Types of Boundaries

1
Types of Boundaries

• Frontier geographic zone where no state
  exercises power.
• Example France and England fought over frontier
  areas in NA in the French and Indian War.
• All but disappeared from the earth, with only
  Antarctica and the Arabian Peninsula left with
  significant neutral zone areas.

2
Types of Boundaries

• Boundaries can be categorized into two types
• Physical easy to see, so they often make good
  boundaries. Examples Mountains, Deserts, and
  rivers.
• Cultural ethnic differences, especially those
  based on language and/or religion. Example
  Pakistan from India in 1947.

3
Federal Unitary Systems

• States may be categorized into three types
  according to their internal geographic
  distribution of power
• Unitary System one that concentrates all
  policymaking powers in one central geographic
  place.
• Nation-state evolved in Europe democracy had
  not yet developed governments ruled by force.
• Most European govts highly centralized.
• As a result, most European govts today remain
  unitary states.

4
Federal Unitary Systems

• Confederal System spreads power among many
  sub-units (such as states), and has a weak
  central govt.
• Most attempts have not lasted.
• Modern govt. of Switzerland has very strong
  sub-govts., and comes as close to a modern
  confederation as exists.
• Failed confederation US under the Articles

5
Federal Unitary Systems

• Federal System divides the power between the
  central government and the sub-units.
• Developed in several colonial areas, including
  the US, Canada, and Australia.
• Possible b/c the cultures were new, no single
  cities dominated the new countries, and in all
  three examples, the land space is large, setting
  the stage for the development of regional govts.
• Allows for diverse needs and preferences, but
  also features a central govt. that is strong
  enough to keep countries from falling apart.

6
Political Systems

• All political systems fall on a continuum from
  the most concentrated amount of power to the
  least.
• Most countries have unitary systems, although
  some are experimenting with devolution the
  transfer of some important powers from central
  govts. to sub-govts.

Confederal Systems
Unitary Systems
Federal Systems
7
Centripetal vs. Centrifugal

• Both forces affects all nation-states.
• Centripetal forces bind together the people of
  a state, giving it strength.
• One of most powerful is nationalism identities
  based on nationhood.
• Centrifugal forces destabilize the govt. and
  encourage the country to fall apart.
• A country that is not well-organized or governed
  stands to lose the loyalty of its citizens.

8
Gerrymandering

• Named after Elbridge Gerry Governor of
  Massachusetts 1812
• Approved of a redistricting map that gave the
  Democratic-Republicans a disadvantage.
• Redistricting map resembled a salamander for
  Federalist boundary.
• Newspaper Call it a Gerrymander!

9
Gerrymandering

• Wasted Vote spreads opposition supporters
  across many districts but in the minority.
• Excess Vote concentrates opposition supporters
  into a few districts.
• Stacked Vote links distant areas of like-minded
  voters through oddly shaped boundaries.