Political Patterns: Political Patterns Chapter 4 The Human Mosaic


Culture Regions: Culture Regions Political culture regions Political diffusion Political ecology Politico-cultural integration Political landscapes


Slide3: Independent countries Earth’s surface is divided into some 190 independent countries Scores of other provinces and districts enjoy some level of autonomy with being fully independent The United States occupies about the same amount of territory as Europe, which has 46 independent countries Australia is politically united South America has 12 countries


Slide5: Independent countries Africa’s mainland has 47 independent entities Territoriality: the tangible geographical expression of one of the most common human characteristics: to belong to a larger group that controls its own piece of Earth Some political geographers believe territoriality is instinctive in humans Fragmentation of humankind into independent countries is natural and unavoidable It is a product of the animal part of our brain


Slide7: Independent countries Territorial imperative Most political geographers believe territoriality is learned Robert Sack believes it is a cultural strategy using power to control area thereby subjugating inhabitants and acquiring resources Warns against uncritical borrowing of concepts from animal behaviorists Precise border marking was a concept unique to Western culture Others suggest a recent origin for nationalism of 150 to 500 years ago


Slide8: Independent countries Whether learned or instinctual, human territoriality is a geographical phenomenon The sense of “we” springs from attachment to region and place


Distribution of national territory: Distribution of national territory As a rule, the more compact the territory the better Theoretically, the most desirable shape for a country is round or hexagonal Allow short communication lines Minimizes amount of border to be defended No country has this ideal degree of compactness Some countries come close—France, Poland, Zaire, and Brazil


Distribution of national territory: Distribution of national territory Unfavorable territorial distributions can inhibit national cohesiveness Enclave — district surround by a country but not ruled by it Pene-enclave — an intrusive piece of territory with only the smallest of outlets free from the surround country


Distribution of national territory: Distribution of national territory Exclaves — Pieces of national territory separated from the main body of a country by the territory of another Hard to defend Isolated population may develop separatist feelings


Slide14: A is Armenia C is Iran B is Azerbaijan a is Nagomo-Karabakh b is Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic c is Okibair Eskipara enclave d is Sofulu enclave e is Kyarki enclave f is Bashkend enclave


Distribution of national territory: Distribution of national territory Pakistan as an exclave in 1947 Two parts were separated by 1,000 miles of India territory West Pakistan had the capital, most of the territory, and hoarded the country’s wealth East Pakistan had most the people and resources Divided in 1973, East Pakistan became Bangladesh


Distribution of national territory: Distribution of national territory Long narrow “shoestring” countries such as Chile, Gambia, and Norway can be difficult to administer Island nations such as Indonesia can cause problems — transportation, communication Sea encouraged islanders to develop local allegiances in the former British Islands in the Caribbean


Boundaries: Boundaries Until recently many boundaries were not sharp, clearly defined lines, but were zones called marchlands Buffer state — independent but small and weak country lying between two powerful countries Mongolia—lies between Russia and China Nepal—lies between India and China Satellite state -- a buffer state that falls under the domination of one of its powerful neighbors and loses much of its independence


Boundaries: Boundaries Most modern boundaries are lines rather than zones Natural boundaries — follow some feature of the natural landscape Ethnographic boundaries — based on a culture trait often religion or language Geometric boundaries — regular, often perfectly straight lines drawn without regard for physical or cultural features


Niagara Falls: Niagara Falls Niagara River forms a natural boundary between Canada and the United States This view is from Horseshoe Falls in the province of Ontario towards American Falls in the state of New York


Niagara Falls: Niagara Falls Each year, millions of visitors travel across the bridge-border to enjoy the spectacular scenery. Niagara Falls is an important element of Canada’s iconography.


