Electoral Behavior:

Main determinants of voting in India:

1. Caste
2. Ideology of Political Parties
3. Personality of Candidates
4. Age and Gender of Candidates
5. Religion and Language
6. Money power
7. Social Media
Note: First time EVMs were used in GOA Assembly election,
1999
Geopolitics

UGC NET 2023

 What is geopolitics?

Study of the relationships between

demography, economics, environment,
geography, and politics and how they
influence countries foreign and national
security policies.
Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904)
• German regarded as founder of modern human and political geography
• Father of Political Geography
• Politische Geography (1897) credited with establishing the foundations of
geopolitics and saw him introduce lebensraum to German political rhetoric.
• Believed state space increases with territorial growth; that states grow by
absorbing other smaller units; and that frontiers are peripheral state organs
reflecting a states strength and growth and aren’t permanent.
• The Sea as the Source of the Greatness of a People (1900) stressed
German commitment to Weltpolitik and maritime expansion .
• Ratzel was also interested in the importance of environmental influences
such as climate, resources, terrain, and vegetation.
Geopolitical Schools of thought:

1. German School of thought (Ratzel)

2. British School of thought (Mackinder)
3. American School of thought
(Spykman, Mahan)
Modern History of Geopolitics and
Key Founders

Geopolitics first used by Swedish political

scientist Rudolf Kjellén (1864-1922) in 1899
article in Swedish journal Ymer.
K.E. HAUSHOFER is father of Geopolitics
Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914)

