PSCI 3600: Comparative Politics Midterm Review
Smaller countries are more likely than larger countries to have unicameral legislatures.
True
States encouraged the development of ethnic and national identities.
True
The behavioral revolution was part of an effort to make the study of politics more scientific.
True
The capacity and autonomy that a statue possesses may differ depending on which issue or topic one is looking at.
True
The start of the twenty-first century represented an increase in immigration to developed democracies compared to the middle of the twentieth century.
True
The term liberalism can have different meanings in comparative politics depending on whether we are referring to a political attitude, a political ideology in America, or a political ideology of the rest of the world
True
Economic
Two ethnic groups go to war over control of a large oil field.
In Armenia, the legislature is composed only of a single national assembly. We therefore say Armenia has a ______ legislature.
Unicameral
What is an example of rent seeking?
Venezuela nationalizes the oil industry so that it can use the profits to reward its supporter.
Presidential
only system in which the same person is usually both head of government and head of state.
Liberalism as a Political Attitude
tends to favor slow, evolutionary change.
Parliamentary
the most efficient system when it comes to creating new policies
Semi-presidential
the system that is most likely to have both a president and a prime minister
Gross Domestic Product
total market value of goods and services produced in a country in a year
One way nondemocratic regimes can stay in power is through ______, which can include the use of violence to ensure compliance. This method is most often reinforced through ______, such as the use of secret police.
1. Coercion 2. Surveillance
A study comparing legislatures of Germany and France would be engaged in ______, whereas a study focusing on trade negotiations among Canada, Mexico, and the United States would fall under the field of _____.
1. Comparative Politics 2. International Relations
In New Zealand, judicial review can only be carried out after a law or an action is in place. This is known as ______ review. In France, judicial review takes place before a a law or an action is in place. This is known as ______ review.
1. Concrete 2. Abstract
Attitude
1. Conservative 2. Reactionary
State
1. The police force in India helps ensure domestic tranquility. 2. In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service collects taxes.
As people's income rise, they are more likely to spend money on healthcare and education. This is an example of what?
A causal relationship
Political
A civil war erupts in a country as two different nationalities fight over who controls the instruments of the state.
What do developed democracies have in common in terms of their political systems?
A commitment to public participation in government
Human Development Index
A composite measure of a country's prosperity that includes measures of wealth, education, and health.
Which of the following findings can we NOT conclude from the table? (green table)
A country's wealth perfectly predicts its life expectancy.
GDP
A measurement of the total production within a country.
HDI
A measurement of the wealth in a society, its distribution, and other factors such as life expectancy and education.
Canada has a large French-Canadian minority population, much of which lives in the province of Quebec. As such, the Canadian government has special provision for Quebec, including extra guaranteed seats on the Supreme Court. This is an example of ______.
Asymmetric Federalism
In Iran, despite the presence of elections, the regime is ultimately controlled by a small group of religious leaders who are not constrained by the public. Iran is an example of ______ government.
Authoritarian
Traditional
Built by habit and custom over time, stressing history: strongly institutionalized. Ex: Monarch (Queen Elizabeth II)
Rational-legal
Built on rules and procedures and the offices that create and enforce those rules; strongly institutionalized. Ex: Elected executive (Donald Trump)
Charismatic
Built on the force of ideas and the presence of the leader; weakly institutionalized. Ex: Revolutionary hero (Vladimir Llyich Lenin)
The ability of a state to carry out the basic tasks of providing security and reconciling freedom with equality is known as what?
Capacity
Whereas people are born with ethnic identities, their ______, or their political and legal rights, is determined by the state
Citizenship
This means of control involves buying off individuals by providing them with specific benefits for supporting a regime.
Clientelism
An individual ruler imposing authority and power.
Coercion
Security based on the idea of domination.
Coercion
Jasmine believes that true equality can only exist when the state controls the distribution of wealth, even if that comes at the expense of individual freedom. Jasmine's political ideology can best be described as what?
Communism
Which political-economic system puts the greatest emphasis on equality?
Communism
Based on the idea of security through cooperation.
Consensus
May have been more likely to lead to democratic rule.
Consensus
We select a case based on our theory.
Deductive
We study a case and then generate a hypothesis.
Deductive
We use the hard science framework of using experiments to test theories.
