The History Square

Colonial Perspectives

Colonization: occupying the land already inhabited or taking over virtually empty territory

Decolonization: dismantling of colonial empires

Imperialism: when countries seek to acquire the territories of other states and nations, bringing indigenous people under their rule

Extraterritoriality: immunity from jurisdiction of a nation-exemption from local legal jurisdiction

Indigenous People Concepts

Indigenous People: people that are native to an area, the original inhabitants

Tribal People: a subgroup of people with in the population or indigenous people, often of another culture

Self-determination: each group determines for itself its relationship to the larger society

Terms defined in a Political Geography Theory

Territory: a defined area with the importance being placed on size and shape

Population: population density and distribution, concern with factors such as: literacy and education, health and age structure, skills and abilities

Government: a country's political system, does the government control the whole country?

Economy: money is power, science, technology, and natural resources

Circulation: connections between states in a country, transportation and communication of the movement of goods, people, and ideas

     (ex. the Postal Service) (ex. Africa had poor circulation)

Military Strength: troops, skills, loyalty, strategic thinking, and distant bases

Foreign Relations: having good relations with other countries

Colonial Policy Practices

United States:

Practiced Civic Nationalism--a true Nation State

         the form of nationalism where the state (the country) derives its political legitimacy* from active participation of its citizens, thus representing the "will of the people"

     *the nation's government is the authority

Belgium:

Practiced Paternalism--created for administrative convenience, with implementation of Brussels policy

        the policy based on the hierarchy of family authority, there is a figurehead for the country (the patriarch) who makes decisions based on the the good of the citizens, or 'for their own good', even if it is contrary to their wants and wishes

Electoral Geography

Electoral Geography:

Definition: elections relationship to geographic and socioeconomic factors--the geography of voting (patterns), geographic influences on voting (the neighborhood effect), geography of representation (# of districts & boundaries)

State Divisions

-Regional State: a cross between Federalism & Unitarianism (ex. the U.K.)

-Special Purpose District: districts created to serve a specific focus such, as law enforcement (ex. the U.S.)

-Federal State: has an alliance or coexistence of internal diverse regions (ex. Canada)

-Unitary State: has a 'oneness', a homogenity & cohesiveness-one strong focus (ex. Sweden or Cuba)

First Order Civil Divisions

First order civil divisions are how the countries are divided up principally, before being broken down into smaller sections.

-United Kingdom: 4 constitutional units divided into civil divisions

     (constitutional units: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland)

Boundaries, Borders, and Frontiers

-Boundaries are depicted on ancient maps, but their role in marking geographic continuities across the land is relatively recent.

States came together in Frontier zones rather than boundary lines. The Frontiers of the world have collapsed into boundaries in the past two centuries.

Territory and its Attributes

The acquistion of territory--

     1. Occupation-people moving in

     2. Prescription-"squatters rights", at the national level

     3. Conquest and Annexation

     4. Voluntary cession-giving territory away

     5. Accretion-addition by natural process (ex. river erosion)

     6. Acquisition of Rights-leases of servitude (easement)

What power do you possess??

'Power is the basic political concept'

Powers that you have:

1. The Right to Vote

2. The Right to run for office

3. The Right to personal space

4. The Right to Free Speech (within limits)

5. The Right to choose your job, where to live, car to drive, etc.