Niagara Falls: Niagara Falls The area became home to many loyalists from the American Revolution/War of Independence and was the site of Upper Canada’s first capital. Decisive battles against American forces in the War of 1812 were also fought there


Boundaries: Boundaries Some boundaries are of mixed type Relic boundaries — no longer exist as international borders Often leave behind a trace in local culture Example of the reunification of Germany where different levels of prosperity still show between east and west International borders can be very divisive


Spatial organization of territory : Spatial organization of territory Independent countries differ greatly in the way their territory is organized for administration purposes Unitary governments Power is centrally concentrated Little or no provincial authority All major decisions come from the central government


Spatial organization of territory : Spatial organization of territory Unitary governments Policies are uniformly applied throughout the territory China is unitary and totalitarian France is unitary but democratic Federal governments A more geographically expressive system Acknowledges the existence of regional cultural differences Provides mechanism for allowing regions to perpetuate their individual character


Spatial organization of territory : Spatial organization of territory Federal governments Power is diffused, allowing much authority to individual provinces The United States, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland exhibit varying degrees of federalism Since the Civil War, the United States has leaned more toward a unitary government, with fewer states’ rights In Canada, federalism remains vital and has helped accommodate French-Canadian demands Today, Russia is striving to create a federal state


Spatial organization of territory : Spatial organization of territory Native-American reservations in the United States Semiautonomous enclave, legally sanctioned political territories only indigenous Americans can possess Not sovereign, but do have certain self-government rights Conflicts with other local authorities Do not fit the normal American system of states


Centrifugal and centripetal forces : Centrifugal and centripetal forces Centripetal forces — those forces that promote national unity and solidarity Many nations have one principal force the fuels the nationalistic sentiment For Israel it is the Jewish faith Centrifugal forces — whatever disrupts internal order and encourages destruction of the country


Centrifugal and centripetal forces: Centrifugal and centripetal forces How many independent countries should there be? We live in a time of new country proliferation Former Soviet Union disintegrated into 15 new countries Yugoslavia became 5 Czechoslovakia became 2 Russia, Iraq, Peru, and others could also fragment


Supranational political bodies: Supranational political bodies


Supranational political bodies: Supranational political bodies Supranational organization — self-governing countries form international associations for purposes of trade, military assistance, or mutual security Grew in number and importance during the twentieth century Some represent vestiges of collapsed empires British Commonwealth French community Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.) — a shadow of the former Soviet Union


Supranational political bodies: Supranational political bodies The European Union seeks a widely based confederation Arab League possess little cohesion The United Nations is atop the pyramid of supranationals Maintains peacekeeping and charitable functions Invokes sanctions against “rogue” countries


Electoral geographical regions : Electoral geographical regions When people vote in an election a political culture region is created Revealed in the voting process are attitudes reflecting religion, ethnicity, sectionalism, and ideology When mapped, voting tendencies over the decades reveal deep-rooted electoral behavior regions — Europe is a good example Toward the center of Europe some districts and provinces have a long record of rightist sentiment Peripheral areas, especially in the east, are often leftist strongholds


Electoral geographical regions : Electoral geographical regions Electoral regions also exist in the United States and Canada Daniel Elazar described three of these Traditionalistic Includes the Lower South, Hispanic borderland, and diverse Native American groups Family and social class are more important than state or individual Believe “best government is the least government” Order is best maintained through religion and family, not law


Electoral geographical regions : Electoral geographical regions Electoral regions also exist in the United States and Canada Daniel Elazar described three of these Moralistic Found in a zone influenced by New England Yankee culture and Scandinavian settlers Views government as means to achieve a good society Public good comes before individual rights or benefits


Electoral geographical regions : Electoral geographical regions Electoral regions also exist in the United States and Canada Daniel Elazar described three of these Individualistic Seen as “dirty” — used to further personal, rather than societal interests Lobbying and monetary contributions to politicians In much of American heartland Roots in the independent family farm and German-American culture


Functional electoral regions: Functional electoral regions Electoral geographers are concerned with functional culture regions They often assist in redistricting after each United States census New voting areas are established to try and equalize population Geographers often assist in redistricting process Pattern of voting precincts or districts can influence election results


Functional electoral regions: Functional electoral regions Problems arise if redistricting remains in hands of legislators instead of impartial experts Majority political groups can arrange voting districts geographically to maximize their power Cleavage lines crossed to create districts having majority of voters favoring group in power Practice called gerrymandering — The next slide reveals resulting voting district shapes


Culture Regions: Culture Regions Political culture regions Political diffusion Political ecology Politico-cultural integration Political landscapes


