VI. How do States Spatially Organize their Governments?
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Transcript of VI. How do States Spatially Organize their Governments?
VI. How do States Spatially Organize their Governments?
Internal Structure
1.The needs of a well-functioning statea) Clearly bounded territory served by an adequate infrastructureb) Effective administrative framework, a productive core area, and a prominent capital
2.All states confront divisive forces
Forms of GovernmentThese two forms promote nation-building and attempt to quell division
within…
• Unitary – highly centralized government where the capital city serves as a focus of power.
• Federal – a government where the state is organized into territories, which have control over government policies and funds.
Unitary and Federal Systems
1.Early European nation-states were unitary states:
a)Governments were highly centralized and powerful
b)Capital cities represented authority that stretched to the limits of the state
Unitary and Federal Systems
2. The federal state arose in the New Worlda) Newness of the culture, and emergence of
regionalism due to the vast size of territoriesb) Conditions did not lend themselves to unitary
systems of governmentc) Absence of an old primate cityd) Lack of a clear core area and the vastness of
national territory
Nigeria’s Federal Government – Allows states within the state to determine whether to have Shari’a Laws
Shari’a Laws Legal systems based on traditional Islamic laws
Minnesota’s concealed weapons law requires the posting of signs such as this on buildings that do not allow concealed weapons.
The U.S. Federal Government – Allows states (sub-states) within the state to determine “moral” laws such as death penalty, access to alcohol, and concealed weapons.
Forces of Fragmentation and Cohesion:
Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces
Centripetal Forces
• Promoting State Cohesion• Nationalism• Unifying Institutions • Organization and Administration• Transportation and Communication• Supranationalism
Centrifugal Forces
• Challenges to State Authority • Less Nationalism • Devolution, Regionalism • Peripheral Location• Social and Economic Inequality
Devolution –Movement of power from the central government to regional governments within the state.
What causes devolutionary movements?
Ex. Ethnocultural forcesEconomic forcesSpatial forces
Ethnocultural Devolutionary Movements
Eastern Europedevolutionary forces since the fall of communism
Ex. Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia
Economic Devolutionary
Movements
Catalonia, SpainBarcelona, located in Catalonia, is the center of banking and commerce in Spain and the region is much wealthier than the rest of Spain. It produces 25% of Spanish exports
and 40% of its industrial exports.
Spatial Devolutionary
Movements
Honolulu, Hawai’iA history apart from the United States, and a desire to live apart in order to keep traditions alive.
Supranational Organizations
A separate entity composed of three or more states that forge an association and form an administrative structure for mutual benefit in pursuit of shared goals.
* How many supranational organizationsexist in the world today?At least 60
United Nations• Background: League of Nations – 1919, idea of Woodrow Wilson but,
due to isolationist Americans, U.S. never joined. League collapsed prior to WWII (Italian invasion of Ethiopia). Prior to WWII, states created the Permanent Court of International Justice. After WWII, states formed the United Nations…
• Basics of the UN: – Cooperate with internationally approved standards– 192 members– Aid: refugees, poverty, troops in peacekeeping
operations, human rights
Global Scale – The United Nations
Regional Scale - Europe
• Benelux, 1944: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg• Marshall Plan, 1948-’52: US aid to Western European
Countries• Organization of European Economic Cooperation, 1952 (OEEC)
toEuropean Economic Community (EEC)
to European Community (EC)
to European Union, 1992 (EU)
Regional Scale - Europe
• European Union: domestic, military, and certain sovereign policies that govern all members – 12 European Community (EC) members
established the EU – 1992– Euro introduced in 2002– Problems facing the EU?
• Bailouts to member countries• Subsidies, Germany, Turkey
Original Members: Germany, France, UK, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Denmark and Ireland
Regional Scale – The European Union(27 Current Members)
Supranationalism Elsewhere…
• NAFTA, ACS, APEC, CIS…• Treaties to reduce tariffs and facilitate
trade• None like the European Union
*Complete Supranationalism Research