Deductive
If a variable is affected by another variable, it is the ______ variable.
Dependent
A person's ability to act independently, without fear of restriction or punishment by the state or by other individuals in society, is known as what?
Freedom
Imagine that several protests are taking place in a nation's capital. Some of the protestors are most concerned about the government's attempts to take control of the press. These protestors are most worried about?
Freedom
Liberalism
Freest economic system
Why might a country want to engage in asymmetric federalism?
It can help a country smooth over ethnic or regional divisions.
Which of the followings are NOT some drawbacks or issues with using per capita gross domestic product as a measurement of a country's economic success?
It does not measure services produced, only goods produced.
Why have we seen an increase in devolution in the last twenty years?
It is a response to growing distruct of the size and distance of the state.
What are the effects of a country using plurality voting with single-member districts?
It is more likely to have two major parties.
Why does a state need legitimacy?
It makes it easier for the state to carry out its basic and necessary functions.
What makes the rational choice approach to studying politics different from other approaches?
It states with assumptions about the understandability of human behavior and builds predictions from there.
People after say that correlation does not imply causation. What do they mean?
Just because two things are related does not mean one cause the other.
Charistmatic
Kim II-Sung was able to establish a new regime in North Korea through the force of his personality and his individual successes.
Match the developed democratic region to the part of the world where most of its immigration in the twenty-first century originated.
Latin America - United States North Africa and the Middle East - Europe Asia - Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
Legislative
Lawmaking Unicameral or bicameral Ex: The National Diet of Japan creates and passes laws for the country.
Which branch of government debates national politics and also drafts and passes laws?
Legislature
This political-economic system is associated with capitalism and is most clearly seen in the United Kingdom and in countries that were formally British colonies.
Liberalism
Match each political economic system to its priority.
Liberalism - individual freedom Social democratic -collective equality Mercantilism - economic development
A state wants to restrict the amount of imports it recieves from other countries. Which of the following methods could they NOTE use?
Lowering interest rates
How has expansion challenged the European Union?
Many new member states are pooer than countries that joined the EU earlier.
Why did creating a monetary union undermine the European Union?
Member states were in very different economic circumstances, and the single currency forced them into sharing a common monetary policy.
Which of the following best summarizes the most recent developments in the way we study comparative politics?
Mixed-methods approaches to studying politics have become increasingly popular.
Countries that are secular, rational, materialistic, technological, and bureaucratic in orientation are often described as what?
Modern
Suppose in your area there is a private company that is the sole source for local cable and internet service. That company is an example of ______.
Monopoly
Societies are most often composed of ______.
Multiple ethnic identities
Tariff
Nigeria places an additional 25 percent tax on imported rice.
The Communist Party of Vietnam rules the country by co-opting opposition and delivering rewards to their loyal supporters. This is most consistent with which model of nondemocratic rule?
One-party
Imagine a country where there is a constitutional monarch who serves as the ceremonial head of state but does very little else. There is a bicameral legislature, though the upper house has very little authority. The lower house is composed of two larger parties, the leader of which serves as the prime minister. The prime minister and their cabinet hold a tremendous amount of power. This is an example of what system of government?
Parliamentary
European Parliament
Passes legislation and passes the budget.
Which model of nondemocratic rule is most likely to rely on charismatic and traditional forms of legitimacy?
Personal/monarchial rule
Nondemocratic rule that is based on the ability of the leader to use their charisma to generate authority is most consistent with which means of control?
Personality cult
The word liberal can be tricky in comparative politics because it is both an attitude and an ideology and it means different things depending on which way you are using the word. Sort the following into statements that describe liberalism an attitude or as an ideology.
Political Attitude: Tends to favor slow, evolutionary change Political Ideology: Favors a state with limited capacity and autonomy, places a high priority on individual freedom
At its most fundamental, what is democracy?
Political power residing with the people either directly or indirectly.
Which term refers to the ability to influence others or impose one's will on them.
Power
Why does it NOT matter that presidents are elected separately from the legislature in presidential systems?
Presidents can be removed from office by a simple vote of no confidence in the legislature.
The goods that are exchanged through the market are known as ______.
Property
This kind of electoral system involves voters voting for parties rather than for individual candidates. The seats in the district or legislature are awarded based on the percentage of the vote each party receives.
