.
Superimposed boundaries
Forced upon natives by colonizers.
Relic boundaries
No longer functions but can still be detected on the cultural landscape.
Geometric boundaries
Based on longtude/latitude; drawn using straight lines.
Maritime boundaries
Everyone can use it, no one governs.
Unitary system
All laws/policies are made at national level.
Federal system
National + state government makes decisions.
Confederal state
Local/state government have more authority. National government power is weak and limited.
Electoral geography
Voting boundaries/does not match countries.
Census
Every 10 years; pull of population.
Reapportionment
Process by which representative districts are switched according to population shifts.
Redistricting
The drawing of new electoral district boundary lines in response to population changes.
Irredentism
A country should and wants to control the land that they are ethnically or historically related to.
Supranational organizations
A venture involving three or more states to promote shared objectives of political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation.
Supranationalism
Countries come together for common goal/purpose.
Devolution
Movement of power from central government to regional governments within the state.
Ethnic separatism
When a person or group starts to identify more as their own ethnic group then as a citizen of the state.