Country building as diffusion: Country building as diffusion Some countries sprang full-grown into the world Most countries diffused outward from a small nucleus called a core area


Country development from a core area : Country development from a core area Generally possess an attractive set of resources for human life and culture Often possesses some measure of natural defense that attracts people Denser population may produce enough wealth to support a large army as a base for further expansion and relocation diffusion


Country development from a core area : Country development from a core area During expansion, the core area usually remains the country’s most important district Houses the capital city Contains the cultural and economic heart of the country Serves as the node of a functional culture region France expanded to its present size from around Paris


Country development from a core area : Country development from a core area During expansion, the core area usually remains the country’s most important district China diffused from a nucleus in the northeast Russia originated in the principality of Moscow The United States grew westward from a core between Massachusetts and Virginia


Country development from a core area : Country development from a core area Diffusion of independent countries in this manner produces the core/periphery configuration Peripheral areas generally display self-conscious regionalism, and occasionally provide settings for secession movements Generally countries created this way are more stable


Countries created to fill a void : Countries created to fill a void Absence of a core area can leave a country’s national identity blurred Have no national heartland Make it easier for provinces to develop strong local or even foreign allegiances Belgium and Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) are example of countries without political core areas


Countries with multiple competing cores : Countries with multiple competing cores Potentially the least stable of all countries Often develop when two or more independent countries are united Main threat is one of the competing cores will form a separatist movement Example of Spain Castile and Aragon united in 1479 Old core areas of Madrid and Barcelona continue to compete for political control Symbolize two language-based cultures—Castilian and Catalonian


Diffusion of insurgencies and innovations : Diffusion of insurgencies and innovations The Arab uprising against Israeli rule in the occupied West Bank began in late 1987, and within a year diffused through most of the area Contagious expansion diffusion often operates in a political sphere


Spread of political independence in Africa: Spread of political independence in Africa In 1914, only Liberia and Ethiopia were independent of European colonial rule Movement for independence by Arabs of North Africa gained momentum in the 1950s Movement swept southward across most of the continent between 1960 and 1965 By 1994 independence had swept the continent


Barriers encountered by the diffusion of African self-rule: Barriers encountered by the diffusion of African self-rule Portugal clung to its African colonies until a change in government reversed a 500-year-old policy France sought to hold onto Algeria because many European colonists lived there


Political innovations spread within independent countries: Political innovations spread within independent countries Spread of women’s suffrage started in Wyoming and culminated with the ratification of a constitutional amendment Opposition to women’s suffrage strongest in the Deep South


Political diffusion: Political diffusion Federal statutes permit, to some degree, laws to be adopted in individual functional subdivisions Example of the United States and Canada Each state and province has broad law-giving powers Example of movement to reduce littering by requiring beverages to be marketed in reusable or deposit containers Reusable beverage container innovation encountered barriers and failed to diffuse through the entire country


Culture Regions: Culture Regions Political culture regions Political diffusion Political ecology Politico-cultural integration Political landscapes


Folk fortresses : Folk fortresses Natural features in the physical surroundings of a country or its core areas that afford it protection from outside invasion Mountain ranges or deserts Bordering marshes or dense forests Folk fortresses were more important before the advent of modern air and missile warfare


Folk fortresses : Folk fortresses Examples of countries with protective environmental features Surrounding seas have protected the British Isles for the past 900 years In Egypt, desert wastelands on the east and west of the fertile, well-watered Nile Valley core have afforded protection Russia’s core area is shielded by dense forests, expansive marshes, bitter winters, and vast distances


Folk fortresses : Folk fortresses Countries without natural defenses have often had problems maintaining their independence Korea, land bridge from China to Japan, has repeatedly been invaded Poland, on the open plains of northern Europe, has been overrun and partitioned many times


Folk fortresses : Folk fortresses Ideally, a country should have mountains and hills around its edges and plains in the interior Also provides a natural enclosed plain as a cohesive basis for the country France comes close to the ideal Mountain-ridge borders are desirable, because they stand out on the landscape and cross thinly populated country Rivers are much less suitable as borders because they frequently change course, and flow through densely settled valleys