Proportional representation
Rational-legal
The Basic Laws of Sweden establish the functioning and rules of the Swedish regime.
Which of the following is an example of naitonalism without patriotism?
The Basque ethnic group fo France and Spain have tremendous pride in their heritage and wish to have their own state, which they currently do not have.
Which of the following is an example of nationalism without patriotism?
The Basque ethnic group of France and Spain have tremendous pride in their heritage and wish to have their own state, which they currently do not have.
Presidential systems tend to feature a more active judicial branch than do parliamentary systems.
True
Regimes that fall into the resource curse often rely on rent seeking to maintain control.
True
A country with which Gini index score would have perfectly equal wealth distribution?
0
Which of the followings the best examples of power?
1. A classmate persuades you to work with their study group to study for the next test. 2. The commissioner of a sport fines a player for using an illegal substance. 3. The legislature passes a law mandating that individuals wear seatbelts.
Imagine that the legislature of a country puts a new policy on a tax increase to a national vote. This is an example of ______. If, instead, the policy ended up on the ballot because a coalition of interest groups got enough citizens to sign a petition asking for the policy to be voted on, then we call it ______.
1. A referendum 2. An initiative
Coercion
1. A regime constantly surveils its citizens and then arrests those who do not fully support it. 2. Dissenters to the regime are jailed indefinitely without being tried in a court of law.
What is an illiberal regime?
1. A regime with some of the institutions of a democracy, though weak or compromised 2. A regime that can't be categorized as free but that can't really be categorized as unfree either
Examples of Private Goods
1. An iPad purchased from the apple store. 2. A toll road run by a corporation.
Which of the following characteristics make a country a "developed democracy"?
1. An institutionalized democratic regime 2. A high level of economic prosperity
The disciplines of political science and comparative politics have a long history and evolution. Place the following thinkers and developments in the field in order from the earliest to most recent.
1. Aristotle wrote about Greek regimes. 2. Machiavelli wrote The Prince. 3. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke wrote political treatises during the Enlightenment. 4. The behavioral revolution took place in political science.
In ______, the people had the ability to control the government by making governmental decisions directly, whereas Rome introduced the idea of ______, in which people elect officials to make decisions on their behalf.
1. Athens 2. Republicanism
Political ______ describe a person's views on the necessary pace and scope of change in the balance between freedom and equality, whereas political ______ are more about a person's views on the ideal relationship between freedom and equality and the role of institutions in a maintaining relationships.
1. Attitudes 2. Ideologies
Capacity
1. Botswana provides security for its citizens sot that they can carry out their daily economic activities.
What are the two kinds of basic rights that democratic constitutions tend to include?
1. Civil liberties 2. Civil rights
What are NOT the two kinds of basic rights that democratic constitutions tend to include?
1. Civil society 2. Civil law
Society
1. Civil society organizations have been coopted or destroyed by those in power. 2. The government outlaws any organized religion or other civic associations to minimize social interactions that take place out of the eyes of the state.
There are several forms of ______ a nondemocratic regime could use to bring potentially problematic groups into the regime, including clientelism and ______.
1. Co-optation 2. Corporatism
Nondemocratic regimes use a wide variety of tactics to enforce their control. Regimes may use ______, directly threatening the lives and livelihoods of individuals. Regimes may also use less violent means, such as ______, which makes individuals and groups dependent on the regime for certain rewards.
1. Coercian 2. Co-optation
A ______ is a geographic area an elected official represents. If only one elected official represents this area, it is a ______If more than one official represents the area, it is a ______.
1. Constituency 2. Single-member district 3. Multimember district
Weak States
1. Corruption among government officials is higher 2. Tax evasion is widespread
Choose all of the following that were advantages the modern state had over alternate forms of political organization.
1. Domestic stability led to greater economic prosperity for modern states. 2. Modern states encouraged economic development by permitting and respecting private property. 3. Greater safety allowed for domestic travel, which fostered a shared national identity. 4. Modern states pursued technological innovation in both the economic and military realms.
Why might elites perpetuate nondemocratic regimes?
1. Elites might fear sharing power if it means losing economic power. 2. Elites in control of natural resources can use those resources to subsidize their rule and insulate themselves from the popular will.
