U4: Political Patterns and Processes

Vocabulary

● Industrialization: the industrial revolution began in the United Kingdom in the late 1700s. The root of this industrialization was technology like the Spinning Jenny and water frame, and it started with the growth of the textile industry.

● Cottage Industry: manufacturing occurs in individuals’ homes; this was prevalent prior to the industrial revolution

● Deindustrialization: decline in industrial activity in a region or economy (ex: rust belts)

● Sustainable Development: this is when the land is used in more efficient ways (ex: greenspaces in cities)

● Growth Poles Theory: the central idea is that there is not uniform growth; agglomerations are near “poles” (where there is stronger development), and this causes imbalance economies in different areas

● Agglomeration: concentration of business or production in one area for mutual benefits

● Deglomeration: businesses or industries leave an area where they were concentrated because of technology, increased costs, or competition

● Comparative Advantage: a business will produce goods and services that have the greatest ratio of advantage for that area in comparison to other areas; this is based on the assumption that free trade exists

● Bulk-Reducing Industry: economic activity in which the final product weighs less than its inputs

● Bulk-Gaining Industry: economic activity in which the final product weighs more than its inputs

● Labor Intensive Industry: industry where labor costs are a higher percentage of total expenses

● Fordist Industries: industries where each person is assigned a specific task in an assembly line. Ford was one of the first companies to organize its production in this way in the early twentieth century. 

● Post Fordist Industries: industries where relatively skilled workers master a wide variety of tasks

● Market Equilibrium: the price at which the supply equals the demand

● Ubiquitous Industries: businesses that are distributed in direct proportion to the distribution of the population

● Break of Bulk Point: the location at which a good is transferred from one mode of transportation to another

● Line-Haul Costs: transportation costs for a good

● Transnational Corporations (Multinational): operates factories in countries other than which the main headquarter is

● Trading Bloc: group of countries near each other which promote trade amongst themselves; barriers may be placed between trading blocs

● Development: a comparative term measuring the extent to which a country’s raw materials have been used up

● Irredentism: a policy of advocating the restoration of land formerly owned back to the country (ex: Great Britain getting back land that it used to rule)

● Stateless Nation: ethnic group (nation) that does not possess its own state or comprise of the majority of any state (ex: Kurds)

● Equitable Infrastructure Development: an approach for meeting the needs of underserved communities through policies and programs that reduce disparities while fostering places that are healthy/livable

● Ethnic Separatism: the separation of a smaller ethnic group from the larger society; this can be involuntary or voluntary (ex: Natives are forced to live farther away from mainstream society)

● Autonomous Region: an area of a country that has a degree of autonomy, or freedom from an external authority (ex: there are five autonomous regions in China, mainly near borders)

● Sovereignty: independence from control of other states

● Microstates: states with very small land area; like Micronesia, Kiribati, Grenada, Barbados, and Monaco

Political Processes and Forces

Centripetal vs Centrifugal Forces

Redistricting

● Apportionment is required by the U.S. Constitution and conducted by the Census Bureau

○ In the U.S., this is done so that there are 30,000 citizens for every representative

● Smaller areas have less representatives depending on the population size (ex: New Jersey may have less representatives than New York)

Gerrymandering

● Redrawing the legislative boundaries that show where each representative gets to represent

● Dividing election districts

● Political parties may do this to help them get an electoral majority

Nations, States, and Nation-States

● A nation-state is a group of people who live as a majority in a state

● States are areas defined by lines on a map

● Nationalism is the best way to connect the people of a state (national pride)

○ This is not always possible as many conflicted groups may live there

● Ex: Cypriot has issues with the nation/state

● If two or more nations (groups of a certain nationality)

Multinational/Multiethnic states

● States with more than one ethnicity or nationality

The UN

● United Nations

● Established around 1945 (end of World War II) by the victorious allies

● Now there are almost 200 countries unlike the 50 countries in the 1940s

● Four main goals: international cooperation for economic concerns, promotion of human rights, humanitarian relief, and a forum to discuss international issues

● Replaced the League of Nations which had similar purpose but was ineffective

Physical Boundaries

● Natural landscape creates these

○ Ex: desert, mountain, water

○ Law of the Sea

■ Internal waters are for the state

■ Contiguous zone: state issues laws on environment issues, passing through, and taxing

■ Territorial waters may set passage laws

■ EEZ: state has rights

■ State has no control on international waters beyond

Cultural Boundaries

○ Determined by man-made choices

○ Geometric boundaries: straight line boundaries that don’t account for the environment

○ Ethnic boundaries: boundaries between areas where different ethnicities live; these are usually international borders

○ Green Line boundary in Cyprus

■ A wall and buffer zone was created between the Cyprus Greeks and Turks

■ Continued for about 3 decades! No one could cross to the other side

State Characteristics

State Shapes

Governing States

● Democracy: when citizens elect leaders and can run for office; they have a voice

● Autocracy: when a country is run by the interests of the leader

● Anocracy: democracy + autocracy

Unitary State

● Central government officials have most power

● Works best in nation-states and areas of strong nationalism

● Common in Europe and small states

● China, a large state, used this to promote communist values and nationalism

Federal State

● Give power to local governments

● Works best in large states, nationalities in different regions, and where the national capital is too remote for effectively controlling all regions

● Belgium, a tiny state, used this system to accommodate for the Flemish and Waloons

Organizations

Balance of power: condition of roughly equal strength between the opponent alliances

NATO: tried to prevent the Soviet Union (Russia at the time of the Cold War) from taking over West Germany and other small countries

EU

● European Union

● Formed in 1958

● Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany were the first states in the EU

● Purpose was to promote development and heal Europe from the war damage

● 27 countries are in it now,most from COMECON

OSCE

● Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe

● Founded in 1975

● Doesn’t directly command armed forces

● Expanded to include Warsaw Pact countries

● 56 member states

AU

● African Union

● 53 countries from Africa

● To end colonialism and apartheid

OAS

● Organization of American States

● 35 countries from the West Hemisphere

● To promote social, cultural, political, and economic links among members

The Commonwealth

● UK and 52 other former British colonies

● To seek economic and cultural cooperation

Terrorism

● Use of violence to intimidate a population or government

1. Organized acts to spread fear

2. Publicizing goals through violence

3. Believing so strongly in a cause; attacking themselves, even, in order to hurt others, too

a. Self bombing

Al-Qaeda

● Terrorist group responsible for the killing of many people

○ 9/11 attack and many more possibly

● Osama bin Laden was a leader of the group

States may support terrorism

1. Providing a safe place for them

2. Supplying weapons, money, and intelligence

3. Planning attacks with the help of terrorists