Devolution of Countries: Centripetal & Centrifugal Forces

A “forward-thrust capital” is a capital that is deliberately located, or relocated, to a specific region within a country. Islamabad in Pakistan and Brasilia in Brazil are the two most notable examples of “forward-thrust capitals."

Centripetal forces pull a country together- like a common language, shared culture, or spirit of nationalism do. Centrifugal forces pull a country apart- often ethnic or ideological differences, but geographic features like mountain ranges as well, since they physically divide people within the country and can make communication difficult.

“Centrifugal forces” are forces within a country that work to pull that country apart. They are more common in larger states, particularly states that contain a large number of different nationalities competing for control and/or self-determination.

For much of Brazil’s history, its economic development has been largely concentrated in the coastal regions, and more specifically in the southeastern coastal region where Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo, and other wealthy Brazilian cities are located. In an effort to accelerate the growth of the interior of the country, and to further unify the disparate regions of the vast Brazilian territory, the government moved the capital from Rio to Brasilia in 1960.

Nationalistic forces that bind a country together are called “centripetal forces.” Common examples of “centripetal forces” include a shared sense of common history, a shared language, reliable national institutions, and government legitimacy. The opposite of “centripetal forces” are “centrifugal forces,” which divide a country.

Quebec is the French-speaking province of Canada that contains the important cities of Montreal and Quebec City. Due to its status as a majority French-speaking province within an English-speaking state Quebec has many distinct cultural features that distinguish it from the rest of Canada. Quebec routinely seeks self-determination through referendums and political movements. After a very slim referendum victory in 1998, support for the separatist Bloc Quebecois has slipped, as has that party's power in the national parliament.

The term “Balkanization” comes from the Balkans region of Southeastern Europe. For many hundreds of years, the Balkans have been home to a large number of disparate and often hostile nationalities, usually governed under the administration of one empire (Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, Yugoslavian). In the 1990s, this all disintegrated as each nationality sought its own state and control over the other nationalities. The term “Balkanization” has come to mean the hostile fragmentation of a large state into several smaller countries. Although it does not technically have to be wholly hostile, it generally is.

A forward capital is a symbolically relocated capital city, usually because of either economic or strategic reasons. The former capital of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, was located on the coast, and the residents of the interior felt distant from the government. The Brazilian government built a new capital, Brasilia, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest to try to unite the country. All the other capitals were not made capitals for this reason.

A centripetal force in politics is any action that unites the people of a nation as one singular political unit. Events that create division or push people in a nation away from each other is known as a centrifugal force. A classic example of a centripetal force is any kind of attack on a nation, as it usually serves to create a mentality that the entire country was attacked.