Postmodern
1. Environmental health 2. Personal identity
The Hutus and Tutsis of Rwanda consider themselves, and are considered by others, as members of two distinct groups of people. In the 1900s they engaged in violent conflict, including genocide. This is an example of ______ conflict. Compare that to the American Revolution, when colonists broke away from Great Britain to form their own politically sovereign state even without a strong preexisting communcal identity. This is an example of ______ conflict instead.
1. Ethnic 2. National
In ______, the modern state developed naturally over time, whereas in the rest of the world, ______.
1. Europe 2. It was imposed by force
The only directly elected body of the ______ is the ______, whose membership is roughly proportional to the population of each member state in the organization.
1. European Union 2. European Parliament
The two major powers of the ______ are to serve as the ______ and the head of the government.
1. Executive 2. Head of state
Ideology
1. Fascist 2. Social democrat
Which of the following statements about fundamentalism are correct?
1. Fundamentalism is not the same as religious conservatism 2. There are several religious groups that have fundamentalism elements within them
Which of the following statements about fundamentalism are NOT correct?
1. Fundamentalists want to retreat from politics and the political. 2. Fundamentalists believe that the secular state should be separate from the religious world.
Which following arguments are in FAVOR of regulating trade?
1. Generates revenue for the state. 2. Protect local jobs.
Read the following passage and select the examples of nations.
1. Germans 2. Kurds
Place these developments in the history of democracy in order from earliest to most recent.
1. Greek city-states such as Athens use direct democracy to determine state outcomes. 2. Rome establishes a representative democracy with a legislative body. 3. In England, the Magna Carta establishes the idea of due process. 4. The American constitution enshrines the ideas of separation of powers and civil liberties.
When we want to compare ______ figures across countries but also account for the buying power of income in different countries, we can use ______ adjustments.
1. Gross domestic product 2. Purchasing power parity
Strong states tend to have ______ capacity and ______ autonomy.
1. High 2. High
Which of the following statements about India are true?
1. India is made up of many different ethnic groups. 2. India is a democracy. 3. India has traditionalley given various nationalities within their borders certain amounts of autonomy.
Place the following in chronological order from the earliest developments of the state to the most recent.
1. Individual families and tribes work together as political units. 2. Complex political organizations emerge in the Middle East, featuring some modern features such as taxation and laws. 3. The Roman Empire collapses, leaving in its wake a fractured Western Europe with a complex and dangerous security environment. 4. Modern states emerge in Europe, featuring permanent armies, a respect for private property, and an emerging normal sovereignty. 5. Imperial expansion forces the modern state's form on territories in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
If prices are somewhat higher next year than they are this year, that is ______. If prices are lower next year than they are this year, that is ______. And if prices next month are a hundred times higher than they are this month, that is ______.
1. Inflation 2. Deflation 3. Hyperinflation
Co-optation
1. Influential elites are given lucrative roles in the regime. 2. A regime mandates that all issues related to agriculture be channeled through an official farmers association.
Countries voluntarily giving up some of their sovereignty to join a collective with other countries is known as ______, whereas countries giving up some of their sovereignty to lower levels of their own government is known as ______.
1. Integration 2. Devolution
Which of the following statements are true about social democracy?
1. It attempts to blend both liberal and communist economic systems. 2. It generally has a postive view of the role of the state.
Which of the following are TRUE about endogeneity?
1. It can make research in political science difficult. 2. It occurs when two different things might theoretically be causing each other to happen.
Which of the following are true about populism?
1. Populists tend to be anti-institutional. 2. Most populist movements are based on the idea that elites do not represent the will of the people.
How do critics believe immigration has affected developed democracies in the twenty-first century?
1. It has challenged notions of what it means socially and culturally to be from a given country. 2. Many native workers believe it has negatively impacted their employment and wages.
Which of the following statements are NOT true about social democracy?
1. It involves the state controlling corporations rather than letting them be private. 2. It tends to enact lower tax rates than does liberalism.
What are NOT the effects of a country using plurality voting with single-member districts?
1. It is more likely to have many smaller parties. 2. It is more likely to use judicial review. 3. It is more likely to be a semi-presidential system.
Which of the following statements are true about the semi-presidential system?
1. It is the least common of the three types of democratic systems. 2. It usually features both a president and a prime minister.
