Chapter 8 possible test questions: Political Geography
1. At the global scale, political geographers study the spatial manifestations of political
processes expressed in the organization of territories with permanent population, defined
territory and a government. These spatial units are called
a) countries.
b) states.
c) nations.
d) regions.
2. The present number of countries and territories in the world is around
a) 400.
b) 350.
c) 300.
d) 200.
3. In The Territorial Imperative, Robert Ardery argued that humans are concerned with
a) collecting and securing territory.
b) concerned only with the securing of food.
c) avoiding confrontation with different groups.
d) unconcerned with securing territory.
4. Robert Sack’s view of human territorial behavior implies an expression of control over
space and time. This control is closely related to the concept of
a) nationhood.
b) colonialism.
c) sovereignty.
d) warfare.
5. Huntington’s thesis in The Clash of Civilization is similar to Wallerstein’s view that
international relations are reducible to economic rather than cultural factors.
a) true
b) false
c) none of the above
6. The promotion of the acquisition of wealth through plunder, colonization, and the
protection of home industries and foreign markets during Europe’s rebirth was called
a) imperialism.
b) neo-imperialism.
c) mercantilism.
d) new colonialism.
7. What ultimately proved to be the undoing of monarchical absolutism and its system of
patronage during Europe’s rebirth?
a) the re-emergence of church power
b) growing economic power of merchants
c) an increasing population
d) colonization
8. The rise of the modern state idea, where territory defined society rather than society
defining territory, swept through Europe in the
a) Middle Ages.
b) 1600s.
c) 1800s.
d) Twentieth Century.
9. When not all people within a state identify with the dominant sense of nationality,
movements for separation of nation and territory may arise. For example the ______in
___________.
a) English, Great Britain
b) Basques, Spain
c) Waloons, Belgium
d) Irish, Ireland
10. Yugoslavia was a prime example of a
a) multi-state nation.
b) nation-state.
c) stateless nation.
d) multi-nation state.
11. Which is an example of a stateless-nation?
a) Korea
b) Kurds
c) Hungary
d) Switzerland
12. The European state idea spread throughout the world through
a) European colonialism.
b) economic development.
c) League of Nations planning.
d) contagious diffusion.
13. One of the most powerful impacts of colonialism was the construction of global order
characterized by great differences in
a) population.
b) military and political power.
c) economic and political power.
d) military and economic power.
14. The highly uneven distribution of economic and political power that developed from
colonialism was due to the concentration of wealth brought to
a) North America.
b) Europe.
c) Asia.
d) Europe and North America.
15. Wallerstein’s views expressed in world systems theory hold that the global
integrating force has been
a) capitalism.
b) the rise of the U.N.
c) socialism.
d) colonial independence movements.
16. The emergence of a global capitalistic economy began to develop about
a) 1350.
b) 1450.
c) 1550.
d) 1650.
17. __________ is an example of a core country which was never a classical colonial
power.
a) Singapore
b) Netherlands
c) Belgium
d) Germany
18. The boundaries of independent African states were drawn at the Berlin Conference
and were essentially drawn
a) arbitrarily.
b) along ethnic lines.
c) along religious lines.
d) along ecological lines.
19. Which is not characteristic of unitary state governments?
a) highly centralized
b) capital city functions as core of power
c) suppression of regional subcultures
d) concerned with fostering diversity of regional cultural expression
20. Nigeria is a state with a federal system of government. This fact is reflected in the
adoption of _________ law in the states of the Muslim North.
a) British Common
b) Nigerian Federal
c) Sharia
d) local tribal
21. The movement of power from the central government regional governments is
referred to as
a) revolution.
b) pluralism.
c) supranationalism.
d) devolution.
22. Which country has experienced violent devolution?
a) Yugoslavia
b) Ukraine
c) Czechoslovakia
d) Lithuania
23. In 1997 Scotland took a major devolutionary step with the establishment of
a) Independence from Britain.
b) its own currency and passports.
c) the Scottish Parliament.
d) the Scottish National Party.
24. In Italy, the Northern League’s desire for independence was based on the economic
difference between the northern Po region and the southern Mezzogiorno. These
differences are attributed to
a) regional ethnic differences.
b) religious differences between north and south.
c) core-periphery processes.
d) ecological differences.
25. Distance, remoteness and marginal location enhance the potential for devolution. This
form of devolution is referred to as
a) ethnic devolution.
b) spatial devolution.
c) economic devolution.
d) economic marginalization.
26. The process of adjustment of the number of representatives in the U.S. House of
Representatives to reflect shifts in population patterns is known as
a) gerrymandering.
b) territorial representation.
c) electoral geography.
d) reapportionment.
27. A series of concrete pillars _________ the northern boundary of Kuwait with Iraq.
a) defines
b) delimits
c) demarcates
d) determines
28. A boundary between countries is a
a) line on the ground only.
b) line shown only on maps.
c) point of separation on and below the surface only.
d) vertical plane that cuts through the rocks below and air above.
29. The boundary between the United States and Canada west of the Great Lakes is an
example of a(n)
a) physical-political boundary.
b) geometric boundary.
c) mountain crest boundary.
d) administrative boundary.
30. Which is an example of an allocational boundary dispute?
a) dispute over the interpretation of boundary treaty terminology
b) dispute over boundaries not covered by a treaty (e.g. Yemen-Saudi Arabia)
c) dispute over the function of a boundary with regard to migration
d) dispute over rights to resources (e.g. oil, water) crossed by international boundaries
31. Geometric boundaries, totally unrelated to any aspects of the cultural or physical
landscape, were made considerable use of by the colonial powers in
a) Asia.
b) South America.
c) Central America.
d) Africa.
32. The first political geographer who studied the state in detail was Friedrich Ratzel who
postulated that the state resembles a biological organism. His organic theory
identified ______________ as a state’s essential life giving force.
a) population
b) a strong military
c) space
d) mobility
33. Ratzel’s organic theory was converted into a subfield of political geography called
geopolitics which was subsequently translated into practical national policies by some
of his students. What country used geopolitics as a philosophy of expansion?
a). Japan
b) Nazi Germany
c) Britain
d) France
34. Sir Halford Mackinder developed what would become known as the heartland theory
which suggested that interior Eurasia contained a critical “pivot area” that would generate
a state capable of challenging for world domination. The key to the area according to
Mackinder was
a) natural protection.
b) distance.
c) natural resources.
d) Eastern Europe.
35. In 1943 Mackinder wrote about his concerns over the potential of Stalin’s control of
the countries of Eastern Europe. His views led to the development of the United States’
containment policy and to the establishment of
a) friendly relationships with China.
b) the United Nations.
c) N.A.T.O.
d) the Berlin Wall.
36. Recent geopolitical theory emphasizes the “deconstruction” of spatial assumptions
and territorial perspectives of leading western politicians and analysis of the way their
ideas are used to manipulate public opinion. This field of research is called
a) Heartland theory.
b) Marxian geopolitical theory.
c) Critical geopolitics.
d) British/American school of geopolitics.
37. Following the disintegration of the former Soviet Union the only surviving
superpower was
a) China.
b) the United States.
c) Great Britain.
d) France.
38. Technically supranationalism refers to efforts by ______ or more states to forge
associations for common advantage and in pursuit of common goals.
a) 2
b) 4
c) 5
d) 3
39. The League of Nations was created in 1919 as the first international organization that
would include all nations of the world. Its success was dealt a serious blow by the failure
of what country to join?
a) Britain
b) Russia
c) the United States
d) Canada