POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

TYPES OF GOVERNMENTS

Theocracy –

•an independent country in which the government is controlled by one or more religious leaders

•Iran

TYPES OF GOVERNMENTSDemocracy -

•rule by the people

Oligarchy –

•rule by an elite group of people, typically the wealthy

•United States???

•United States

TYPES OF GOVERNMENTS

Monarchy –

•Institutional rule over a state by the head of a hereditary family

•United Kingdom

TYPES OF GOVERNMENTS

Dictatorship –

•oppressive, anti-democratic form of government in which the leader is often backed by the military

•Iraq, Cuba

POLITICAL DEFINITIONSNation -

•a group of people who possess common cultural traits

State -•a political entity that possesses sovereignty over an area delimited by internationally recognized boundaries•Mexico

•Kurdistan

POLITICAL DEFINITIONSCity-state -

•fort or central city with its immediately surrounding territory, usually encased by a wall

Nation-state -•a political unit that contains one principal national group that gives it its identity and defines its territory •United Kingdom

RISE OF NATION-STATES1. in response to the rise of nationalist political

philosophies during the 18th century 2. humans want to be close to those of similar

background

3. necessary and logical component of the transition from feudalism to capitalism

4. logical accompaniment of economic growth based on expanding technologies

5. arose from the collapse of local communities and the need for effective communication within a large unit

GROWTH THEORIES

Wallerstein’s World Systems

•World is divided into three spheres:

core

semi periphery

periphery

GROWTH THEORIES

1. Size will increase as culture develops

2. Growth of a state is subsequent to other manifestations of the growth of the people

RATZEL’S SEVEN LAWS OF SPATIAL GROWTH

GROWTH THEORIES

3. Growth from a process of annexing smaller members

4. boundaries are peripheral organs that take part in all transformations of the state

RATZEL’S SEVEN LAWS OF SPATIAL GROWTH

GROWTH THEORIESRATZEL’S SEVEN LAWS OF SPATIAL

GROWTH

5. as state grows, it will strive to occupy some politically valuable locations

6. initial stimulus for growth is external

7. tendency to grow continually increases in intensity

GROWTH THEORIES

Deutsch’s Stages

1. transition from subsistence to exchange economy

2. increased mobility leading to formation of core areas

GROWTH THEORIES

Deutsch’s Stages

3. development of urban centers

4. growth of a network of communications

5. spatial concentration of capital

GROWTH THEORIES

Deutsch’s Stages

6. increasing group identity

7. rise of national identity

8. creation of state

INFLUENCE OF ETHNICITY

Ethnic homogeneity of countries vary, but the extent of a state’s cultural diversity often influences its political stability

INFLUENCE OF ETHNICITY

Ethnic diversity can be a strong centrifugal force – leading to civil disorder, international conflict, unspeakable human rights abuses

Yugoslavia

BOUNDARIES

I. Generic Boundaries

•identified on the basis of their inherent characteristics

•natural or physical, ethnographic or cultural, historical, geometric

BOUNDARIES

I. Generic Boundaries: •Natural boundary

follows a river or mountain range

arguments over mineral and usage rights, bridge construction and maintenance, territory lost as a result of course changes over time

BOUNDARIES

• Ethnographic boundary

Cultural differences mark separation

Partition of India