• Professor at U.S. Naval War College whose work continues

influencing the U.S. and other navies.
• Seminal work is The Influence of Sea Power Upon History,
1660-1783 (1890)
• This work asserted naval and merchant marine assets were
the key reasons England, France, Holland, and Spain won
wars enabling them to seize overseas colonies, eliminate
enemy access to these colonies, and exploit their natural
resources.
Mahan-Influence of Seapower
• Its publication came at a time of European and Japanese expansion
in Africa and Asia. They soon would be joined by the U.S.
• Influenced pro-expansionist Americans such as Secretary of State
John Hay; Senator Henry Cabot Lodge; and Theodore Roosevelt.
• Mahan advocated a larger navy to patrol and defend the Gulf and
Caribbean coasts; believed there would be a Central American
canal; and favored establishing an eastern Pacific naval perimeter to
keep Japan and any other country from getting within 3,000 miles of
San Francisco.
• Major Issues of World Geopolitics
1. Resources (Oil, Coal, Natural Gas, Nuclear)
2. Climate Change (From “Our Common Future” in 1987 to
2015 Paris Agreement and COPs)
3. Indian ocean
• Meta-Geopolitics: It focuses on
1. Social ISSUE
2. Health Issue
3. Domestics Politices
4. Human potential and social security
Neopolitics: Geopolitics to control over world energy
resources.
Regional Organization
• SAARC: The South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation
• Headquarter: Katmandu, Nepal
• Date of Formation: 8 Dec,1985, Dhaka, Bangladesh
• The regional intergovernmental organization and
geopolitical union of states in South Asia.
• Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. SAARC
comprises 3% of the world's land area, 21% of the world's
population and 5.21% (US$4.47 trillion) of the global
economy, as of 2021.
• ASEAN: An abbreviat ion f o r t h e “ A s s o c i a t i o n o f
Southeast Asian Nations” is a political and economic
union of 10 states in Southeast Asia.
• Headquarter: Jakarta, Indonesia
• Formation date: 8th Aug, 1967
• Members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.
• Together, its member states represent a population of
over 600 million over a land area of 4.5 million km2 (1.7
million sq mi).
• The bloc generated a
purchasing power parity
(PPP) gross domestic
product (GDP) of around
US$10.2 trillion in 2022,
constituting approximately
6.5% of global GDP
(PPP).ASEAN member
states include some of the
fastest growing economies
in the world. ASEAN Plus-
INDIA, AUSTRALIA and
New ZEALAND
• OPEC: “Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries” is an organization enabling the co-operation
of leading oil-producing countries in order to collectively
influence the global oil market and maximize profit.
• It was founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the
first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and
Venezuela).
• The 13 member countries account for an estimated 30
percent of global oil production.
• Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran,
Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Emirates and Venezuela.
• EU: European Union
• Date of Formation: 1 November 1993, Maastricht,
Netherlands
• Headquarter: Brussels, Belgium
• Members: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic
of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and
Sweden.
• Containing 5.8% of the
world population in 2020,
the EU generated a
nominal gross domestic
product (GDP) of around
US$16.6 trillion in 2022,
c o n s t i t u t i n g
approximately one sixth
of global nominal GDP
and the third-biggest
global economy after the
United States and China
• Q. Which one of the following parameter is not proposed by Kristof to
distinguish frontiers and boundaries? (NET DECEMBER 2022, SHIFFT I)
• (1) Frontier are outer oriented whereas boundaries are inner oriented
• (2) Frontier areal and boundaries are lines in character.
• (3) The frontier is a manifestation of centrifugal forces whereas boundary is that of
centripetal one
• (4) A frontier is an integrating factor between states on either side, a boundary on
the contrary, is a separating factor.
• Q.1. Geo-Strategic model in political geography was propounded by: (NTA UGC
NET DEC 2020 JUNE 2021)
• (1) Spykman
• (2) Saul Cohen
• (3) John Short
• (4) John Agnew
• Answer: 2
• Q.2. In which of his book in 1919, Mackinder rechristened his concept of ‘Pivot Area’ as ‘Heart land’ (NTA UGC
NET DEC 2020 JUNE 2021)
• (1) The Round world and the winning of peace
• (2) Foreign Affairs
• (3) World war and Geography
• (4) The Democratic ideals and Reality
• Answer: 4
• Q.3. The concept of Lebensraum became popular in the discipline of political Geography after the publication of-
(NTA UGC NET DEC 2020 JUNE 2021)
• (1) Making Political Geography
• (2) Geographical Pivot of History
• (3) Cosmography
• (4) Politische Geographic
• Answer: 4
• Q.1. Given below two statements, one labelled as Assertion (A) and other labelled as Reason(R), select your
answer from the codes given below: (UGC NET JUNE 2015)
• Assertion (A): Indian Ocean has become the military bases by many super- powers.
• Reason (R): There strong geo-political benefits in Indian Ocean and adjacent countries
• Codes.
• (1) Both (A) and are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)
• (2) Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)
• (3) (A) is true, but (R) is false.
• (4) (A) is false, but (R) is true
• Answer: 1
• Q.5. Who proposed the concept of ‘geo-politics’ based on ocean power? (UGC NET
• DEC 2015)
• (1) A.T. Mahan
• (2) C. Ritter
• (3) Spykeman
• (4) Mackinder
• Answer: 1
• Q.2. Match List – I with list –II and select the correct answer from the codes given
• below: (UGC NET JUNE 2015)
• List-I (Countries)
• (a) U.S.A.
• (b) China
• (c) India
• (d) U.K.
• List-II (Party System Government)
• (i) One party
• (ii) Two party
• (iii) Three party
• (iv) Multi party
• Codes:
• (a) (b) (c) (d)
• (1) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
• (2) (ii) (i) (iv) (iii)
• (3) (iii) (iv) (ii) (i)
• (4) (iv) (iii) (i) (ii)
• Answer: 2
• Q.37. The study of the economic, political and military value in relation to
• geographic space is called
• (A) Gerrymander
• (B) Geopolitics
• (C) Federal Politics
• (D) Negotiating Politics
• Answer: 2
• Q.44. Which one of the following characteristics feature of Indian federalism does not have a geographical base?
• (A) Vast Area Size
• (B) Physical and Cultural Diversities
• (C) Regional Inequalities in Socio-Economic Development
• (D) Division of Powers and Functions between Union and States
• Answer: D
• Q.9. Which of the following statements is not true about a state?
• (A) It always has a social or cultural base
• (B) It has a territorial base
• (C) It claims internal sovereignty
• (D) It claims sovereignty in external relations
• Answer: A
• Explanation:
• The state has four essential elements:
• 1. Population
• 2. Territory
• 3. Government
• 4. Sovereignty
• Q.10. A primary differentiation between a state and a nation is that
• (A) Multiple concept, whereas nation is permanent
• (B) Political abstract, whereas a nation is a human group
• (C) fixed geographical item, whereas a nation is not linked to a territory
• (D) Product of history, whereas a nation is a product of people
• Answer: B
• Q.21. Match List-I with List-II and select the correct answer
• List-I
• (Scholars) List-II
• (Global Strategic Views)
• A. Serversky, A.N.P. 1. Sea Power
• B. Mackinder, H.J. 2. Rimland Theory
• C. Spykman, N.J. 3. Air Power
• D. Mahan, A.T. 4. Land Power
• Codes:
• ABCD
• A. 3 4 2 1
• B. 3 4 1 2
• C. 2 1 4 3
• D. 4 3 2 1
• Answer: A
• Q.3. Whose portrayal epitomized the relationship of political geography to foreign policy?
• (A) Karl Haushofer
• (B) Adolf Hitler
• (C) Isaiah Bowman
• (D) Winston Churchill
• Answer: A
• Explanation:
• Q.4. The book Polar Geopolitics is written by whom of the following
• (A) R.D. Dixit
• (B) V. Kolossov
• (C) O.H.K. Spate
• (D) Richard Powell
• Answer: D
• Q.5. Carta-Marina is
• (A) A cartographic instrument used by Arab geographers
• (B) A book authored by Al-Masudi
• (C) A map of America prepared by Waldseemuller
• (D) A age succeeding to age of discover
• Answer: C
• Q.6. Organic Theory of the state was propounded by (DEC-2013)
• (A) Mackinder
• (B) Ratzel
• (C) Haushofer
• (D) Isaish Bawman
• Answer: B
• Explanation:
• Q.7. Who wrote the book known as the ‘World Political Geography’?
• (A) G.E. Pearcy
• (B) Hartshorne
• (C) Stephen B. Jones
• (D) J.K. Wright
• Answer: A
• Q.8. The relationship among power structure's the environment and economic inequalities is termed is
• (A) Political Ecology
• (B) Gerrymandering
• (C) Eco terrorism
• (D) Cultural Diffusion
• Answer: A