Folk fortresses : Folk fortresses An undesirable arrangement of physical features may disrupt a country’s internal unity The cutting of a mountain range or desert through the middle of a country Internal barriers can disrupt communications and isolate one part of a country from another Internal mountain ranges can provide excellent potential guerrilla bases Peru is divided by the Andes Mountains Spain has problems because a number of plains areas are separated by hills and mountains


Folk fortresses : Folk fortresses Perhaps the best borders for independent countries are seacoasts Australia, Iceland, Sri Lanka, and Madagascar have benefited from their island locations Not all islands are free from attacks by neighbors — Hawaii, Cuba, the Philippines


Folk fortresses : Folk fortresses Expanding countries often regard coastlines as the logical limits to their territorial growth Example of the United States’ drive to the Pacific Ocean Manifest destiny — belief the Pacific shoreline offered the logical and predestined western border for the United States Similar doctrine led Russia to seek expansion toward the Mediterranean and Baltic sea, and the Pacific and Indian oceans


The heartland theory : The heartland theory Halford Mackinder Mackinder believed the continent of Eurasia would be the most likely base from which a successful campaign for world conquest could be launched


The heartland theory : The heartland theory Halford Mackinder Discerned two environmental regions: first the heartland Interior of Eurasia lying remote from the sea Invulnerable to the naval power empires such as Britain and Japan Cavalry’ and infantry could spill out through diverse natural gateways and invade the rimland Earlier conquest by Mongols in China, and Tartar depredations in Europe provided examples


The heartland theory : The heartland theory In Mackinder’s view, a unified heartland power could probe into the coastlands Eventually maritime countries could be conquered Sea power could then be turned against outlying continents and islands until the whole world was subject to the heartland Mackinder predicted Russian conquest of the world


The heartland theory : The heartland theory His second environmental region was the rimland Densely populated coastal fringes of Eurasia in the east, south, and west After the communist revolution in 1917, leaders of rimland empires and the United States employed a policy of containment These countries fortified the rimland and fought numerous wars against outward probes by heartland-based communism


Fallacies of the heartland theory: Fallacies of the heartland theory Overestimation of the power potential of the thinly settled Eurasian interior, which is largely frozen tundra, parched desert, and extensive forests Failed to anticipate the role of airborne warfare and ballistic missiles Failed to recognize the economic weakness of the Marxist system Heartland theory belongs to the discredited doctrine of environmental determinism


Warfare and environmental destruction : Warfare and environmental destruction Warfare has the most devastating effect on the environment “Scorched Earth” — the systematic destruction of resources Hydrogen bomb testing on Pacific islands have made them uninhabitable Patton’s tank exercises, over 50 years ago, damaged the natural vegetation of California’s southern desert so extensively only about one-third has recovered


Warfare and environmental destruction : Warfare and environmental destruction Environmental impact of the Persian Gulf War of 1991 Oil spill of 294 million gallons covered 400 square miles of Gulf waters also caused floral and faunal loss Mass bulldozing of sand by Iraqis to make defensive berms caused damage-wind erosion and vegetation loss Solid-waste pollution produced by 500,000 coalition forces Six million plastic bags discarded weekly by American forces alone


Persian Gulf War of 1991: Persian Gulf War of 1991


Warfare and environmental destruction : Warfare and environmental destruction Everyone losses when modern “high-tech” warfare occurs The world is interconnected in its life-supporting ecosystem


Kariba Dam: Kariba Dam One of the largest dams in Africa, the Kariba Dam was constructed on the Zambezi River from 1955-59 as a joint waterpower project of two governments: Zimbabwe (foreground) and Zambia.


Kariba Dam: Kariba Dam One result was the creation of a 180 mile Lake Kariba that flooded over 2000 square miles. Hundreds of animals were moved to higher ground in the largest animal rescue of its kind, known as Operation Noah.


Kariba Dam: Kariba Dam Matusadona National Park was created to house them. The river and lake form a natural boundary between the two countries and the region is an important tourist destination.


Kariba Dam: Kariba Dam Zimbabwe eventually bought out Zambia and the dam supplies about 50% of its power requirements.