APHG Reading Guide
Chapter 8: Political Geography
Field Note (219 – 222)
1. In your own words, what does the quote “We prefer self-government with danger to servitude in tranquility”
mean? _____________________________________________________________________________________
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2. What were some of the problems encountered by the newly independent states in Africa during the 1960’s?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
3. According to de Blij, what did European colonialism bring to the political thinking of Africans?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What do political geographers study today? _____________________________________________________
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KQ #1: How is space politically organized into states and nations? (p. 222 – 234)
Define:
5. Political Geography: ________________________________________________________________________
6. State: ____________________________________________________________________________________
7. Territoriality: _____________________________________________________________________________
8. Sovereignty: ______________________________________________________________________________
9. Territorial integrity: ________________________________________________________________________
10. How was the concept of territoriality shown amongst Native American tribes? ________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
11. Where were the first states found in early Europe? ______________________________________________
12. What treaty sets the stage for the modern idea of statehood in 1648? _______________________________
13. Mercantilism: ____________________________________________________________________________
14. Describe the concept of a state that swept Europe in the late 1600’s. ________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
15. Nation: __________________________________________________________________________________
16. Who defines what makes a nation? ___________________________________________________________
17. Nation – State: ___________________________________________________________________________
18. What is the goal of creating a nation-state? ____________________________________________________
19. What are some of the problems associated with the nation-state ideal? ______________________________
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APHG Reading Guide
Chapter 8: Political Geography
20. How can nationalism be used to accomplish goals? ______________________________________________
Define and give an example of each:
21. Multi-national State: _______________________________________________________________________
22. Multi-state Nation: ________________________________________________________________________
23. Stateless Nation: __________________________________________________________________________
24. What was the purpose of the Berlin Conference in 1884 – 1885? ___________________________________
25. In what ways are the countries of Africa still tied to their colonial masters? __________________________
26. According to de Blij, what has been one of the lasting impacts of colonialism? _________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
27. Explain the metaphor given for World Systems Theory that involves the painting by Georges Pierre Seurat.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
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28. Capitalism: ______________________________________________________________________________
29. Commodification: _________________________________________________________________________
30. Immanuel Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory: _______________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
31. Core: ___________________________________________________________________________________
32. Periphery: _______________________________________________________________________________
33. Semi-Periphery: ___________________________________________________________________________
34. What are the benefits of Wallerstein’s view of the world? _________________________________________
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KQ # 2: How do states spatially organize their governments?
35. According to Hartshorne, states experience forces that would alter them. ______________________ forces
are those that unify the people as one, while ________________________ forces are those that divide the
people.
36. Unitary Governments: _____________________________________________________________________
37. Federal Governments: _____________________________________________________________________
APHG Reading Guide
Chapter 8: Political Geography
38. Despite many governments best efforts, states do sometimes experience forces that seek to move the
power away from a central authority and move it to regional or local levels. This movement is known as
______________________________.
39. What are the three basic types of devolution? __________________________________________________
40. Give an example of each type. _______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
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41. What do electoral geographers study? ________________________________________________________
42. What factors might a political geographer study that relates to voting patterns? ______________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
43. Reapportionment: ________________________________________________________________________
44. Gerrymandering: __________________________________________________________________________
KQ # 3: How are boundaries established, and why do boundary disputes occur? (p. 242 – 245)
45. Boundary: _______________________________________________________________________________
46. Using the maps / graphics on page 243, explain how boundaries can have economic consequences.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
47. Briefly describe the four steps in establishing a boundary:
a.) Define: ____________________________________________________________________________
b.) Delimit: ___________________________________________________________________________
c.) Demarcate: ________________________________________________________________________
d.) Administrate: ______________________________________________________________________
Define and give an example:
48. Geometric boundary: ______________________________________________________________________
49. Physical – Political boundary: ________________________________________________________________
50. There are 4 types of boundary disputes: Definitional, Locational, Operational, and Allocational. Briefly
describe each in your own words. _______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
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APHG Reading Guide
Chapter 8: Political Geography
KQ# 4: How do geopolitics and critical geopolitics help us understand the world? (p. 245 – 248)
51. ______________________________ is the interplay between geography, power, politics, and international
relations. While political science focuses on situations, systems, and institutions; _________________________
brings locational considerations, environmental contexts, and territorial perspectives to the fore.
52. What are the two classical schools of geopolitics? _______________________________________________
53. Ratzel’s theory compares the state to a _________________________________, which must go through
several different cycles in the life of the state.
54. Who used Ratzel’s theories to support their claims for territorial expansion? ________________________
55. Sir Halford Mackinder however focused his theories not on the need for continual conquest, but for need to
conquer and control one area, known as the ___________________________. This territory he said could be
found in _________________________________.
56. Critical Geopolitics: ________________________________________________________________________
57. Give some examples of how the US president has influenced the thinking of people in the US. ____________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
58. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, what became the “new threat” to the new geopolitical world
order? _____________________________________________________________________________________
59. Unilateralism: ____________________________________________________________________________
KQ# 5: What are supranational organizations, and what I the future of the state? (248 – 255)
60. Supranational Organization: _________________________________________________________________
61. Today there are more than _________ such organizations, with subsidiaries that number above _________.
62. What are some of the subsidiaries of the largest supranational organization (the United Nations – UN)
mentioned in the book? _______________________________________________________________________
63. In addition to these, the book mentions:
a. ) European Union: ____________________________________________________________________
b. ) OPEC: ____________________________________________________________________________
c.) NAFTA: ____________________________________________________________________________
d.) MERCOSUR: _______________________________________________________________________
64. How are states being affected by the emergence of supranational organizations? ______________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
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