Which of the following statements are NOT true about the semi-presidential system?
1. It most often features a strong prime minister who is head of state and the government. 2. It tends to be the most efficient system.
Which of the following are some of the drawbacks or issues with using per capita gross domestic product as a measurement of a country's economic success?
1. It says nothing about how well off people in a society are in terms of health or education. 2. It does not measure how wealth is distributed in a society. 3. It does not measure happiness of a society.
Which of the following are NOT true about endogeneity?
1. It was part of the behavioral revolution. 2. It is a method for studying politics that involves using large numbers of cases and statistical methods.
Why did the European Union decide to start its own currency?
1. It would allow for one single measure of prices across the EU. 2. It would increase the EU's power in the international system by having the euro as a reserve currency. 3. It would create a shared sense of identity among EU members.
Which of the following statements are true about judicial review?
1. Judicial review allows courts to review the constitutionality of laws and actions of the government. 2. Many more countries have adopted judicial review in the past 75 years.
Which of the following statements are NOT true about judicial review?
1. Judicial review is rarely written into a constitution. 2. Abstract judicial review means that a court can only rule on laws and actions that have already been applied or taken place.
Which of the following institutions might bind an ethnicity together?
1. Language 2. History 3. Geographic location 4. Religion
As a political-economic system, ______ has two main tenets: individual political and economic freedom, and limited state power. Advocates for such a political-economic system believe that the economy should be allowed to do what it wishes, known as ______. This tends to create an economic system based on private property and free markets, also known as ______.
1. Liberalism 2. Laissez-faire 3. Capitalism
Order these political-economic systems from that which puts the most emphasis on individual liberty to that which puts the least emphasis on individual liberty.
1. Liberalism 2. Social Democracy 3. Communism
Which of the following are part of the definition of liberal democracy?
1. Liberty 2. Competition 3. Participation
______ are places where ______ and demand interact, with the outcome being an allocation of resources such as money, goods, or services.
1. Markets 2. Supply
Intergovernmental Organization
1. Member states can choose whether to follow the organization's resolutions. 2. Membership does not involve surrendering much sovereignty.
Suprenational System
1. Membership involves more integration between member states. 2. Sovereignty is shared between member states and the organization.
Head of government
1. More about direct policy management. 2. Deals with everyday tasks of running the state
Upper bicameral house
1. More likely to be able to veto the other chamber. 2. More likely to represent regional or state interests in federal systems
Which conclusions can your NOT draw from the following map of Africa and your knowledge of ethnic identity and nationalism?
1. Most of Africa belongs to a common ethnolinguistic group. 2. The area of Africa that is likely to have the least conflict is the central region running from Ghana east to Kenya and Somalia.
Examples of public goods
1. National defense provided by a government army. 2. K-12 education provided by a government-run school.
National identity is to ______ as citizenship is to ______.
1. Nationalism 2. Patriotism
Autonomy
1. North Korea continues to pursue the development of nuclear weapons despite efforts by other states to pressure them to stop. 2. China is able to pursue major hydropower projects despite objections from affected members of the public.
Put these systems of democratic governance in order from most common to least common.
1. Parliamentary 2. Presidential 3. Semi-presidential
Liberalism as a Political Ideology
1. Places a high priority on individual freedom. 2. favors a state with limited capacity and autonomy.
Which of the following are challenges comparative politics scholars face in trying to determine causality in their cases?
1. Political scientists have very little control over the things they study. 2. Random selection of cases is very difficult in political science. 3. There are often multiple causes for any single effect. 4. It can be difficult to gain access to the information we want about certain cases.
Whether we are looking at elections in a democracy or at people striving for control of a group project in class, fundamentally we are looking at ______ as groups or individuals struggling to accrue more ______.
1. Politics 2. Power
What are some of the ways postmodern values in developed democracies differ from modern values?
1. Postmodern values are less focused on material goods. 2. Modern values emphasize economic growth more than environmental concerns. 3. Postmodern values focus more on quality of life issues.
If a central bank was worried that inflation was running too high, what steps might it NOT take?
1. Print more currency. 2. Lower interest rates.
Which of the following arguments are AGAINST regulating trade?
1. Promotes competition. 2. Keeps the cost of goods low.
Which of the following are examples of social expenditure?
