political geography
concerned with why political spaces emerge in the places that they do and with how the character of those spaces affects social, political, economic, and environmental understandings and practices. Key word - spatial (meaning space or land)
state
a politically organized territory that is administered by a sovereign government and is recognized by a significant portion of the international community. It has a defined territory, a permanent population, a government, and is recognized by other states
territoriality
efforts to control land (territory) for political and social ends.
sovereignty
a principle of international relations that holds that final authority over social, economic, and political matters should rest with the legitimate rulers of independent states.
territorial integrity
the right of a state to defend sovereign territory against incursion from other states. It means a country has the right to protect their country and territories.
mercantilism
The acquisition of gold, silver, resources and the maintenance of a favorable trade balance (more exports than imports) were central to the policy. Encouraged imperialism
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. Created the mo
nation
A tightly knit group of people possessing bonds of language, ethnicity, religion, and other shared cultural attributes.
nation-state
a group of people who share a common background and a state.
democracy
government based on the principle that the people are the ultimate sovereign and have the final say over what happens within the state.
multinational state
state with more than one nation within its borders
multistate nation
nation that stretches across borders and across states.
stateless nation
nation that does not have a state
colonialism
physical process whereby the colonizer takes over another place, putting its own government in charge and either moving its own people into the place or bringing in indentured outsiders to gain control of the people and the land.
capitalism
economic model wherein people, corporations, and states produce goods and exchange them on the world market, with the goal of achieving profit.
commodification
the process through which something is given monetary value. This occurs when a good or idea that previously was not regarded as an object to be bought and sold is turned into something that has a particular price and that can be traded in a market econom
core
processes that incorporate higher levels of education, higher salaries, and more technology; generate more wealth than periphery processes in the world-economy.
periphery
processes that incorporate lower levels of education, lower salaries, and less technology; and generate less wealth than core processes in the world-economy.
semi-periphery
places where core and periphery processes are both occurring; places that are exploited by the core but in turn exploit the periphery.
centripetal
forces that tend to unify a country--such as widespread commitment to a national culture, shared ideological objectives, and a common faith.
centrifugal
forces that tend to separate a country--such as internal religious, linguistic, ethnic, or ideological differences.
unitary
a style of government in which the national or central government maintains all the power. Many states in Europe have a unitary style of government. Make sure to ask yourself why this makes sense.
federal
a style of government where the national government shares power with local governments. Ex. The US
devolution
the process whereby regions within a state demand and gain political strength and growing autonomy at the expense of the central government.
territorial representation
system wherein each representative is elected from a territorially defined district. Ex. Kentucky has two senators and 6 members of the House of Representatives.
reapportionment
process by which representative districts are switched according to population shifts (often conducted after a Census), so that each district encompasses approximately the same number of people.
splitting
in the context of determining representative districts, the process by which the majority and minority populations are spread evenly across each of the districts to be created therein ensuring control by the majority of each of the districts; as opposed t
majority-minority districts
in the context of determining representative districts, the process by which a majority of the population is from the minority.
gerrymandering
redistricting for advantage, or the practice of dividing areas into electoral districts to give one political party an electoral majority in a large number of districts while concentrating the voting strength of the opposition in as few districts as possi
boundary
vertical plane between states that cuts through the rocks below and the airspace above the surface.
geometric boundary
political boundary defined and delimited (and occasionally demarcated) as a straight line or an arc, often using lines of latitude or longitude.
physical-political boundary
political boundary defined and delimited (and occasionally demarcated) by a prominent physical feature in the natural landscape--such as a river or the crest ridges of a mountain range.
heartland theory
a geopolitical hypotheses, proposed by British geographer Halford Mackinder during the early 1900s that any political power based in the heart of Eurasia could gain sufficient strength to eventually dominate the world. "Who rules Eastern Europe commands t
Rimland Theory
challenges the heartland theory by Nicholas Spykman. Whoever controls the Eurasian rim, not its heart, held the key to global power. The rimland includes China, Korea, Japan Southeast Asia, India, the Arabian Peninsula and Europe.
critical geopolitics
process by which geopoliticians deconstruct and focus on explaining the underlying spatial assumptions and territorial perspectives of politicians.
unilateralism
world order in which one state is in a position of dominance with allies following rather than joining the political decision-making process. We are living in a unilateral world right now with the US as the only true superpower.
supranational organization
a venture involving three or more nation-states involving formal political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives. The European-Union is one such group.
deterritorialization
The movement of economic, social and cultural processes out of the hands of states.
reterritorialization
when a state moves to solidify control over its territory - could be with border control or other means
world systems theory
Wallerstien's idea that there are core, periphery and semi-periphery countries, one world economy, and everything takes place within that world economy/market
Four characteristics of a state
population, territory, government & sovereignty
Shatter belt
zone of great cultural complexity resulting in an area constantly in turmoil. Ex. the Middle East
5 Shapes of countries
compact, elongated, fragmented, perforated, prorupted
Causes of devolution
ethnocultural, economic, territory (be able to explain and give an example of each)
European Union
A regional supranational organization in Europe formed in 1993 with 28 member nations. Main goal is economic, but also include political and social aspects.
frontiers
A geographic region where no state exercises power. Historically this is what separated one state from another.
Geopolitics
the study of spatial and territorial components of power relationships. To put it simply - How do space and territory influence power relationships?