Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Guest Field Note
Interstate-40, near Blackwell, Arkansas.
In most states in the U.S., a “dry county”
might cause one to think of a place
where there is very little rain. But in the
southern part of the U.S., there are many
dry counties—that is, counties with laws
forbidding the sale of packaged alcohol.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, keep-
ing counties dry was much easier than
it is today. A hundred years ago, it took
up to a day to travel to the next town
or city on very poor roads. Today, with
cars traveling 70 MPH on an interstate,
the same trip takes a matter of minutes.
Why would counties continue to ban
alcohol sales today? Many of the rea-
sons are cultural. Of the Arkansas resi-
dents who attend church, most are Bap-
tists (see Figure 7.28) or other Protestant
denominations. Many of these churches prohibit consumption of alcoholic beverages. The Arkansas legislature supports
dry counties by requiring counties that want to sell packaged liquor to get 38 percent of the voters in the last election to
sign a petition. It only takes 10 percent of that voter pool to get any other issue on the ballot. Today, however, many dry
counties in Arkansas are known as “damp.” Damp counties are those where restaurants, country clubs and social organiza-
tions can apply and receive a license to serve alcohol by the drink. This arrangement seems counterintuitive to the idea
of a dry county. But business and economic development authorities want damp counties to encourage investment and
growth in the local economy.
Figure 8.12
Credit: Paul T. Gray, Jr., Russellville High School
Slovakia, is not homogeneous. About 11 percent of
Slovakians are Hungarian, and that minority is concen-
trated along the border between Slovakia and Hungary.
The Hungarian minority, concerned about linguistic and
cultural discrimination, has at times demanded greater
autonomy or self-governance to protect its heritage in the
new state of Slovakia.
Compared to the constituent units of the former
Yugoslavia (discussed in detail in Chapter 7), other coun-
tries shown in Figure 8.14 have dealt with devolutionary
pressures more peacefully. Among these are Lithuania
and Ukraine. Elsewhere in the world, however, ethno-
cultural fragmentation has produced costly wars. For
example, ethno-cultural differences were at the heart of
the civil war that wracked Sri Lanka (South Asia) between
the 1980s and 2009, with the Sinhalese (Buddhist) major-
ity ultimately suppressing the drive by the Tamil (Hindu)
minority for an independent state.
Devolutionary forces based on ethno-cultural
claims are gaining momentum in places that have long
looked stable from the outside. The communist govern-
ment of China has pragmatically, and arguably relatively
successfully, integrated 56 ethnic nations into the state
of China. China has acknowledged the precarious place
of the minority nations within the larger Han-domi-
nated state by extending rights to minorities, including
the right to have two children under the government's
One Child Policy. Whether the nations within China
will challenge the state remains to be seen. In China's
far west, Tibetan and Uyghur separatist movements
have become more visible, but the Chinese government's
fi rm hold and control of the media and Internet makes it
diffi cult, if not impossible, for separatist groups to hold
Egyptian-style protests in China.
Devolution, however, does not
necessarily
fuel greater
calls for independence. Nations within states can, instead,
call for autonomy within the borders of the state. In the
United Kingdom, Scotland voted in 1997 to establish
its own parliament, which had last met in 1707. The 129
members of the Scottish Parliament swear allegiance to
the Queen of England. The Scottish Parliament has the
right to introduce primary legislation over several issues,
including education, health, housing, and police. Unlike
the parliament in Wales that was established in 1997 and
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