comparative politics quiz questions

If your political party won 39 percent of the vote in an election, what percentage of the seats would their seat share be under a majority and proportional system, respectively?

0%; 40%

Which of the following is the best example of an authoritarian state?

A state that allows citizens to form a music appreciation society, but uses armed force to repress political opposition.

Using the variables of participation and contestation, which of the following statements about democratic accountability is most accurate?

A state with high levels of participation and contestation is more likely to be accountable to its citizens.

Which of the following is a reason why doing comparative research is challenging?

All arguments in comparative politics are provisional.

Which of the following characterizes the structure of authority in a non-democratic state?

Authority is structured to enforce the government's vision of law and order.

Who said that violence is written in the DNA of the state

Charles Tilly

What is the relationship between civil liberties and democratic government?

Civil liberties protect certain key individual and group rights that enable citizens to freely express ideas and have access to information necessary for self-governance.

In which of the following ways does a communist ideology differ from a fascist ideology?

Communist ideologies stress the common interests of workers across nations, while fascist ideologies emphasize nationalism and racist principles.

What distinguishes correlation from causation?

Correlation measures the observed association between two or more variables, while causation is a process or event that produces an observable effect.

Which of the following is an example of a falsifiable hypothesis?

Democracy will not survive in Iran because Islam and democracy are incompatible.

Which of the following is a consequence of a state adopting judicial review mechanisms?

Effective government is often sacrificed to ensure limited government.

What was a distinguishing factor of European colonialism in relation to late state development?

European colonialism left newly formed states with ineffective and illegitimate government institutions.

If your political party won the most seats but not a majority in a parliamentary election, what would you be required to do under a parliamentary system?

Find a coalition partner to obtain the necessary majority needed to govern.

What is the relationship between policy areas and federal systems?

For a system to qualify as federal, the constitution must grant governments at the local, state, or provincial level exclusive control over at least one policy area.

Which of the following is an example of a government in comparative politics?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Which of the following uses mixed electoral rules?

Germany

Which of the following best illustrates Thomas Hobbes's solution to the collective action problem in social orders?

Governments must be allowed to limit individual freedom to some degree to ensure the collective good.

Who defined politics as "who gets what, when, and how"?

Harold Lasswell

How does changing military technology in Medieval Europe relate to early state formation?

Improvements in land and sea forces required a centralization of the state to collect needed revenues effectively.

What distinguishes a parliamentary system from a presidential system?

In a parliamentary system the two branches of government depend on each other for their survival until the next scheduled election, while in a presidential system they are independent.

Which of the following distinguishes an oligarchy from a military regime?

In an oligarchy, the relationship between the leaders and the selectorate is much less formal than in a military regime.

What is the relationship between natural environment and political interests in the formation of early states?

Increased food production in Medieval Europe led to larger and denser populations, while changing political interests increased competition among rulers to consolidate control over territory.

How does a comparative approach to politics move beyond merely stating an opinion about events around the world?

It helps researchers avoid jumping to conclusions by exploring a wide range of similar cases that might experience different outcomes.

Which of the following statements best characterizes Madison's Dilemma?

It is difficult to balance effective government with limited government.

How is accountability related to the idea of democratic governance?

It provides a way for citizens to remove rulers from office while maintaining political stability.

What distinguishes the state from the nation?

Nations are a form of political identity, while states are a political-legal abstraction.

Which of the following is an argument against parliamentary supremacy?

Parliamentary majorities cannot be trusted to uphold limited government.

Which of the following best characterizes regimes in the study of comparative politics?

Regimes are the most basic form of a state's government.

In a theocratic society, in what way is religion analogous to a totalitarian ideology?

Religious authorities seek to use the institutions of the state to reshape society.

Which of the following accurately distinguishes a non-democracy from a democracy?

Rulers in non-democracies are not held accountable to citizens, while leaders in democratic states are.

Which of the following countries uses a federal system of government?

Russia

The Treaty of Westphalia is significant because it established which core principle?

Secular leaders held ultimate authority over a given territory.

What is a problem associated with social science research?

Social scientists cannot control or isolate factors to determine causality.

How do states differ from governments?

States are abstractions, whereas governments are concrete organizations.

How is the natural environment connected to late state formation?

States with difficult terrain found constructing legitimate and effective state institutions more challenging and more expensive.

What is meant by the statement "Totalitarian states do not tolerate social or political pluralism"?

The central government subordinates all facets of social, economic, and political power.

Which of the following would lead to a country having a high rating on the Freedom House scale?

The country guarantees political equality within its borders.

Which of the following illustrates an outcome in a semi-presidential hybrid system?

The election of Jacques Chirac of the conservative Rally for the Republic Party as president, with the selection of Lionel Jospin of the Socialist Party as prime minister.

Which of the following statements best characterizes a totalitarian state?

The government tolerates no opposition to its ideology or policies.

Which of the following describes an effect of an authoritarian regime on the lives of citizens?

The government uses coercion to limit political pluralism but citizens are still permitted to engage in limited amounts of social pluralism.

In which of the following ways is the period of late state formation different from the period of early state formation?

The international military context did not contribute to late state formation as it did in earlier eras.

What does the State Fragility Index measure?

The likelihood that a state is vulnerable to collapse.

Which of the following statements about non-democracies is accurate?

The number of non-democracies has increased slightly in recent years.

Which of the following statements best explains the concept of reciprocal accountability?

The selectorate chooses and removes the leadership, but the leadership also selects and removes members of the selectorate.

How does the study of comparative politics differ from the study of international relations?

The study of comparative politics focuses on politics within countries, while the study of international relations focuses on politics between countries.

Which of the following is a key component of groups that constitute civil society?

