Political Geography
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Created by David Silverman
Development of the State
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Development of the State
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The first states were territories surrounding cities, or city-states (Athens and Sparta
were both city states). The largest unified political territory of pre-Industrial times was
the Roman Empire.
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After the fall of the Roman Empire, European states eventually formed around powerful kings.
European states diffused the state concept through colonialism beginning in the 1400s, claiming
territory for trade and prestige in the Western Hemisphere and later Africa and Asia.
A country (or a state) is a politically organized territory that is administered by a
political power. These can be composed of more than one nation.
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A nation is comprised of a group of people that share a political identity, which can
include language, ethnicity, religion or other cultural attributes, although not all nations
have their own states.
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Palestinians often consider themselves a stateless nation because they have been fighting with
Israel (and others) to establish their own state for decades, but they have yet to achieve their
goal.
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Israel has achieved statehood because its government and territorial borders have officially been
recognized internationally.
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A nation-state is a defined as a sovereign state (which has independent
political power) where its citizens share a common heritage, identity, and set
of political goals. This almost never happens in the modern world.
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The notion of our current nation-state is a relatively new idea which arose in 18th
century Europe, and utilized for the first time in the French and American
Revolutions.
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Many states founded over the last 200 years have political boundaries left over from the
colonial system which didn’t recognize preexisting religious and ethnic boundaries. For
this reason many of today’s states have to represent themselves as a unified nation, even
though this causes further conflict.
Types of Boundaries
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Physical boundaries such as deserts, mountains, and water are all used to
separate states and may be effective in part because they represent a
physical barrier to movement.
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Cultural boundaries such as geometric lines, religious boundaries, and language
boundaries can be problematic because they rarely divide all individuals perfectly
between each side of the boundary.
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An example of a boundary reinforcing differences on either side is that of Cyprus, which is
divided between Turkish and Greek control.
Frontiers are indefinite areas between states, they are becoming much less
common.
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Most countries are divided into a geographically based hierarchy of local
government agencies. This division of land is called territorial organization
and serves many important functions.
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Territorial governments are efficient at delegating administrative functions over a
large area, which helps curb uprisings
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Territorally organized governments can divide resources through local agencies.
This is beneficial because local governments tend to be more in touch with the
needs of the people than state or national governments.
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National governments organized by territories usually give their local territories
more freedom to enact laws, police their lands, and tax local citizens.
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How power is distributed between local and national agencies causes political
debate and controversy
Federalism
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Under federalism, a government grants autonomous power (the power to let
territories act independently) to their local territories instead of controlling
the entire country. These governments are called federal states
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Federal states vary in how much autonomy they give to their territories.
Devolution is how central governments (the government of a nation-state) delegate
statutory powers (The power given by federal and state governments to grant
powers to officials) to lower levels of government like the state or county
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States that grant little to no autonomy to their local territories are called unitary states
Federal states such as the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, assign political power to local
areas, which allows voters a greater influence and impact in the political process .
The territories within states are often further divided into smaller areas like
counties, cities, school districts, and voting precincts.
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Depending on how a federalist country delegated authority, there are crucial
implications for everything from taxes, use of natural resources, and even effects
that way that votes are counted in an election.
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In the US voters elect officials to posts that are associated with a geographic area (ex:
Congress representatives are people from their home district).
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The candidate that wins the popular vote does not necessarily win the election.
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Each person elected in the Electoral College chooses a candidate that they believe in. The
candidate that receives the highest proportion of votes (within a state) receives all of the
electoral votes for that state.
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Popular vote: includes all the votes cast in all the states
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Electoral vote: includes votes from a specific number of elected officials in each state. The
number of people for each state depends on the population of that state.
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EX: 2000 Elections- George Bush vs Al Gore- Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote.Bush
won most of the states but Al Gore picked up a few of the most populous and urbanized areas (NYC, Cali).
In this election, it was determined that Bush won the electoral vote when the key state of Florida finally
cast its electoral votes for the Republican Candidate.
District Lines
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The drawing of the district lines effects the voting process. Each districts’
political and ethnic composition has a large effect on who is elected to
represent that area.
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Reapportionment/Redistricting: Congressional district lines are redrawn after
every census to reflect changes in the population, This is to make sure that the
lines fair to represent population demographics.
