POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

UNITED STATES AND CANADA

STATES AND NATIONS

Political Geography
States and Nations: this two words are

used differently by political scientist.

A State is a political unit that occupies
a precisely defined, permanently
populated territory.
It has full control over its internal and
foreign affairs.
In short it is an independent State.

Political Geography
The United Nations recommended

that the word State be capitalized

to distinguish it from a state which
is a lower-order political unit.
The State is the dominant form of
political unit in the world
organization.

Political Geography
Almost all of the earths land is

included in such units.

The only exception is Antarctica
which has neither a permanent
population nor an established
government.
However, parts of Antarctica are
claimed by certain countries.

Political Geography
State is synonymous with Country.
Nation: refers to a reasonably large

group of people with a common

culture that occupy a particular
territory.
They are bound together by a
strong sense of unity arising from
shared beliefs and customs.

Political Geography
As a result, nations share one or

more important cultural traits such

as religion, language, history,
values and political institutions.
Nations have an attachment to a
particular territory and their identity
is intimately associated with that
territory.

Political Geography
A multi-cultural state consists of

several nations.
A good example is India.
Some nations do not have their
own state and therefore are
scattered across several countries
Kurds in the middle east.

Political Geography
The Palestinians are a nation and only

now beginning to have a state of their

own.
Nation-state: this is when the territory
of a state is occupied by only one
distinct nation or people.
In that case, there are no important
minority groups.

Political Geography
Japan, Denmark, and Poland are

examples of nation-states.
Such an arrangement minimizes
conflicts, and makes for strong states.
On the other hand, there are strong
states with sizeable minorities.
The existence of such states is that the
sizeable minorities have safe ways to
express themselves.

Political Geography
Canada is often termed two nations

within a state, because Canadians

speak French and English.
Canada uses the term first nations to
refer to the indigenous groups of
Canadians.

Political Geography
Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces:
Centrifugal and Centripetal are two

terms that crop up frequently in political

geography and in political science.

Political Geography
In Political Geography, Centripetal

forces are those forces that bind a

country together.

Political Geography
The unifying factors such as language

and religion that give people a shared,

positive vision of what their country is
all about.
Things like a strong sense of shared
history and values and a shared
language.

Political Geography
Centripetal forces can be reinforced by

a threat of foreign aggression.

This has always been very effective in
unifying a population.

Political Geography
The United States has had strong

centripetal forces such as shared

beliefs in the ideals of democracy and
economic freedom.
They are ready to go to war in order to
defend these fundamental rights.

Political Geography
This has helped unite their country

during critical times.

This helped the country survive such
tests as the civil war and disruptions
caused by enormous immigration.
Despite that, they emerged as a
world power.

Political Geography
These includes such things as

iconography and political pageantry.

Examples are:
the flag,
reciting the Pledge of Allegiance,
celebrating independence day,
singing the national anthem.
A sense of shared history and struggle is
also important.

Political Geography
Centripetal forces are fostered by an

educational system that socializes

children into a national ideology.
It is fostered by the media (Radio,
Television, and written press).
Centrifugal forces are forces of
disunity the presence of more than
one language or religion.

Political Geography
Another problem is that of political

and economic inequality (economic

Hierarchy) upper, middle and lower
class.
Many people think that in recent
years centrifugal forces have been
gaining grounds in the United States.
Remember the Vietnam war.

Political Geography
Remember the 2000 election.
Remember the problem between Muslims

and Christians
All these become centrifugal forces that can
kill a Country.
In Canada, Language is its most centrifugal
force.

Political Geography
Many French Canadians see themselves as

a separate nation and therefore advocate

an independent state.
Canadas population distribution works to
the disadvantage of a Canadian centripetal
force because their provinces are much
closer to the united states than to Canadian
states.

Political Geography
All of these people see themselves

differently among the Canadian

State.
Unitary and Federal States:
the worlds countries are divided
into two broad categories Unitary
and Federal states.

Political Geography
The word unitary means unity it is a

Latin word Unitas.

Unitary states entail oneness and a
high degree of internal homogeneity
and cohesiveness.

Political Geography
Unitary states are organized around a

single political core, the national capital.

