Canadian & World Issues

Geopolitics

“A Key Study in Geography”

Politics: The practice of decision-making by society as a whole, usually formalized at the government level.

Political topics concerned with Geography: Trade military alliances foreign aid Immigration / emigration territorial control economic systems areas of land suitable to support society and distribution of

wealth

“A Key Study in Geography”

• Examples of how Politics and Geography are related:– Geographical factors can cause political changes

• e.g. When Switzerland restricts immigration because it, as a nation, already has a high enough population.

– Political factors can cause Geographical changes• e.g. An increase in oil prices has led to an expanded search

for oil in the Arctic and North sea, thus causing Geographical changes.

“A Key Study in Geography”

• Geopolitics: The study of the two-way relationship between political beliefs and actions on one side and any of the usual concerns of geography on the other.

Classification of Political Systems

• Supranational Political Systems

• National Political Systems

• Other Ways of Classifying Governments:– Governments by Mode of Succession– Governments by Type of Rule– Governments by Structure– Levels of Government– Branches of Government

Govts by Mode of Succession

1. Hereditary Succession

2. Succession by Constitutional Prescription

3. Succession by Election

4. Succession by Force

Govts by Mode of Succession

• Hereditary Succession

• e.g. western Europe monarchies, and some Arab nations

• Often first-born son, then his first-born son, ….

Govts by Mode of Succession

• Monarchies of the World– Currently there are 29 monarchs reigning over 44

countries (QEII is Head of State for 16 countries)

Govts by Mode of Succession

• Succession by Constitutional Prescription

• e.g. United States

• Next leader already specified by law

Govts by Mode of Succession

• Succession by Election

• e.g. Canada

• Next person is chosen by party vote (a leadership convention) or general election

Govts by Mode of Succession

• Succession by Force

• e.g. Hitler’s Germany, Mussolini’s Italy

Govts by Type of Rule

1. Autocratic

2. Democratic

Govts by Type of Rule

• Autocratic

• e.g., dictatorships, absolute monarchies - Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Vatican City

• one person or group of people holding all power

Govts by Type of Rule

• Democratic

• e.g., Canada

• prescribed division of powers for different purposes such as Governor General, Prime Minister, etc.

Govts by Structure

1. Monarchy

2. Dictatorship

3. Oligarchy

4. Constitutional

Govts by Structure

• Monarchy

• e.g., Monaco, Spain, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, The Netherlands, Japan

• king or queen, emperor, etc.

• can be largely symbolic or an absolute ruler

• legitimized by blood descent

Govts by Structure

• Dictatorship

• e.g., Myanmar

• a self-proclaimed leader, taking advantage of failures of western set-up government structures then banning oppositions and building replicas of communist world

• See Evita or Moon Over Parador for Hollywood renditions of dictatorships

Govts by Structure

• Oligarchy

• e.g., Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

• irresponsible rule by small groups

• almost extinct today but historically were in Asia where governing elites were recruited exclusively from a ruling caste

• Also:– South Africa– Guatemala

Govts by Structure

• Constitutional Government

• e.g. Canada, the United States

• defined by the existence of a constitution

• constitution may be a legal instrument or merely a set of fixed norms or principles generally accepted as the fundamental law of the polity that effectively controls the exercise of political power

Levels of Government

1. National

2. Sub-National

3. Regional

4. Municipal

5. School Board

Levels of Government

• National

• e.g. Government of Canada

• www.canada.ca

• Country

Levels of Government

• National Powers and Responsibilities– National Defence– Unemployment Insurance– Postal Service– Trade Regulation– External Relations– Money and Banking– Citizenship– Indian Affairs– Criminal Law– plus anything else not identified in the constitution

Levels of Government

• Sub-National

• e.g. Government of Ontario

• www.ontario.ca

• Province, Territory, State (U.S), or Canton (Switz)

Levels of Government

• Provincial Powers and Responsibilities– Property and Civil Rights– Administration of Justice– Education– Health– Welfare– Natural Resources– Licensing– Charities– Civil Laws– Municipalities

Supranational Political Systems

• Empires

• e.g. British, Roman, and Ottoman

• a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority

Supranational Political Systems

• Leagues

• e.g. Baltic, Arab; also League of Nations

• an association of nations or other political entities for a common purpose

Supranational Political Systems

• Confederations

• e.g. European Union

• is a large state composed of many self-governing regions

• has a very weak central government with little influence over the actions or policies of the member regions

Supranational Political Systems

• Federations

• e.g. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

• formed by a compact between political units that surrender their individual sovereignty to a central authority but retain limited residuary powers of government

Supranational Political Systems

• United Nations

• voluntary association of most of the world's nation-states

• not a world government and it does not make laws

National Political Systems

• Unitary Nation-States

• e.g. Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Japan, Poland, Romania, the Scandinavian countries, Spain, and many of the Latin-American and African countries

• basically a single tier of government with varying degrees decentralization - some are decentralized so much as to resemble federal states, some allow limited regional rule, others have only token decentralization

National Political Systems

• Federal Systems

• e.g. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Russia, and the United States, Austria, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Switzerland, and Venezuela

• political authority is divided between two autonomous sets of governments, one national and the other sub-national, both of which operate directly upon the people

World Governments in 1900

World Governments in 1950

World Governments in 2000

World Governments in 2050

?

Canada and the European Union

Canada and the European Union

• Austria • Belgium • Bulgaria • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Finland • France • Germany • Greece • Hungary • Ireland • Italy • Latvia • Lithuania

• Luxembourg • Malta • Netherlands • Poland • Portugal • Romania • Slovakia • Slovenia • Spain • Sweden • United Kingdom

• Croatia• Macedonia• Turkey

Canada and the European Union

Canada and the European Union

• Albania • Andorra • Armenia • Azerbaijan • Belarus • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Georgia • Iceland • Liechtenstein • Moldova

• Monaco • Montenegro • Norway • Russia • San Marino • Serbia • Switzerland • Ukraine • Vatican City State

• Other European Countries (non EU members)

Canada and the European Union

Canada European Union

Government Leader

The Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper

H.E. José Manuel Barroso

Government TypeParliamentary

DemocracySupranational

Union

Formation July 1, 1867 May 9, 1950

Population 33 million 495 million

Canada and the European Union

Canada European Union

Area 9 984 670 sq km 4 325 675 sq km

Divisions10 provinces,

3 territories 27 countries

Capital Ottawa, Ontario Brussels, Belgium

Gross Domestic Product

$1.1 trillion US $13.4 trillion US

Canada and the European Union

• EU Council President Rotation– Current Head of Government of country identified

assumes additional duties of President of EU for term– 2007 Jan-Jun Germany – 2007 Jul-Dec Portugal – 2008 Jan-Jun Slovenia – 2008 Jul-Dec France – 2009 Jan-Jun Czech Republic – 2009 Jul-Dec Sweden – 2010 Jan-Jun Spain – 2010 Jul-Dec Belgium

Canada and the European Union

– Austria– Belgium – Cyprus – Finland– France– Germany – Greece – Ireland

– Italy – Luxembourg – Malta – Netherlands – Portugal – Slovenia – Spain

• 15 countries use the Euro as their currency:

Sharing Spaces

Sharing Spaces

• Nile River Basin

Sharing Spaces

• Antarctica

Sharing Spaces

• The Arctic

Sharing Spaces

• Grand Banks of Newfoundland

Sharing Spaces

• Indian Ocean