Political Patterns and Processes

Notes

States, nations and sovereignty

• A state is a political unit with a permanent population, defined territory, government and sovereignty. A nation is a group with a shared culture and identity.
• Nation-state: a state mostly made up of one nation (Japan, Iceland). Multinational state: many nations in one state (Russia, Nigeria). Stateless nation: a nation without its own state (the Kurds, Palestinians).
• Colonialism and imperialism drew many modern borders, especially in Africa (the Berlin Conference) and the Middle East.

Boundaries

• Defined, delimited (drawn on a map) and demarcated (marked on the ground).
• Geometric (straight lines, like the U.S.-Canada border west of the Great Lakes), physical/natural (rivers, mountains), antecedent (drawn before settlement), subsequent (drawn after settlement, often along cultural lines), superimposed (forced by outside powers), and relic (no longer function, like the Berlin Wall).
• The UN Law of the Sea: territorial waters (12 nautical miles) and exclusive economic zones (200 nautical miles).
• Gerrymandering redraws voting districts for advantage (cracking and packing).

Power within states

• Unitary (power concentrated nationally, like France) vs federal (shared with regions, like the U.S. and Germany).
• Devolution: moving power to regional governments, driven by ethnic, economic or geographic differences (Scotland, Catalonia, Quebec).

Forces that unite and divide

• Centripetal forces: nationalism, shared religion or language, strong institutions, infrastructure.
• Centrifugal forces: ethnic separatism, uneven development, physical barriers, and terrorism.
• Supranational organizations (the UN, EU, NATO, ASEAN) link states but limit some sovereignty. Brexit showed resistance to supranationalism.
• Results of division: balkanization (breaking into smaller, often hostile states, like former Yugoslavia), irredentism (claiming land where your ethnic group lives), and ethnic cleansing.