This means that the whole country is
under the direct control of the central
government.
The whole country is divided into units
for administration purposes.

Political Geography
In that case a local government

can deal with local issues.

In unitary governments,
provinces and states which are
sub national governments, owe
their very existence to the central
or national government.

Political Geography
The national government:

Creates the administrative units,

Determines how many of them are
to be created,
Determines where their boundaries
should pass and.
Who should rule those areas.

Political Geography
In most unitary states government

subdivisions within the state have no

legislative or judicial functions and little
decision making power.
These subdivisions operate as
administrative districts that are designed
to make the workings of the central
government easier and more effective.

Political Geography
These subdivisions are financed by the

national government as well as the

appointment of the chief executives.
A unitary state can be all of the following

monarchy, Ruled by a royal

democracy, Free and equal
representation of the people
or a dictatorship form of government.

Political Geography
A dictatorship ruled by a single

individual with absolute power.

A good example of a unitary state is
France and some former French
colonies practice this type of a system
including Cameroon.

Political Geography
In France, the first order civil divisions, the

provinces are ruled by governors that are

appointed in Paris.
The governors have very limited powers and
only carry out the laws which have been
mandated by the national government.
Unitary states tend to be small or culturally
homogeneous.

Political Geography
Most Arabic, Latin American, and

African countries have this kind of

arrangement.
Other examples of unitary states would
include the united kingdom, Sweden,
Japan, and new Zealand.
The largest unitary state in the world is
china.

Political Geography
In federal states, the responsibilities of

government are divided formally

between the central authorities in
national capitals and lower levels of
government.

Political Geography
The word federal is derived from the

word league and implies alliance,

contract and the coexistence of the
states diverse regions and peoples.
Under the federal system there are a
variety of power centers.

Political Geography
In a weak federation, the power of

the constituent state is large and

that of the central government
small Switzerland is a good
example.

Political Geography
The German system has a strong

federal government and the power

is more centralized.
The United States, Canada and
Mexico do have a federal structure
of government.

Political Geography
Under the federal framework, the

central government represents the

first order of divisions within the
states where there is shared
common interests.
First order entities are very powerful
and are represented by the states.

Political Geography
An important power of these

entities are the power to tax.

This is the single most important
measure of sovereignty.
The powers of the states and

provinces have been exercised in

many different ways.

Political Geography
Examples are such things as:

Divorce laws,
Minimum driving ages,
Educational systems,
Environmental regulations,
Certification requirements for
teachers and.
Motor vehicle codes.

Political Geography
In Canada, Quebec has taken

advantage of this and fostered a

separate French-language-based
society.

Political Geography
They have a legal code based on the

Napoleonic model rather than on

English common law.
Today the tendency is for many unitary
states to move toward decentralization
of power, while federal states are
moving toward centralization.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

The responsibilities of governing as

stipulated by the constitutions of both

countries rest with Washington and
Ottawa.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

Down the ladder is the state/provinces

and then the local governments.

State governments delegate powers to
lower levels of governments such as
the municipalities and counties.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

Thus the powers of cities and counties

depend entirely on the role assigned to

them by the various states.
In short, states and provinces behave
somewhat like unitary states.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

During the formation of the United

States in the 18th century, differences

between the former colonies made a
unitary state impossible and
undesirable.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

At that time, the federation was the

only solution that could preserve

unity while allowing diversity.
The United States Constitution is
the basic framework for American
Democracy.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

It grants a number of Executive

Legislative and Judicial powers to

the national government.
Powers such as:

Foreign affairs.
minting of currency.
National defense.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

The Tenth Amendment to the

U.S. Constitution indicates that

powers not specifically given to
the federal government are
reserved for the states or to
the people respectively.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

Among the most important functions of the

state are:
education,
police powers, and
health care.
States can do as they please within their
boundaries provided they do not violate
the federal constitution, federal laws or
treaties.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

The supreme court resolves conflicts

between national and sub national

governments.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

In Canada, the situation is reverse in

that the constitution has assigned

specific powers to the provinces and
all the powers not so assigned are
reserved for the federal government.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

Local Governments:
There are 3 levels of governments

in the united states and Canada.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

Below the national and state levels

in the United States, there are more

than 80,000 units of local
government.
Each of those 80,000 has
jurisdiction over a specific area and
most have the authority to levy
taxes in order to provide services.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

