Geography and Political Institutions

[Icarus]

Now how do you think Geography of a country has influenced its institutions?

 

I can safely say that mosts of the tropical countries were colonized as per their climate and geography. So western institutions were imposed upon a traditional society only if the climate and geography was favourable to the Europeans. The better the location, the stronger were the influence of the European mainland on the colonies.

 

So here is one way in which there are exogenous political institutions that are indirectly a result of the location of a place.

 

Any other way?

[Galapagos]

I would highly recommend you read or watch Jared Diamonds "Guns, Germs, and Steel", in which he argues that geography has determined the relative success of civilizations.

 

According to the author, an alternative title would be A short history about everyone for the last 13,000 years.[1] But the book is not merely an account of the past; it attempts to explain why Eurasian civilizations, as a whole, have survived and conquered others, while attempting to refute the belief that Eurasian hegemony is due to any form of Eurasian intellectual, moral, or inherent genetic superiority. Diamond argues that: the gaps in power and technology between human societies originate in environmental differences amplified by various positive feedback loops; and that, if cultural or genetic differences have favored Eurasians (for example Chinese centralized government, or improved disease resistance among Eurasians), it is only so because of the influence of geography.

 

All three parts of the National Geographic special can be viewed on Googlevideo, here is part 1:

 

Guns Germs and Steel_1 of 3 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4008293090480628280&ei=u3YHSYeGA5PuqAKku5UD&q=guns+germs+and+steel

[Icarus]

Yeah. i have seen it. But I was looking at more of modern society. Post-industrialism growth.

 

Diamond mostly deals with the transition from Hunters to Agriculture. And the diffusion of technology because of continent sizes.

[Galapagos]

Not sure if this is a good example, but Saudi Arabia gets a bunch of free money from the oil underneath them, and the government subsidizes a lot of things with that money(religious pilgrimage, food, plethora of social programs). Whether or not they would be a monarchy with socialist programs via Islamic influence regardless of the money is beyond me.