Barron’s Chapter 4 – Political Geography
What Is Political Geography?
1. On what 3 scales do Political Geographers study political systems?
2. From what two perspectives do Political Geographers view political systems?
3. What is a prime example of culture influencing a political system, and what is it called?
4. What is a prime example of how political structures can impact culture?
5. (Margin “Strategy”) What are “nations” that exist as communal identities without the benefit of
an internationally recognized, cartographically defined state called, and what are some examples?
The Geography of Local and Regional Politics
6. What is the fundamental unit of political geography?
7. What word is synonymous with “country”?
8. What is the difference between a “state” and a “nation”?
9. What particular group of people in the Middle East has engaged in battles for decades to increase
their sovereignty and create their own “state” but have yet to achieve their goal?
10. What term is used to refer to a geographically defined sovereign state composed of citizens with
a common heritage, identity, and set of political goals?
11. When and how did the modern notion of the nation-state emerge, and how is it different from
older political ideologies?
12. Why do many of today’s states struggle to be unified nations despite tremendous historical and
cultural divisions? What are some examples?
13. Identify the condition of the following states or nations.
a. Japan ________________________________________________________________
b. Canada _______________________________________________________________
c. Arab Nation ___________________________________________________________
d. The Kurds _____________________________________________________________
14. In what type of territorial organization do governments bestow autonomous powers upon their
local territories rather than centrally controlling the entire country?
15. What are three main reasons a country might employ this type of territorial organization?
a. ___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
16. What is the term for when a central government delegates governing power to lower levels of
government?
17. States that give little or no autonomy to their local territories are called ____________________.
18. Examples of federal states and the corresponding name for their territorial governments:
a. _______________________________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________________________________
19. What have the cities of Toronto, Canada and Jacksonville, Florida done to minimize the
confusion of overlapping jurisdictions (authority) of various local governments?
20. (Figure 4-3) How are the electoral patterns of the election of 2000 by county different from the
election by state?
21. How did George W. Bush win the election of 2000 even though he lost the popular vote to Al
Gore?
22. How often are U.S. Congressional Districts redrawn, and what is that process called?
23. What is it called when Congressional districts are drawn to favor one set of candidates over
another?
24. What was the issue in the 1996 Supreme Court case involving the 12th Congressional District in
North Carolina, and what did the Supreme Court rule?
Territory, Borders, and the Geography of Nations
25. What aspects of a state are significantly affected by the location and designation of political
boundaries and the size and shape of territories?
26. What are the geographically largest and smallest countries in the world?
27. What are the smallest countries in the world called?
28. What are the advantages of being a large state, and what some exceptions to this?
29. Define each of the following terms and give examples:
a. Fragmented state - __________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
b. Elongated state - ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
c. Compact state - ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
d. Perforated State - ___________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
e. Landlocked State - __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
f. Prorupted State - ___________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
g. Exclave - _________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
30. (“Tip”) What are the distinct disadvantages of being a landlocked state, and what are 3 examples
of extremely challenged landlocked states?
31. What are the most challenging aspects of the size and shape of countries?
a. ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
32. What are some countries that possess strategically important locations, and explain why each is
so important?
33. Why was the city of New Orleans so important in American history?
34. How are geometric and physical boundaries different from each other?
35. What is the difference between a subsequent and antecedent boundary?
36. Why are subsequent boundaries so much better than superimposed boundaries?
37. What is the main cause of political tension on the continent of Africa?
38. What is a relic boundary? Can you think of an example?
39. The forces within a country that tend to create disunity and pull the country apart are called
___________________________________________, and they include:
a. ________________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________________________
c. ________________________________________________________________
40. Where are the Balkan Mountains, and what is the political process known as Balkanization?
41. What are enclaves, and how can they contribute to Balkanization?
42. Conversely, the forces that bind a country together and create national unity are called
__________________________________________, and they include:
a. ________________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________________________
c. ________________________________________________________________
d. ________________________________________________________________
43. What kinds of symbols in the cultural landscape often help promote strong national unity?
44. How can centripetal forces also become destructive to national unity?
45. What dangerous conditions can result from extreme nationalism, and what is the prime example
of nationalism run amuck?
46. What are two good examples of frontier boundaries and why do they exist?
47. What is the most contested frontier boundary and what has the United Nations done to try to
alleviate international conflict?
48. What are the 2 main provisions of the UN Law on the Sea?
a. __________________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________________
49. What is the most important geopolitical phenomenon in the last 500 years?
50. What countries have been the main participants in this phenomenon, and which two are really the
only countries still involved?
51. How is imperialism different than colonialism?
52. How is Kenya a good example of modern imperialism?
53. Countries under imperialist domination have one very significant feature that people living under
colonial powers do not, ________________________________________, which is defined as
______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________.
International Political Geography
54. What are the 3 early theories of international political geography (geopolitics), and who are the 3
political scientists associated with each?
a. __________________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________________
c. __________________________________________________________________
55. Why did geographer completely discard the organic theory of geopolitics?
56. What did Halford Mackinder claim was the key to global political power, and what is wrong
with his theory?
57. How did Nicholas Spykman contest Mackinder’s theory?
58. What is the most important trend in current global politics, and what are some examples?
59. What is the primary goal or benefit to global geopolitics?
60. In what 2 ways is NAFTA different than the United Nations?
61. How is a supranational organization different from an international organization?
62. In the formation of the European Union, why have its member nations willingly given up a
degree of their own state sovereignty (autonomy)?
International
Organization
Official Name
Type
(military and/or economic)
UN
NAFTA
EU
OPEC
NATO
CIS
CSA
63. According to the map on p.186 (Figure 4-10), what are the only European countries that are
neither members nor applicants to the European Union?
64. What was the east/west divide that dominated European geopolitics during the Cold War?
65. What other geopolitical theory dominated the politics of the Cold War, and what are the 2 most
obvious examples of this?
66. Since the end of the Cold War, what is the most obvious division of world power in today’s
global geopolitics and how is it significantly different from the Cold War east/west division?
(Brandt Line)
67. What role has “democratization” played in global politics in recent decades, and what challenges
does it face?
Spatial Conflict
68. What are three common sources of territorial conflict in today’s political geography?
a. __________________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________________
c. __________________________________________________________________
69. What is the current territorial dispute involving Los Angeles, and what is a similar example here
locally in Charlotte?
70. What issues (be specific) have moved to the top of the international agenda in recent decades?