1. Public schools 2. Unemployment assistance to those without jobs 3. State-subsidized health care
A state wants to restrict the amount of imports it recieves from other countries. Which of the following methods could they use?
1. Quotas 2. Tariffs 3. Nontariff Barriers
In the modern world, legitimacy is most often based on the ______ model. This is often more stable than other forms of legitmacy and in particular is more stable than ______ legitimacy, which often struggles to outlast an individual leader.
1. Rational-legal 2. Charismatic
What does legitimacy confer on a state?
1. Reciprocal responsibility; legitimacy makes citizens feel like they owe that state in return for the state's provision of security. 2. Power; people defer to the actions of a state if they consider it legitimate. 3. Authority; people agree that a state can take a certain action.
Which of the following policies are elements of economic liberalization?
1. Reducing regulation 2. Privatizing public goods 3. Cutting taxes
Every four years, the United States votes for a president. The United States has a democratic ______. The current ______ in the United States is led by President Donald Trump.
1. Regime 2. Government
International relations
1. Rival countries may covertly work to destabilize democratic regimes. 2. A regionally important state gives funds to a like-minded country's authoritarian leaders to keep them in power.
Strong States
1. Rules are generally respected, and the rule breaking is punished 2. Citizens feel like their territory is well defended
Which of the following are characteristics of institutions?
1. Self-perpetuating 2. Vary from country to country 3. Influence political outcomes
Ethnicities are at their core ______ rather than ______ identities.
1. Social 2. Political
Modernization
1. Social and economic disruption of traditional arrangements can lead to the rise of nondemocratic regimes for the sake of restoring stability. 2. Rapid urbanization in a democracy creates unrest and allows the military to launch a successful coup.
______ is a political ideology that is associated with higher levels of taxation and regulation to provide services such as universal health care and maternal leave. This ideology has historically been less popular in places like ______, though its popularity has been on the rise among the left.
1. Social democracy 2. the United States
Choose all of the following statements about sovereignty that are correct.
1. Sovereignty can refer to a state's capacity to ensure stability and security for its people. 2. Sovereignty can refer to a state's autonomy from external forces such as the desires of neighboring countries.
Which of the following are ways in which developed democracies differ?
1. Specific freedoms and civil liberties that are protected 2. Nature of the executive and legislature 3. electoral systems in use 4. Level of public participation in elections
Head of state
1. Symbolizes and represents the people. 2. Often a ceremonial role.
Most countries bring in the bulk of their revenue through ______ and spend that money on ______ that make up the welfare state.
1. Taxes 2. Social expenditures
Modern
1. Technological progress 2. Economic development
Lower bicameral house
1. Tend to have shorter terms in office.
Which of the following issues have led some to describe the European Union as having a "democracy deficit"?
1. The EU lacks many avenues of accountability to voters. 2. The single currency union has removed the ability of individual countries to freely set their own monetary policy. 3. Many see the EU as driven by bureaucrats.
Regime
1. The Iranian constitution was created in 1979 after the overthrow of the Shah. 2. Mexico is a democracy, featuring regular elections of the president and the legislature.
Which of the following would be examples of devolution?
1. The United Kingdom allows Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales to have their own parliaments. 2. The United States sends money to its states to let them decide how they want to run health care and welfare programs.
Formal institutions
1. The United States Supreme Court 2. The Guatemalan police force
Which of the following events occurred after the formation of the modern state in Europe?
1. The development of ethnic identities in Europe. 2. The reemergence of citizenship as an obligation of the state. 3. The rise of nationalism as a political force.
What makes tolitarianism different from authoritarianism?
1. The goal of a totalitarian regime is to transform the institutions of society, not just control political life. 2. All totalitarian regimes are a form of authoritarian regime, but not all authoritarian regimes are totalitarian.
Which conclusions can you draw from the following map of Africa and your knowledge of ethnic identity and nationalism?
1. The presence of so many ethnolinguistic groups crossing state borders likely leads to elevated levels of conflict. 2. Conflicts are more likely to occur in the areas where ethnolinguistic groups meet.
Why does it matter that presidents are elected separately from the legislature in presidential systems?