They are autonomous from state control.

Which of the following do majority rule and plurality rule have in common?

They tend to reward larger parties and penalize smaller parties.

Which of the following illustrates how comparative researchers might effectively study democratization in the developing world?

They would look to the broader world to see if there is a larger pattern of events related to democratization in the developing world that occurred in similar and dissimilar societies.

The relationship between legitimacy and effectiveness best demonstrates the ideas of which political thinker?

Thomas Hobbes

Who proposed the social contract as a solution to collective action problems?

Thomas Hobbes

What is a consequence of an institutional arrangement that has both separation of origin and separation of survival?

When the president and the legislative majority disagree about policy, the result might be government deadlock.

Why might the government of Japan be considered less democratic than the government of the United States?

While Japan enjoys higher rates of political participation than the United States, it generally has lower levels of contestation for power.

Why does communism tend to be associated with utopian, radical left politics while fascism is associated with nostalgic, extreme right politics?

While both are totalitarian ideologies, they emerged in different and competing social contexts in Europe.

Which of the following would illustrate a question asked by comparative politics researchers?

Why do countries make different decisions under similar political rules?

As the leader of an authoritarian state, which of the following would you be more inclined to work toward as you govern?

a broad demobilization of citizens in society coupled with efforts to discourage citizens from increasing their levels of political engagement

A set of key laws and principles that structure the extent and distribution of government authority and individual rights by determining the rules of the political game is known as __________.

a constitution

Under which of the following conditions would a unitary constitution be most appropriate?

a country that is relatively homogenous with a relatively small population

The leaders of a military regime are known as __________.

a junta

Which of the following best defines correlation?

a measure of observed association between two variables

If you were studying two cases where democracy occurred but the countries had different cultural attributes, you would be using the method of __________.

agreement

A set of political beliefs that structures and gives meaning to our political interests and that motivates people to act politically in particular ways is known as __________.

an ideology

Why is the research question asked by Aristotle still relevant to comparative scholars today?

because it is still unclear how to best combine limited and effective government to sustain democracy

Which of the following is one of the three key requirements in determining whether a country is a democracy?

civil liberties

Government efforts to redistribute as much wealth as possible are hallmarks of which type of ideology?

communist

Many monarchies have evolved into __________ by establishing formal limits on the monarch's powers

constitutional monarchies

What event in the 1960s led comparative politics scholars to consider a range of questions centered on the factors contributing to economic development and political stability?

decolonization

With which of the following is the modern state most closely associated?

depersonalized governance

What translates the votes of citizens into legislative seats?

electoral system

Which of the following illustrates a solution to Madison's Dilemma?

establishing political institutions that check and balance politicians' ambitions against each other to ensure that no single person or group can dominate government

Which of the following is an example of using the comparative method to understand the rise of democracy in South Korea?

examining whether the rise of democracy in South Korea is part of a larger pattern of similar events that occurred in similar and dissimilar societies

For a hypothesis to be reliable, it must be __________.

falsifiable

In which type of state would you find the glorification of militarism and the interests of the state placed over the interests of individual citizens?

fascist

A form of political organization characterized by ambiguous territorial sovereignty and multiple, often overlapping lines of authority is known as __________.

feudalism

The Prisoner's Dilemma illustrates the tension between __________ interests and __________ interests

individual; collective

The power of the courts to invalidate laws by declaring them unconstitutional is known as __________.

judicial review

When using __________ to evaluate state strength, social scientists are focused on the level of voluntary compliance within the state.

legitimacy

If you were examining the causes of civil war and started with cases that differed in attributes but shared outcomes, you would be using which basic approach to the comparative method?

method of agreement

What is the chief executive in a parliamentary system known as?

prime minister

If you were conducting research on the effects of a leader's charisma on the rise of democracy, which method of obtaining evidence would you use to best understand the proposed relationship?

qualitative

Which method of comparative research emphasizes breadth over depth?

quantitative

Which type of research relies on statistical data to assess relationships between attributes and outcomes?

quantitative

In a communist state, which of the following would you be most likely to experience?

radical efforts to redistribute wealth in society

Which of the following is a way in which quantitative research differs from qualitative research?

reliance on statistical data

A state that is highly repressive of its own citizens would receive a low ranking in which of the following categories of the State Fragility Index?

security legitimacy score

What principle prevents the legislature from firing a president under normal conditions?

separation of survival

What seems to be the upper limit on the term of office for directly elected presidents?

six years

If you believe that certain races are by nature superior to others, you most likely support which of the following?

social darwinism

__________ is a state's ultimate responsibility for and legal authority over the conduct of internal affairs.

sovereignty

Which of the following groups provides an example of loose overlapping between the nation and the state?

the Kurds

Which of the following best characterizes the study of comparative politics?

the desire to explain how politics works around the world

Which of the following statements best illustrates the nature of political accountability in a non-democratic regime?

the leaders of a country removing members of the military officers corps that placed them in power

Which of the following is one factor that helps explain why military leaders might decide to engage in politics?

the perception that civilian political institutions are weak and inefficient

Who enjoys separation of survival in a semi-presidential hybrid system?

the president

What factor led to the rise of judicial review in Europe?

the rise of fascist governments in Germany, Spain, and Italy

What is the core tension in a collective action problem?

the tension between individual and collective interests

Which of the following is a goal in the study of comparative politics?

to generate convincing answers to our questions about what politics is all about

What is the main purpose of the social contract?

to place limits on individual freedoms in exchange for collective benefits

Why might a country choose to empower subnational governments at the expense of the national government?

to protect the rights of linguistic minority identity groups

The term "universal suffrage" refers to which of the following?

voting rights

Late-forming states are often __________ than early-forming states.

weaker