France Première History-Geography, Geopolitics and Political Science
Chapters: 5
1. Understanding democracy
Direct and representative democracy · Advances and setbacks of democracy · Conclusion: the EU and democracy
- Democracy – Democracy is rule by the people. People choose their rulers in free and fair elections, each adult has one vote of equal value, and the government must follow the law and respect rights. Democracy can be direct or representative. India has old democratic roots and today uses a parliamentary system, while the USA uses a presidential system. Poverty, illiteracy, corruption and inequality are its main challenges.
- Outcomes of Democracy – Democracy is judged by what it delivers. It gives an accountable, responsive and legitimate government, and it is best at protecting dignity and freedom. On economic growth it is about as good as dictatorship. It has not done enough to cut inequality and poverty. It handles social differences well when majority and minority keep changing.
- The European Union – The European Union (EU) is a group of 27 European countries that share some decisions and laws. It began in 1951, when six countries pooled coal and steel to make war between them impossible. It grew step by step into a single market where goods, people, services and money move freely. The Commission proposes laws, the Parliament and the Council pass them, and the Court of Justice makes sure they are applied. 21 members share the euro. The United Kingdom left in 2020.
2. Dynamics of world powers
Rise and fall of powers · Soft power and indirect power · Conclusion: US power today
- Geopolitics: How Place Shapes Power – Geopolitics studies how geography (location, size, resources, sea routes) shapes the power of states and their rivalries and alliances. Power is the ability to make others do what you want. Hard power uses force or money (army, economy); soft power attracts (culture, language, universities, technology). Powers rise and decline, as the Ottoman Empire did and as Russia tried to rebuild after 1991. States compete for resources, territory and routes such as straits and new Silk Roads, but also cooperate through treaties, alliances, exclusive economic zones, the International Space Station and the protection of the high seas.
3. Political divisions: borders
Drawing borders: a geopolitical approach · Borders under debate · Conclusion: internal and external borders of the EU
- Borders in Geopolitics: Drawing Lines and Arguing About Them – A border is a line that separates the land and rights of two states. Borders have become more numerous as empires broke up and new states were born. Some follow natural features such as rivers; others are straight lines drawn on paper. Past examples show different aims: the Roman limes along the Rhine protected an empire; the 1884 to 1885 Berlin Conference set rules for dividing Africa among outside powers; the Korean border is a heavily guarded strip created in 1953. Borders can be debated: the German-Polish border was finally recognised by treaty, and the sea is split into a 12-mile territorial sea, a 200-mile exclusive economic zone and the high seas. Borders also create cross-border spaces where people trade, work and cooperate.
- The European Union – The European Union (EU) is a group of 27 European countries that share some decisions and laws. It began in 1951, when six countries pooled coal and steel to make war between them impossible. It grew step by step into a single market where goods, people, services and money move freely. The Commission proposes laws, the Parliament and the Council pass them, and the Court of Justice makes sure they are applied. 21 members share the euro. The United Kingdom left in 2020.
4. Information and the media
Information revolutions · Freedom or control of information · Conclusion: getting informed in the internet age
- Media Literacy – Media literacy is the skill of reading, questioning and creating media: news, ads, videos, posts, films and games. Every media text is made by someone, for a purpose, for an audience, using forms, conventions and techniques that shape how we feel. A media-literate person checks the source, evidence, other coverage and the original before believing or sharing, notices bias and filter bubbles, and makes their own media responsibly.
5. States and religions
Power and religion in history · Uneven secularisation · Conclusion: state and religions in India
- Secularism: Equal Respect, No Domination – Secularism opposes two kinds of religious domination: inter-religious domination (one religious group dominating another) and intra-religious domination (some members dominating others inside the same religion, for example by caste or gender rules). A secular state is not run by any religion, has no official religion and does not favour one faith. In the Western model, especially in the USA, there is a strict wall of separation and the focus is on individual freedom. Indian secularism follows principled distance: the state keeps away from religion but may step in to end injustice, such as untouchability, and may support all religions equally; it protects both individual and minority community rights. Critics call it anti-religious, a Western import, minoritism, interventionist and vote-bank politics; each criticism has a reply.