1. The president is an important national symbol because they are both head of state and head of the government. 2. Presidents have popular legitimacy by being directly elected by the people. 3. The president is not directly beholden to the legislature, as prime ministers often are.
Which of the following is true of parliamentary systems?
1. The prime minister is the head of government. 2. Prime ministers and cabinet members come from the legislature.
Developed democracies tend to derive more of their economic activity from ______ than from ______ and industry.
1. The service sector 2. Agriculture
Which of the following statements are NOT correct about nation-states?
1. There are very few nation-states in the world today. 2. The concept of the nation-state first emerged in Africa.
Which of the following findings can we conclude from the table? (green table)
1. There does seem to be some positive correlation between a country's wealth and its human development ranking. 2. Life expectancy and education attainment rankings can differ greatly within the same country.
"Liberalism has been the dominant political-economic system of the twenty-first century." Which of the following are objections one could raise to that statement?
1. There has been substantial resistance to liberalization since the Great Recession. 2. Liberalization mostly occurred from 2000 to 2005 and has been stagnant, or even has declined, since. 3. Most industrialized countries still have a large portion of their budget devoted to social expenditures.
If one wanted to make the case that the European Union has been a success, which arguments or pieces of evidence might one choose to use?
1. There has not been a European-wide war since World War II. 2. Europe is among the wealthiest regions in the world.
Which of the following are NOT true of parliamentary systems?
1. These systems tend to have more checks and balances than do presidential systems. 2. The prime minister is directly elected by the population.
What roles do political parties NOTE serve in democracies?
1. They act as head of state, fulfilling ceremonial functions. 2. They conduct judicial review of important laws and acts.
What roles do political parties serve in democracies?
1. They allow the public to hold politicians accountable. 2. They help establish the means by which the majority can rule.
Which of the following statements are correct about nation-states?
1. They encompass a sovereign state that represents a single dominant nation. 2. The idea of the nation-state is a modern one.
Elites
1. Those who benefit from the wealth of a country may not want to surrender control to a democratic regime. 2. Those in a country whose wealth depends on the country's diamond mines use that wealth to buy off support and keep themselves in power.
Which of the following are reasons a state might be involved in its economy?
1. To control the level of inflation 2. To provide public goods 3. To enforce property rights 4. To regulate the market to protect consumers
A ______ state like Japan or France concentrates power at the national level and gives less power to regional bodies within the country. In ______ states like India and Canada, sub national territories such as states and provinces within the country have more control over more powers of lawmaking and security.
1. Unitary 2. Federal
Which of the following countries would be considered developed democracies?
1. United States 2. Australia 3. France
Sellers
1. Want to produce goods that will be in demand. 2. Will lose money if they price their goods too high and there is insufficient demand.
Advantages of Federal Systems
1. Work as a check on the power of the central government 2. Helps to better represent local interests by giving them more authority
Government
1. Xi Jinping is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China.
Non Potential Characteristics of nondemocratic regime
1. high degree of individual freedom 2. public having major role in selecting leaders
Potential Characteristics of nondemocratic regimes
1. highly institutionalized 2. nonideological 3. highly ideological 4. no institutionalized rules and norms for political activity
Corporatism
1. uses organized groups to co-opt the public 2. gives the public limited say in the regime through approved organizational channels 3. approves a single labor union to represent all labor in the country
Bicameral legislatures have how many houses?
2
One-party
A regime in which a single political organization monopolizes politics. Ex: In China, all power flows through the Communist Party of China.
Theocracy
A regime in which rule is based on appeals to religious and divine approval Ex: The leader of Iran is both the spiritual and secular head of the regime.
What is a parastatal?
A specific industry partially or fully owned by the state.
Society
A strong network of organizations outside the state can help push for democratization.
Communism
A total state ownership of means of production
If a prime minister loses the support of their own party in the legislature, they might be subject to ______.
A vote of no confidence
Purchasing power parity
An adjustment to economic data to account for differences in cost of living and currency values.
What is a correlation?
An apparent association between certain factors or variable.
PPP
An attempt to estimate the buying power of income in each country by comparing similar costs.
What is fundamentalism?
An ideology that seeks to make faith the sovereign authority
Which of the followings are NOT the best examples of power?
An individual decides to donate money to a local charity.
