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Political Culture and the Evolving State
Chapter 14
Concept of Territoriality
• Humans have the need to belong to larger group that controls its own piece of the earth.
• Some believe that humans are territorial animals, motivated by the same instinct that affects animals.
• Others believe that territoriality is a cultural strategy used to assure control of resources.
• Protection of home and family.
The ultimate territorial creation is an independent country. (193 altogether)
• .
A Nation is a group of people with a common ancestry--regardless of whether
the group controls its own territory.
A state is the same thing as a country.
• These are states (as opposed to States--political divisions within countries).
The term nation-state applies if a nation’s homeland corresponds to a
state’s territory.
A stateless nation is a cultural unit that has no country.
A multinational state includes more than one ethnic/cultural group.
The Rise of Nation-States
Under feudalism
--multi-ethnic empires ruled by a monarch
--power relationships were hierarchical
(lords, monarch, pope)
--boundaries were not fixed
The Rise of Nation-States
Changes in military technology (guns and cannon) made the feudal manor less defensible.
Defense needed to be based on maneuverability--required a territorially larger state.
The Rise of Nation States
Early 1500s--decline in papal authority with Reformation
1648--Peace of Westphalia (30 Years’ War)
--ended period of religious wars
--created a system that depended on a balance of power based on clearly-defined, centrally-controlled, independent entities that recognized each other’s sovereignty and territory.
The ideal of the nation-state
• Dates from the French Revolution
• Sovereignty rests with the nation--the people.– Loyalty was to the state, not the monarch.
• Each nation should have its own sovereign territory.
Europe controlled much of the world and defined the ground rules of the emerging
international state system.
• Japan remodeled itself in the mid-19th century.
• At the end of the colonial period, newly-liberated peoples created “nation-states” on the European model. (With differing degrees of success.)
Characteristics of states and implications for governance
Size• Large--access to natural resources and large
population base, but can be difficult to administer.
Size
• Small--can be a disadvantage, but it is difficult to generalize. (W. Africa vs. Singapore)
Shape
• Afghanistan is a prorupt state.
Relative location can be a blessing or a curse.
• Can benefit greatly if close to resources, harbor sites, proximity to friendly nations, accessibility.
• Landlocked countries can face challenges.
Enclaves and Exclaves
• Exclaves are “outliers.”
• An enclave is an area within a state that belongs to another state.
Boundaries
• Definition--legal description
• Delimitation--drawn on the map
• Demarcation--physically marked on the ground
Definitional boundary disputes
• focus on legal language
Locational Boundary Disputes
• focus on delimitation or demarcation of border
Operational Boundary Disputes
• focus on how the boundary should function
Allocational Boundary Disputes
• focus on resources.