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Module 4 Vocabulary
Module 4 Political - Vocabulary and Definitions
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Ethnicity | a group of people (often of the same race) who have a shared culture; the cultural component of race |
Ethnonationalism | the desire of an ethnic community to have absolute authority over its own political, economic, and social affairs |
Failed state | a country where the government has become so weak it has lost control and can no longer provide basic government functions |
Multinational state | a country that has two or more nations of people inside of it |
Multistate nation | a nation of people that are seperated into two countries where they are the majority |
Nation | a very cohesive ethnicity - the distinction between the two is not clear |
Nationalism | loyalty to a nation even over allegiance to country, often seen as patriotism taken to an extreme |
Nation-state | a country where the vast majority of the people are of the same ethnicity (nationality) |
Semiautonomous region | an area inside of a country that has some power to control itself more than other areas in the country |
State | a country that has sovereignty |
Stateless nation | a nationality that does not have a country and isn't the majority in any country which implies that they "should" have a country of their own |
Colonialism | when a more powerful country acquires full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically |
Devolution | a national government allowing a regional government to more power to self govern |
Imperialism | when one country dominates colonies far from their home country and often imposes their culture on them |
Independence movement | people that are trying to gain political independence for some area that they think should be its own country |
Self-determination | the idea that nations should rule themselves instead of being controlled by others |
Separatist movement | a group advocating for independence for a nation inside a state |
Sovereignty | the ability of a country to govern itself without outside influence |
Choke point | a strategic narrow route providing passage through or to another region |
Neocolonialism | gaining indirect control of another country through economic or cultural pressures (as opposed to colonisalism which generally used military power) |
Shatterbelt | a region caught between stronger colliding external forces, under persistent stress, often fragmented by aggressive rivals |
Territoriality | the perceived connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land |
Antecedent boundary | a border that has divided people since before history was written |
Balance of power | when competing forces (or countries) come to a level where no single one is strong enough to dominate the others |
Boundary | a border that separates administrative units such as countries or provinces |
Consequent boundary | a type of subsequent boundary that tries to divide the existing groups of people between two countries |
Geometric boundary | a border that is a straight line and drawn without taking into account the physical and cultural features of the land |
Relic boundary | a former border between countries that can still be detected on the cultural landscape |
Subsequent boundary | a border drawn after an area is settled |
Superimposed boundary | a boundary that is imposed on the cultural landscape which ignores pre-existing cultural patterns |
Demilitarized zone | an area previously in conflict from which weapons and military forces have been removed |
Maritime boundary | the extensions of a country's territory that extend into the oceans around them |
Electoral college | the system used in American presidential elections that assigns a number of votes to states by population. It encourages candidates to not only focus on populated areas |
Gerrymandering | redrawing voting district boundaries to give |
Redistricting | in the United States, after each census redrawing voting districts due to population changes |
Democracy | a form of government in which the ultimate power rests with the people through, usually through their elected representatives |
Federal state | a country where the national government is strong and the regional governments are also strong so the share power |
Monarchy | a country ruled by a king or queen |
Republic | a system of government that places the power on the people through their elected leaders and which the executive is elected, not a monarch |
Theocracy | when a country is ruled by religious leaders |
Unitary state | a country where the national government is strong and the regional governments are weak |
Ethnic cleansing | a powerful ethnic group pushing aside a weaker one to create an area with only their ethnicity, can lead to genocide |
Genocide | the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group |
Irredentism | a movement to reclaim land by a group who feels they have a claim on that land |
Terrorism | using violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims |
Autonomous region | an area inside of a country that has great power to control itself more than other areas in the country |
Democratization | when a government makes changes to give all citizens have a greater voice in the country |
Supranationalism | two or more countries joining together for a common puporse such as economics or defense |
Centrifugal forces | a cultural trait that divides people within a country |
Centripetal force | a cultural trait that adds to the unity of a country |
Apartheid | a harsh system of racial segregation enforced in South Africa from 1948 - 1994 |
Balkanization | the process of a country breaking into smaller countries because of centrifugal forces |
Frontier | a zone (instead of a traditional line) that separates two states with neither state having control |
Ghetto | a neighborhood where an ethic minority is forced to live by law or circumstances |
Race | a social construct based on the physical differences between groups of people, especially their skin color |