UNIT 4: STATES ‘N STUFF
THE STUDENT WILL BE ABLE TO…
 Understand different divisions of power throughout the
world and specifically the U.S. government system.
WHAT YOU LEARNED YESTERDAY
 In yesterday’s
video you learned
how different
governments
may divide up
their
control/power, or
oversee their
sovereignty of an
area.
WHAT YOU NEED TO TAKE AWAY….
 Think of the spectrum he talked about yesterday as the background
that you should understand to know some of the sub-areas.
 In modern times the major trend has been towards the left;
representative state or multi-party state/direct democracy.
 In these areas of representative state/multi-party you get:
 Federal state: Type of government that gives local political units (states
or provinces) a measure of power.
 Unitary state: allocate most of the power to a strong central
government.
 Confederation of states: Loose grouping of states for a common
purpose.
EXAMPLES
 Federal States
 U.S.
 Canada
 Germany
 Australia
 Switzerland
 India
 Unitary States (Most
countries are)
 France
 Sweden
 United Kingdom
 Yes, other parts have
devolution, but it was
granted by the
Parliament
 Chad
 China
 Japan
 Confederations
 A lot are historic
 13 colonies
CHANGING SCALE…..
 The U.S. is a Federal State
 The Federal Government (think Washington D.C.) shares powers with
the U.S. states (Think state legislature, governor, etc.)
 The Federal Government wins out over the state government.
 The Federal Government, because it’s so powerful is intentionally
divided into three areas of power.
 Executive (President)
 Legislative (Senate & House of Representatives)
 Judiciary (Supreme Court)
 They all have checks and balances on each-other, like rock, paper,
scissors.
HTTPS://WWW.
YOUTUBE.CO
M/WATCH?V=0
BF3CWYCXXW
(SEPARATION
OF POWERS
AND CHECKS
AND
BALANCES)
8:30
WHY WE CARE…
It’s good to know how our government works, even minimally,
so you can understand how geography plays a role in the
government.
Remember, we’re focused on geography, or the distribution of
things.
The electoral college is how geography influence the election
of a president; which is based on population.
Gerrymandering is based on how lines/boundaries are drawn,
and population.
HTTPS://WW
W.YOUTUBE.
COM/WATCH?
V=OUS9MM8
XBBW
(ELECTORAL
COLLEGE
4:45)
HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/W
ATCH?V=7WC42HGLA4K&INDEX=1
3&LIST=PLQS5OHHASS_TF9MGMQLIE7FQQ1FZOQC&FEATURE=IV&SRC_VID=O
US9MM8XBBW&ANNOTATION_ID
=ANNOTATION_286635
PROBLEMS WITH ELECTORAL
COLLEGE 6:30
HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/
WATCH?V=MKY11UJB9AY
GERRYMANDERING EXPLAINED
5:30
SCALE….KEEPING NARROWING IT DOWN…
There are actually lots of layers of government
Federal  State  County/Municipal  City/Township 
Homeowners Association
Once you get below the state level it gets a little hazy because
the size of the area will determine what type of government
Sometimes there is just a county government or municipal
government
The main point is that local services are provided locally
HTTPS://WWW.
YOUTUBE.CO
M/WATCH?V=A
VE3OSR5W-0
4:30
 Aside from this
video being
magical, it is based
in Canada.
 Provinces are the
same as states.
 Municipal can be
seen as the city
 We, like them, have
different shared
responsibility over
roads.
NOW…REVERSE THE SCALE…GO MACRO
 Above individual countries, they sometimes form groups, which are
Supranational Organizations
 Must be THREE or more states who unite for mutual benefit
 A country joining a supranational organization give up some sovereignty or
rights
 The more authority a supranational organization has, the more powerful it is;
the less, it becomes less effective.
 The power that the supranational organization gets is based off of what a
country is willing to give it.
 The U.N. is fairly weak, countries don’t give it much authority over their internal
workings.
 The European Union is one of the most powerful supranational organizations
HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.
COM/WATCH?V=AIQHQNNDQC
ASEAN 6:21
IT SHOULD BE NOTED,
THIS IS MS. SCHMIDT’S
FAVORITE VIDEO OF ALL
TIME.
 Don’t get overly caught up
in the pure awesome of
this video. The things they
are talking about apply to
ALL supranational
organizations.
 Pay attention to the
benefits gained from being
a member of this
organization.
 Protection, Trade,
Exchange Ideas, and
Cultural elements.
 Obstacles to
supranationalism are also
discussed; they’re at the
end with ways to work
together.
HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.C
OM/WATCH?V=O37YJBFRRF
G
EUROPEAN UNION 5:50
 Members give up a
lot to join the EU.
 They give up say over
some trade laws
 They give up say over
currency (most
countries except
Great Britain)
 In exchange they
help one another
with trade and
increase their GDP
SUPRANATIONAL GROUPS TO KNOW
 In groups look up the following Supranational Organizations.
 Identify: What does the NAME STAND FOR?
 What countries are members?
 What is it that they “do?”
 Example: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
 U.S., Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Rep, Denmark,
Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, and U.K.
 A “political and military alliance.”