GEL 1301 | Geografi Manusia | Dr. Sudrajat, S.Si., M.P.

Tugas Mandiri 6: Political

Risqi Amelia Nugraini | 20/458622/GE/09305

Faculty of Geografi, University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia

1. Imagine you are the leader of a newly independent state in Africa or Asia. Determine what
your government can do to build a nation that corresponds with the borders of your state.
Consider the roles of education, government, military, and culture in your exercise in
nationbuilding.
Answer:
I am the new leader of a country named B located on the continent of Southeast Asia,
whose position is traversed by international trade routes. To build a country B into a
prosperous country the people of this country must be prosperous. Therefore, I want to
increase the HDI (Human Development Index) which covers life expectancy, education
and standard of living income to the numbers 0.8 to 1.0. My main goal is to improve the
welfare of the population, the prosperity of the population causes human resources to
increase which is useful for the nation, such as the number of fields of employment that
can increase income per capita, especially country B is passed through international trade
routes (export activities). Revenue from this state will later be distributed evenly in the
fields of education and health so that it can continue to improve welfare and progress in
country B. The system of government adopted is a presidential system where the president
is elected by the people and has a term of 5 years and a maximum of 2 periods. This
government system is adopted because the government needs to listen to the aspirations of
the population to become a prosperous nation. The military in country B has power over all
actions that seek to overthrow a country. The military in country B is divided into two,
namely the population want to join the military by itself and the obligations that must be
carried out by every healthy man with a minimum age of 23 and a maximum of 27 for 2
years military education as in South Korea. It is intended that the population has an
alertness in the military and reduces criminal acts in country B because the population has
basic military education. And the culture in country B is a pride or characteristic that must
be preserved. This culture has a mark of ownership so that it cannot be taken by other
countries.
2. Choose an example of a devolutionary movement and determine whether autonomy (self-
governance) for that region would benefit the autonomous region, the country in which it
is located, or both.
Answer:
Devolution that occurred in the United Kingdom was due to the Scottish nation wanting to
separate from the United Kingdom and become an independent country. The economy is
the main motivating factor for Scottish society to support these efforts. The devolution has
given Scotland the opportunity to advance its territorial conditions through the creation of
the Scottish Parliament and its government. However, this is not enough to bring
prosperity to Scotland and its people, even though in fact Scotland has good economic
capabilities. This is due to UK government policies that are not compatible with Scottish
interests but only in the London and South East England regions, which is what causes
regional disparities, in terms of income and GDP, between Scotland and the UK as a
whole. Finally, Scotland officially separated from the UK. Devolution carried out by
Scotland aims to advance the existing economy. For Scotland this devolution was
advantageous because by separating from the UK, Scotland was able to form a new
parliamentary which was suitable and able to regulate the previously troubled economy.

3. People used to think physical-political boundaries were more stable than geometric
boundaries. Through many studies of many places, political geographers have confirmed
this idea is false. Construct your own argument explaining why physical-political
boundaries can create just as much instability as geometric boundaries.
Answer:
The boundaries of an area are physically-politically unstable because these boundaries are
the result of an agreement or policy of a country to determine the boundaries of its area.
Usually this political boundary follows existing physical boundaries, such as mountains
which are part of a region. However, these physical boundaries tend to be invisible. These
boundaries can lead to conflicts with bordering areas due to misunderstandings in
determining the boundaries of a country which eventually results in a process of taking
over territorial power which can be in the form of a repressive action. Geometric
Boundaries are more stable because they have accurate coordinates and cannot move
except the movement of the earth's plates.