political geography. political culture political cultures vary political ideas vs. religion or...
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Political Geography
Political Culture
Political cultures vary Political ideas vs. religion or language Theocracies
Territoriality Key element of political culture
State and Nation
Terminology “State” vs. “country” A nation may be larger than a state
Nation has historic, ethnic and often linguistic and religious connotations
Stateless nations
Rise of the Modern State
The European model The Norman invasion & out of “Dark Age” Thirty Years’ War treaties
The Renaissance Mercantilism & religious wars Money vs. land
The Nation-State
Some democratic, some autocratic, and some parliamentary democracies Sovereignty remained with the nation—the people
European control Creation of “nation states” Are there real nation states?
Internal cultural diversity Heterogeneous states can share “national spirit”
Emotional commitment to the state and for what it stands e.g., Confederation Helvetica
Spatial Characteristics of States
Physical and cultural properties Size and population Needs legitimacy Boundaries: centripetal or centrifugal forces Four main features of the European model:
1. Clearly defined territory
2. Substantial population
3. Certain types of organizational structures
4. Some power
Territory
Territorial morphology Size, shape, and relative location Present opportunities and challenges
Size Large vs. small states
Shape Compact Fragmented Elongated Protruded Perforated
Compact States
Efficient, distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly.
Prorupted
An otherwise compact state with a large, projecting extension
-can provide a state with access to water.
-can separate two states.
Perforated
A state that surrounds another one.
South Africa
Fragmented
Includes several discontinuous pieces.
2 types of separation:
1. separates another state (Armenia)
2. separated by water
Elongated
Has a long narrow shape:
-may suffer from poor internal communications
Landlocked States
Paraguay
Itaipu Dam
Lesotho: an enclave
Kaliningrad: an exclave
Ministates/microstates
Land Boundaries
International boundaries Have a vertical plane cutting through the rocks
below, and the airspace above
Land Boundaries
How do we get boundaries? Three steps of boundary evolution
Define it Exact location established, via treaty-like legal
documents, describing (absolute or relative) actual points
Delimit it Officially put on a map, by a cartographer
Demarcate it Actual ground markers—fences, pillars, walls, etc.—if
desired Not all boundaries are demarcated
4 Corners: What type of boundary?
Land Boundaries Types of boundaries
Geometric boundary Straight-line boundaries Totally unrelated to any aspects of physical or cultural
landscapes
Physical-political boundary or natural-political boundary Outlined by a physiographic landscape features (river,
mountain ridge, etc.) Convenient, but nature & meaning might change over time
Cultural-political boundary Formerly “anthropogenic” boundaries Mark breaks in the human landscape
Land Boundaries
Origin-based classification Richard Hartshorne’s Genetic Boundary Classification
Antecedent boundary Existed before the cultural landscape emerged
Subsequent boundary Developed at the same time as the major elements of the cultural
landscape
Superimposed boundary Placed by powerful outsiders on a developed cultural landscape
Relic boundary Ceased to function, but its imprint is still on the cultural landscape
Frontiers A frontier is a zone of separation
Subsequent and Superimposed
Superimposed and subsequent
A different boundary: The Equator near Quito, Ecuador between the north and south hemisphere
Functions of Boundaries
“Walls” Limit state jurisdiction State symbols
Functions of Boundaries
Internal boundaries For administrative purposes
Examples: United States or Canada
Some culturally divided countries have internal boundaries that do not show on a map
Functions of Boundaries
Boundary disputes Four principal forms of boundary disputes
Definitional Focus on the “legalese” of the agreement
Locational Focus on the delimitation and/or demarcation of the border
Operational Focus on neighbors who differ over the way their boundary
should function
Allocational Focus on resources that straddle neighbors
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/04/mongolia_land_w.html
Resources De Blij, Harm, J. (2007). Human Geography People, Place and Culture.
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc. Domosh, Mona, Neumann, Roderic, Price, Patricia, & Jordan-Bychkov,
2010. The Human Mosaic, A Cultural Approach to Human Geography. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.
Fellman, Jerome, D., Getis, Arthur, & Getis, Judith, 2008. Human Geography, Landscapes of Human Activities. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Pulsipher, Lydia Mihelic and Alex M. and Pulsipher, 2008. World Regional Geography, Global Patterns, Local Lives. W.H. Freeman and Company New York.
Rubenstein, James M. (2008). An introduction to human geography The cultural landscape. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Benewick, Robert, & Donald, Stephanie H. (2005). The State of China Atlas. Berkeley: University of California Press.