CHAPTER 14 (n)
Class Notes
CHAPTER 25 (0)
POLITICAL CULTURE
AND THE
EVOLVING STATE
• POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY –
• study of the political organization of the
planet
• ???
• POLITICAL CULTURE –
• Governing Ideal shared by the
community
How We Divide the World
• Land divided into about 200 states
• Modern State system from European
Roots (pg. 207)
• Key facets…
•NATION –
•People who share common historic,
ethnic, cultural, religious views
• Belong to community
•Perceptual Element involved
• Nation exists cause you think it does
• STATE –
• A Politically organized area
(internationally recognized
borders)
• Very few true Nation-States
• WHY???
The “Nation-State”
• The aspiration of Governing elites
• Nation and state occupy the same area
• SOVEREIGNTY –
• final authority of a state’s political,
social, economic, military affairs rests
with that state
See the Difference
• FRANCE – State > Identified political
area
Nation > Most people in France
ID as French
• YUGOSLAVIA – State > ID’d political
area
NOT A NATION > ID’d selves as
Croatian, Serbian, etc.Not as Yugoslav
Stateless Nations
• Until 1948, Jewish nation had no state
• Palestinians a nation, but have no state
• Kurds in N. Iraq – nation of people, call
land “Kurdistan” – But officially in Iraq /
Turkey (see map pg. 200)
Switzerland Bucks the Trend
• Strong state, but many different people
(French, German, Belgian, Italian) hard
to ID as Swiss
• Twist on Nation-State concept:
– community committed to common political
culture (the state ideal) – forgoes cultural
assertion
• USA
SPATIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STATES
• No state exists without territory
• Territorial Morphology –
• Size, Shape, Relative location of
States
• Study dis / advantages of states /
features
I. SIZE
• Big countries – USA > advantage
USSR > disadvantage
• Microstates – Extremely small
states - Liechtenstein, Andorra,
San Marino, Singapore
II. SHAPE
1. COMPACT – (Most) Geometric center
to any border point pretty even
2. FRAGMENTED – State in 2 or more
pieces
3. ELONGATED – Thin, narrow,
stretched out
4. PRORUPT (Protruded) – Extension out
of compact core
5. PERFORATED – Country with another
separate state within it
???
???
!!!
III. RELATIVE LOCATION
• LANDLOCKED – Surrounded by other
lands, no sea / ocean access
• EXCLAVE / ENCLAVE
• DEFENSE
• RESOURCES
• TRANSPORTATION
BOUNDARY
• Not just a line on the ground
• Vertical Plane (diagram pg. 212)
• Cuts deep into the ground and far up
into the air
• Rights to drill oil, mine coal / airspace
Evolution of Boundary
(3 stages)
• 1. DEFINITION –
• treaty-like definition on the landscape
agreed upon
• 2. DELIMITATION –
• Put line on the map officially
• 3. DEMARCATION –
• Making the Boundary known – fences,
markers, signs
• FRONTIER –
• Territorial cushion which keeps rivals
apart
Types of Boundaries
• GEOMETRIC –
• Lines, unrelated to physical landscape
• PHYSICAL (Natural) POLITICAL –
• Using natural landscape (A river)
• CULTURAL POLITICAL –
• Cultural breaks in the landscape
(language, religion)
Inter-Faith Boundary!!!
Richard Hartshorne
Origin (Genetic) Boundary Classification
• Antecedent –
• Existed before settlement occurred
Example: ?
• 49th parallel separating the U.S. and
Canada.
• Relic –
• Ceased to function
• Still can be detected on the cultural
landscape.
Example: ?
• The Berlin Wall
•
•
•
•
Subsequent –
Established after the settlement
Accommodate cultural differences
Adjusted as the cultural landscape changes.
Example: ???
• Former Yugoslavia Countries
•
•
•
•
Superimposed –
Imposed on an area by a conquering power
Ignores existing cultures
Satisfy demands of the superpower.
Example: ???
• The division of African countries by the
British.
Boundary Disputes
1. Locational –
interpretation of where
boundary is actually drawn
2. Operational –
how the border should function
(controlling migration / immigration)
• 3. Allocational –
• Who has the rights to a resource
• 4. Definitional –
• focus on legal language of agreement
• Put it all together… it’s a L.O.A.D.!