Unit 4: Political Processes Flashcards
Annexation
To legally add territory to a state or city
Apartheid
means “apartness;” racial segregation in South Africa
Balkanization
process by which a state breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities
Border landscape
Three types of borders: 1. geometric, 2. physical, and 3. cultural
Boundary disputes or functional dispute
a disagreement between neighboring states over policies to be
applied to their common border; often induced by differing customs regulations, movement of nomadic groups,
or illegal immigration or emigration.
antecedent boundary
one drawn across an area before it is well populated, that is, before most of the cultural
landscape features were put in place
subsequent boundary
boundary drawn after the development of the cultural landscape
consequent
a type of a subsequent boundary , also called an ethnographic, where the border drawn is to
accommodate existing religious, linguistic, ethnic, or economic differences between countries
superimposed boundary
a boundary forced on existing cultural landscapes, a country, or a people by a conquering or
colonizing power that is unconcerned about preexisting cultural patterns
relic
a former boundary line that no longer functions as such is still marked by some landscape features or
differences on the two sides
Delimitation
the translation of the written terms of a boundary treaty (the definition) into an official cartographic
representation
Demarcation
the actual placing of a political boundary on the landscape by means of barriers, fences, walls,
or other markers.
natural / physical boundaries
those boundaries based on recognizable physiologic features, such as mountains, rivers,
and lakes
ethnographic / cultural boundaries
when the boundary coincides with differences in ethnicity, especially language and
religion
geometric boundaries
political boundary defined and delimited as a straight line or an arc.
Buffer state
an independent but small and weak country lying between two powerful countries
Centrifugal
forces within a state that divide people.
Centripetal
forces within a state that unify people
City-state
a sovereign state comprising a city and its immediate hinterland.
Colonialism
attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural
principles in another territory
Confederation
a group of states united for a common purpose, but the member states’ autonomy is prioritized
Core Regions
regions that dominate trade, control the most advanced technologies, and have high levels of
productivity within diversified economies.
Periphery Regions
regions with undeveloped or narrowly specialized economies with low levels of
productivity.
Decolonization
the acquisition, by colonized peoples, of control over their own territory.
Devolution
the transfer of certain powers from the state central government to separate political subdivisions
within the state’s territory because of various factors that have caused instability like physical geography, economic, or social issues
Domino Theory
if one country in a region chose or was forced to accept a communist political and economic
system, then neighboring countries would be irresistibly susceptible to falling to communism
DMZ
the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea
EEZ
exclusive economic zone, as established in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a
zone of exploration extending 200 nautical miles (370 km) seaward from a coastal state that has exclusive
mineral and fishing rights over it
Electoral geography
the study of the interactions among space, place, and region and the conduct and results
of elections
Enclave
a piece of territory surrounded by, but not part of, country.
Exclave
a piece of national territory separated from the main body of a country by the territory of another
country.
Ethnic enclave
a small area occupied by a distinctive minority culture
European Union
an economic association established in 1957 by a number of Western European countries to
promote free trade among members; often called the Common Market
Federal State
an internal organization of a state that allocated most powers to units of local government or subnational governments.
Benefits: Less conflict between regions, more diversity and pluralism, attention to local issues = more participation from constituents
Downsides: neglecting national issues in favor of local ones, too much power is given to local issues, laws are not standard, some areas may have more funding or allocations of funding = different education standards
Forward-Thrust Capital
a capital city deliberately sited in a state’s frontier zone.
Geopolitics
the branch of political geography treating national power, foreign policy, and international relations
as influences by geographic considerations of location, space, resources, and demography
Gerrymandering
to redraw 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
Heartland Theory
The belief of Halford MacKinder that the interior of Eurasia provided a likely base for world
conquest
Rimland Theory
The belief of Nicholas Spykman that domination of coastal fringes of Eurasia would provide a
base for world conquest
International organization
group that includes tow or more states seeking political and /or economic
cooperation with each other.
Irredentism
the assertion by the government of a country that has a minority living outside its formal borders
belongs to it historically and culturally
Or when an ethnic group wants to separate itself from its state
Landlocked
a state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea.
Landlocked
a state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea.
Manifest destiny
a future event accepted as inevitable <in>; broadly : an ostensibly benevolent or necessary policy
of imperialistic expansion</in>
Microstate
an imprecise term for a state or territory small in both population and area. An informal definition
accepted by the United Nations suggests a maximum of 1 million population combined with a territory of less
than 270 sq mi.
Nation
a culturally distinctive group of people occupying a specific territory and bound together by a sense of unity arising from shared ethnicity, beliefs, and customs
A cultural entity
Nation-state
an ideal form consisting of a homogeneous group of people governed by their own state.
Reapportionment
the process of allocation electoral seats to geographical areas
Regionalism
a feeling of collective identity based on a population’s politico-territorial identification within a
state or across state boundaries
Satellite state
a country which is formally independent but which is primarily subject to the domination of
another, larger power.
Self-determination
concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves
Shatter belt
a zone of great cultural complexity containing many small cultural groups
States often break up, form, or join, and there is a lot of violence and conflict
Sovereignty
the right of individual states to control political and economic affairs within their territorial
boundaries without external interference.
State
a centralized authority that enforces a single political, economic, and legal system within its territorial
boundaries. Often synonymously with “country.
”
Stateless nation
a nation that does not have a state.
Supranationalism
occurs when states willingly relinquish some degree of sovereignty in order to gain the
benefits of belonging to a larger political-economic entity.
territorial disputes
disagreement between states over the control of surface area.
Territoriality
an individual or group attempt to identify and establish control over a clearly defined territory
considered partially or wholly an exclusive domain; the behavior associated with the defense of the home
territory.
UNCLOS
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: a code of maritime law approved by the UN in
1982 that authorizes, among other provisions, territorial waters extending 12 nautical miles from shore and 200
nautical mile wide exclusive economic zones.
Unitary
a state in which the central government dictates the degree of local or regional autonomy and the
nature of local governmental units; a country with few cultural conflicts and with a strong sense of national
identity.
Most states in the world are unitary
Benefits: fewer government agencies, more efficiency, less corruption on the local level
Downsides: government can become out of touch with local areas, especially ones far away from the capital, tend to favor the politically or culturally dominant group, can be slower to respond to local issues
Multi state nation
A group connected ethnically or culturally connected people that are spread over multiple states
Multinational state
A state with many ethnicities
Autonomous or semiautonomous states
Regions that are able to govern themselves
ex. Hong Kong in China
Choke point
A narrow, strategic passageway that is difficult to pass through
There is a lot of competition for their use, making the countries that control them powerful and wealthy
Ex. Suez Canal
Federation
a group of states with a central government and some independence in internal affairs