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Gerrymandered: When a district has been purposely drawn to favor one set of
candidates over another (basically rigging the districts to ensure certain votes).
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EX: 1993- North Carolina- The Supreme Court determined that a district had been
gerrymandered and this goes against the Voting Rights Act. White voters claimed that the
districts had been drawn to consolidate (and favor) African American votes.
Territory, Borders, and Geography of
Nations
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The size and shape of territories can play a role in many things (economy, political stability, culture, and
relationship with other nations).
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Sizes- Each territory has a land base and a set of physical and natural resources
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1. Largest is Russia (taking up 11% of the Earth’s total surface)
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2. Microstates- tiny countries within other countries (ex Vatican City)
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3. Usually larger territories are richer in resources (not always true- EX Canada- lots of land but can’t be used in the north for
agriculture)
Types of country shapes
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1. Fragmented state- little pieces (small islands) EX: Fiji
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2. Elongated state- thin and long stretch of land EX: Chile
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3. Rectangular state- rectangular EX: Angola (West Africa)
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4. Compact state- relatively round or rounded EX: Poland
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5. Perforated state- a country that surrounds other states EX: Italy
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6. Landlocked state- land completely surrounded by other countries EX:Nepal
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7. Prorupted state- land that has a long arm jutting out EX- Thailand
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8. Exclaves- detached pieces of land (outlying holdings) EX- Berlin
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Types of Boundaries/boarders
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Physical boundaries follow features in the landscape like rivers, mountains, and deserts. Other boundaries
are based on political decision
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Geometric boundaries follow straight lines and have very little to do with cultural or natural landscapes.
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Some geometric boundaries are well known and defined landmarks, like the wall that separates Tijuana Mexico
from Sand Diego California.
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Subsequent boundaries drawn after a population has established itself with respect to social, cultural, and
ethnic groups.
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An antecedent boundary is when a boundary is assigned to a region before it becomes populated, which limits
its significance.
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Superimposed boundary are boundaries that are drawn after a population has settled.
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EX- In 1846 the western boundary between Canada and the United States was designated by a treaty, however,
the area was barely populated so it carried little cultural or social significance.
They do not pay much attention to social, cultural, and ethnic compositions that they divide.
Common in Africa during colonialism and still remains (causing political tension in the country).
Relic Boundary is a national border that no longer exists but still has left some imprint on the local culture.
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Centrifugal Forces pull countries apart
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This includes regionalism, ethinic strife and territorial disputes.
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Balkanization-refers to the political process of a country getting torn apart into small states.
It comes from this happening in the Balkan regions of Europe.
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This often happens when enclaves develop their own ethnic identities, or when central governments
devolve authority to their territories.
Centripetal Forces bind countries together
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This includes strong national institutions, a sense of common history, or a reliance on strong
central government. A symbol of centripetal forces include good institutions, strong traditions,
and an effective communication system.
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EX- USA after 9/11- more flags, more unity, more patriotism
Nationalism- is the feeling that one’s country should be internally cohesive and should have
political autonomy.
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At a controlled level, this can create healthy centripetal forces that bind the culture.
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The downside, is that this often leads to ‘too much’ interior pride where the nationalism gets so strong
that the individuals believe they are better than others on earth. (ex- Nazi Germany and the Holocaust).
Frontiers
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Frontiers are areas where borders are shifting and people from different
nationalities start to make claims on these outlying areas.
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An example of a modern day frontier is the western Amazon Basin, where the political
boundaries of those countries have little effect on the rugged terrain.
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Buffer states are frontier areas that are in between two countries (possibly opposing
countries)
Another frontier is where the world’s oceans are, and some of this disputed
territory has been solved with the law of the sea.
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In 1958, the UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) met for the first time to
decide on uniform laws to govern ownership of the world’s most giant frontiers.
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The first two meetings were unsuccessful, but the third (1983) resulted in new laws to
govern ownership of coastal waters. It clarified that:
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12 nautical miles from shorelines, ships from other countries are allowed the right of passage.
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An EEX (exclusive economic zone) was designated that allows those countries to explore and
exploit 200 miles from shore in the water, seabed, and subsoil.
Colonialism
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Colonialism involves the official government rule of one state over another.