Under the American federal system, the

local government have rights bestowed on

them by the state government.
There are four major categories of local
governments:
counties,
townships,
municipalities and
special districts.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

All of these divisions vary in certain

variables such as taxing and other

powers and structures.
General purpose governments in
the United States are the Counties
also called Parishes in Louisiana.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

They are the basic units of

local governments immediately

following the states.
Exceptions are the District of
Columbia and Alaska.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

The states assign functions to

the counties and the functions

vary considerable from one state
to another.
The number of counties within
the states also vary and they
range from 3 counties in
Delaware to about 254 in Texas.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

The counties vary in area as well from

24 sq. Miles to 20,000 sq. Miles the

latter being in San Bernardino county
in California.
In Alaska the divisions are called
Boroughs and their functions
resemble those performed by
Counties or Parishes.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

In Connecticut and Rhode Island

their counties have been deprived

of all functions so that they are
mere statistical and judicial units.
In new England, the towns perform
the functions that would otherwise
have been performed by counties.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

SPECIAL PURPOSE DISTRICTS:
These are districts created to serve

specific public functions.

They make up the most numerous
forms of local authorities.
The more than 14,000 school
districts are special districts.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

Because of the advantages of

consolidation, the districts have

been merged into Unified School
Districts (USD).
These school districts are given
considerable administrative, fiscal,
and curricular freedom.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

Most of these districts are

administered by elected board

members for free they do not
earn a salary.
The smallest general purpose
administrative units in the United
States are the cities, or
municipalities.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

There are over 19,000 such units,

ranging in population from fewer than

100 people to 7 million in new York city.
Urban services have been provided to
people in an urbanizing area around
the city through a process called
ANNEXATION.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

Annexation is the incorporation of

additional areas into a city.

City boundaries have changed
considerably through this process
of annexation.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

The problem with this kind of action

is that in some cases they turn to

be very politicized
(Gerrymandering).
This is especially true when cities
want to annex high income areas.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

Texas and Oklahoma are two

states that grant great powers of

annexation.
States in the northeast and the
great lakes region have very limited
powers of annexation.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

GERRYMANDERING:
This is a deliberate manipulation of

political district boundaries to

achieve a particular electoral
outcome.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

Gerrymandering was named after

an early governor of
Massachusetts, called Elbrige
Gerry who practiced it in the 1800s.
If electoral boundaries are drawn
by elected officials it can be a good
weapon in the fight to stay in
power.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

To understand the politics of

gerrymandering it will be
noteworthy to classify elections
when voting is done.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

Votes that have been cast can be

classified into three categories:

effective votes, excess votes,
wasted votes.
Effective votes are those needed to
win a seat and in a two candidate
race half the total number of votes
cast plus 1 vote are effective.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

Excess votes are those cast above

what is expected to win.

Wasted votes are cast for losing
candidates.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

In gerrymandering, the objective of the

party in power is to draw district borders so

as to force the opposition to cast as many
excess and wasted votes as possible.
There are two techniques used to achieve
this and it is based on the geographic
distribution of voters.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

The two techniques most commonly

used are:
(1) opponent-concentration
gerrymandering also known as excess
vote gerrymandering and
(2) opponent-dispersion gerrymandering
or wasted vote gerrymandering.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

NAFTA: stands for North American

Free Trade Agreement.

The participants are the United
States of America, Canada and
Mexico.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

NAFTA was implemented on

January 1, 1994 and its main

objective was to achieve open
borders among the three countries
for trade in both goods and
services by January 1, 2004.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

NAFTA means the elimination of all

tariffs on goods so that in time the

trade between the countries will be
tariff free.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

In theory, NAFTA should

benefit all three countries

because it will lead to
international specialization,
increase in trade and economic
growth.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

In the united states there have been

concerns over its negative impacts.

Many think that jobs are going to be
shipped away to Mexico where labor
is cheap.
Probably the situation is going to be
worst if CAFTA succeeds.

U.S. And Canada As Federal States

President Bush recounted one of

the policies for Free Trade by

placing tariffs on iron and steel.
This led to retaliation from other
nations within the free trade zone.