Political Geography
Lecture Outline

Political Culture Regions
What is territoriality?
Are we humans territorial by nature? 
How much like animals are we?

What evidence speaks of our territoriality?
Gang Graffiti

Upper Middle Class and Working Class neighborhoods
US – Mexico Border
Countries fence others out as well…or try.

Or to keep people in…
Relic Boundaries (fig)
 Othering
Politics is an expression of how people’s territoriality plays out spatially.  Our territory gives us a sense of who we are….and who “others” are.
Othering
Jigsaw Globe
There are approximately 190 countries in the world.
Africa has about 50 of them.
Europe has about 50.
Many hundreds more possible as nations demand self-determination.
Boundaries – Old School Geopolitics
Compact and round countries have less trouble with unity than oddly shaped countries.
Enclaves, Peneclaves, Exclaves.
Prorupt countries
Archipelagos
Marchlands (define “march”)
Buffer States and Satellites
Natural, Ethnographic, Geometric and Relic
Country Shapes (fig)
Azerbaijan-Armenia (fig)
Strategies for Dividing Power
Unitary governments
France
Federal governments
Switzerland, Canada
Semiautonomous regions
Hong Kong
Which system does the United States employ?
One World Government?
Supranational organizations, such as the United Nations, NATO; and treaties, such as NAFTA, challenge territoriality.
Some fear them…
Other countries complain that the US manipulates such organizations to their own benefit.
Electoral Geography
Voting patterns can be mapped and they show very interesting patterns, some of which hold up for many decades.
Red vs. Blue
The characterization of presidential elections with maps has misled many into thinking the country was divided in a way that it may not be.
Red vs. Blue 
Note that these now commonly accepted colors are opposite the traditional scheme where red was associated with the political left.
Suggests political polarity.
By County
Cartogram by County
Does a much better job of showing urban population
Purple vs. Violet
White?
Purple vs. Violet
Purple vs. Violet in a Cartogram by County
NPR Animation of Electoral Politics
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/11/01/163632378/a-campaign-map-morphed-by-money?ft=3&f=111787346&sc=nl&cc=es-20121104 
What does the Red vs. Blue electoral map incorrectly suggest?
A.  That we are really a multi-polar society
B.  That we have no political centrists
C.  That the conservatives are largely in the South
D.  That the liberals are largely on the coasts.
Elazar’s American Political Regions
Traditionalistic
Laws based on tradition
Moralistic
Laws based on moral imperatives
Individualistic
Individual rights over group needs
Which Region?
Diffusion of Recycling Programs (fig)
Elazar’s Political Subcultures (fig)
Figure
Social Conservatives and Libertarians 
Note that Social Conservatives are not in the same location as the “less-government” conservatives.
Cartoon
Geography of Marital Privacy
figure
Gay vs. Cousin Marriage Laws
Partly humorous, but also offers a glimpse into the relationship between politics, religion and tradition.
Note the patterns in the Southeast and Southwest.
Which state doesn’t fit its own pattern?
In Las Vegas, almost everything  is legal.  It’s following which of these political traditions?
A. Traditionalistic (Social Conservative)
B. Moralistic (Good Government)
C. Hedonistic (Everything goes!)
D.  Individualistic (Libertarian)
Functional Electoral Regions
Redistricting
Every 10 years electoral districts must be redrawn.
Gerrymandering
The practice of constructing electoral districts that favor one party/race/religion/etc. over another
Gerrymandering (fig)
Gerrymandered Louisiana
District created to ensure a black representative in Congress
Is ethnicity a sufficient issue to create such a boundary?
Gerrymandering
Note the two hypothetical maps on the right.
See how the electoral boundaries of this “town” can be manipulated to change the outcome of an election.
According to lecture, which of the following is the most unfortunate outcome gerrymandering for everyone is:
A.  It keeps minorities from getting votes in congress
B.  It helps extremists get elected.
C.  It ensure imcumbents get re-elected
D. All of the above.
Diffusion of  Suffrage (fig)
Religion and Politics
In many parts of the world, religion is a good indicator of party affiliation.
Many countries in Europe have parties with names like “Christian Democrats”
In the United States, conservative religious groups have entered into a precarious alliance with the Republican party in the last 20 years.  
Abortion is the key issue, but others are hidden
Balkanization
What is balkanization?
What causes it?
“shatterbelt”
Other than the Balkans, what other part of the world has Balkan-like potential?
There will….
Be a test question over the previous slide.

Were you awake? 

Did you understand any of that?

Afghanistan
Pashtun
Baluch
Tajik
Uzbek
Turkmen
Brahul
Hazara
Pashai
Nuristani
 Political Imprint on Economic Geography
Some borders are easier to see because of various governmental policies that encourage differing economic pursuits.
Borders are economically disruptive-NAFTA
US-Canadian Border (fig)
US-Mexico Border
 (fig)

Which side is which?
Political Landscapes
Politics are expressed on the landscape in a variety of fashions.
Some are blatant, some are less obvious.
Government Building
How do we know that government buildings ought to look like this?
What are we referencing with this style?
Fair Trial Here?
Here?
The Impress of Central Authority
The evidence of a strong central government is everywhere!
Patterns of highways, rail, communication lines
Suppression of internal borders
Military bases
Central Authority
National Iconography on the Landscape
National symbols are easy to find.
What sort of national symbolism do we have in the US?
Statues, flags, eagles, monuments, etc.
What is their function?
Do they tell the whole story?
National Iconography
Whose story is being told?
Whose story is not being told?
Stone Mountain
How does this monument to the Confederacy speak to Black people who visit?
Why do / don’t we build these?
Vietnam Memorial