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While we usually only think of Britain, Spain, Portugal, and France as great colonial
powers….Sweden, Russia, Austria, China, and Japan are also.
Imperialism occurs when one country exerts cultural or economic dominance
over another without the aid of official government institutions.
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Imperialism can spawn from colonialism.
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Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963 but still retains British language, religion, and
administrative systems.
The US is considered a dominant imperial power because American pop culture and
economics affects the lives of millions of people throughout the world
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Self-determination- is the right of a nation to govern itself autonomously and determine its own
destiny. Countries under imperial domination are the only ones with self-determination, because
even though imperialist powers may dominate the cultural relations of the less-powerful countrythat country is still responsible for political powers.
International Political Geography
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Organic Theory- 19th Century Fredrich Ratzel proposed this theory of the
evolutions of nations. It was later turned into the field of geopolitics (by Swedish
Rudolf Kjellen). Geopolitical theorists believe that nations must expand their land
in order to maintain vibrancy. (More land gain=more powerful).
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This theory was completely discarded after being used by Adolf Hitler in order to defend
his military aggression in WWII.
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Lebensraum- Hitler’s expansionist theory was based on the drive to ‘acquire more living
space’ for the German people.’
Heartland Theory- 20th Century Sir Halford Mackinder proposed that the great
geographical pivot point for human history was in northern and central Asia (the
largest landmass on earth). He thought whoever owned this heartland, would rule
the world. Before Mackinder’s time, people thought the world’s oceans would
provide the avenue to colonial conquest- not the land.
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A skeptic of this theory, Nicholas Spykman, argued that the rimland (the areas
surrounding the heartland were more important for world political power. History has
not backed up this theory.
International Alliances
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An International Organization-an alliance of 2 or more countries seeking cooperation without giving up
either autonomy or self-determination.
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1. The UN- The United Nations is a global org that focuses on international peace and security. Since most countries are
members of the UN it sets internationally approved standards of behavior. They can use this group to apply pressure to
misbehaving countries and isolate them with political pressure.
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2. NAFTA- Is a regional alliance for the US, Canada, and Mexico. It handles economic arrangements, borders, and trade.
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3. The EU (European Union) is a supernational organization. Similar to international organizations, members most
relinquish some level sovereignty in favor of the group interested. This unification of Europe (not giving up their own
political power, but sharing the Euro) is thought to help turn them into a great world power.
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4. OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) is another international economic organization for countries
that produce oil. This is an example of an economic alliance (as opposed to a regional alliance)
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5. NATO (North American Treaty Organization) is a military alliance. It is a union of countries binding together to join
military purposes, share bases in each other’s countries, etc.
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6. Confederations- similar to international organizations but they bring states together for a common purpose.
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CIS- (Commonwealth of Independent States). CIS is made up of the independent nations that used to make up the Soviet
Union. They have united for economic needs.
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The forming of the confederation of the southern states (US before the Civil War) is another example of a confederation
alliance.
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International alliances changed after the Cold War (1945-1989). During this period an
east/west divide occurred and separated the democratic/free markets of Western Europe
and the Americas, and the socialist and communist countries of Eastern Europe and Asia.
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Domino Theory- Cold War westerners were concerned that if there were too many communist
nations, then many others would fall and tip the scales in the world power to favor
communism.
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After the Cold Ware and the dismantling of the USSR (1980s), the world’s geopolitical axis has
shifted to a north/south divide. This describes the division between the wealthy countries of
Europe, North America, Japan, and Australia (north) and the poorer countries in Asia, Africa,
Latin America (south). Whereas the east/west divide was a ideology based, the north/south
divide is mainly economic.
Democratization- the central goal of the US and the UN. Democracy can take many forms.
Government forms might vary and there is democratic variety from Europe, to Latin America,
to Asia.
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Many people believe that some form of democratic representation must be present in order to
ensure human rights (social welfare, economic development, and security).
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Democracy has spread in recent decades to new areas (even though the transition can be
turbulent).
References
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This powerpoint presentation was adapted using the information from the
Barron’s AP Human Geography 5th edition prep book.
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Marsh, Meredith, Peter S Alagona, and Peter S Alagona. Barron's AP Human
Geography. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's Educational Series, 2014. Print.