Political Patterns & Processes unit test
A test on this unit alone, marked as a percentage and a letter grade — for the test your class is actually sitting, rather than for May. Answer everything, then submit once: seeing the answer to question 3 before attempting question 4 makes the final percentage meaningless.
Boundary types
Enclave and exclave
Choke point
Sovereignty
Gerrymandering
Territoriality
Stateless nation and multinational state
State, nation and nation-state
Colonial legacy of boundaries
Centripetal and centrifugal forces
Unitary vs federal states
Balkanization
Short answer 1. Define or explain: Antecedent, subsequent, superimposed and relict boundaries
3 ptsShort answer 2. Define or explain: Devolution
3 ptsShort answer 3. Define or explain: Supranational organization
3 ptsShort answer 4. Define or explain: Shatterbelt
3 ptsFree response
7 ptsTWO STIMULI. Examine the two stimuli, described below. Stimulus 1 — A map of a hypothetical country divided into ten legislative districts of roughly equal population. Districts 1 through 4 are compact and roughly square, covering the rural western half of the country. Districts 5 through 10 cover the eastern half, where the country's largest city is located; district 7 is a long, narrow shape that extends nearly the full width of the city, connecting two distant neighborhoods by a corridor only a few blocks wide, while districts 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 wrap around it in irregular shapes. Stimulus 2 — A map showing a portion of the border between two neighboring countries. For most of its length the border follows a river; along one stretch of about 200 kilometers it runs as a straight line along a line of latitude, cutting across an area where a single ethnic group's traditional territory lies on both sides.
A. Identify the type of boundary illustrated by the straight-line segment in Stimulus 2.
B. Describe the practice illustrated by district 7 in Stimulus 1.
C. Describe one purpose of redistricting.
D. Explain how the shape of district 7 could affect the outcome of an election.
E. Explain one reason a boundary drawn as in the straight-line segment of Stimulus 2 may generate conflict.
F. Explain how the river boundary in Stimulus 2 could become a source of dispute even though it follows a physical feature.
G. Explain one way a supranational organization could reduce tensions arising from the boundary in Stimulus 2.