def METHOD_NAME(self, **kw):
    default = kw.setdefault("default", None)
    subdivisions = super(Subdivisions, self).METHOD_NAME(**kw)
    if subdivisions is default and "country_code" in kw:
        # This handles the case where we know about a country but there
        # are no subdivisions: we return an empty list in this case
        # (sticking to the expected type here) instead of None.
        if countries.METHOD_NAME(alpha_2=kw["country_code"]) is not None:
            return []
    return subdivisions