Constitutional Court (Judicial)
Determines the constitutionality of laws and acts. Judicial review (abstract and concrete) Ex: In Germany, the Federal Constitutionality Court is the only group that can declare statutes unconstitutional under Germany's Basic Law.
Elites
Distribution of wealth can either lead to or hinder democratization.
Other protestors are demanding a higher minimum wage. These protestors are most worried about?
Equality
Which of the following are NOT part of the definition of liberal democracy?
Equality
French, Laotian, Hutu, Gujarati, and Latino are all examples of what concept?
Ethnicity
The rise of the modern state first took place on which continent?
Europe
The ______ is the most tightly integrated example of a supranational system in the world, where nearly 30 countries in one geographic region have given up some of their sovereignty to their collective organization.
European Union
What does the "rule of law" mean?
Everyone is subject to the law regardless of their wealth or government rank.
Which branch of government carries out the laws and policies of a state?
Executive
Social
Extreme heterogeneity and polarization between ethnic groups leads to conflict.
Which of the following is true about a state but not necessarily about a regime or a government?
Extremely durable and highly institutionalized
Advocates of a laissez-faire economy would welcome regulations by the state that would help ensure greater fairness and equality.
False
Because they must resort to coercion and co-optation, nondemocratic regimes are inherently unstable and illegitimate.
False
Countries that rate high on having secular-rational values usually also rate high on having survival values.
False
Devolution has rarely occurred in recent years.
False
Illiberal regimes have the least democratic tendencies of authoritarian regimes.
False
Multi-causality makes is easier for comparativists to study politics.
False
Populism leads to more democracy because of its focus on the people taking back control of the state.
False
Several countries form a new trade organization and agree to give legal authority over trade disputes to that organization. This is an example of devolution.
False
The European Union has been a democratic project driven by the will of the public rather than elites.
False
The Gini index is a measure of the wealth of a country.
False
The price of goods dropping year after year is a good thing for an economy.
False
Two major parties are more likely to form under proportional representation than single-member districts.
False
When Liberal Party politician Justin Trudeau was elected prime minister of Canada, replaced the previous Conservative Party prime minister, his election began a new regime in Canada.
False
When a country elects a new party to power we say that is has changed its "regime".
False
When a country elects a new party to power we say that it has changed its "regime".
False
When we discuss "markets" in comparative politics, we are referring to physical locations where buyers and sellers interact.
False
This type of power arrangement devolves certain powers from the central government to regional and/or local bodies.
Federalism
Nontariff regulatory barrier
France requires that all imported clothin be produced in factories that adhere to French labor and environmental laws.
How might freedom and equality be in tension with one another?
Government attempts to ensure greater equality may come at the expense of the freedom of individual citizens.
What is civil society?
Groups such as religious and fraternal organizations that help define and advance their interests.
Executive
Head of state/head of government. Parliamentary, presidential, and semi presidential systems. Term length may be fixed (president) or not (prime minister) Ex: The president of the United States is responsible for being both head of state and head of government.
Taxation in European developed democracies tends to be ______ than in developed democracies elsewhere.
Higher
What was created to help measure the overall well-being of a population, including economic, educational, and health dimensions?
Human development
In the years between the world wars, prices on basic goods in Germany soared. For example, the price of bread rose from 160 marks to over 200 billion marks for a single loaf within a year. This is an example of what?
Hyperinflation
Anarchism, liberalism, and social democracy are all examples of political ______.
Ideologies
Modernization
Improvements in education and the weakening of traditional institutions lead to democratization.
Advantages of Unitary Systems
Improves state efficiency by eliminating extra layers of authority
Select the parts of the passage that discusses government of Germany.
In the 1860s and 1870s, the Kingdom of Prussia unified the various Germanic states to create a single Germanic empire. Since that time, Germany has been through much domestic upheaval, including the creation of several constitutions and the nation's experience of racism under the NAZIS. The Basic Law, created in 1949, has endured since as the guiding principles of German governance. ANGELA MERKEL is currently the chancellor of Germany and has served in that role since 2005.
How might increased immigration be useful to countries with strong welfare states?
Increased immigration helps compensate for declining birthrates and reinforces the tax base.
If a variable is not affected by changes in other variables, it is the ______ variable.
Independent
When hypothesizing about the cause of something, we should select cases based on the ______ variable and begin our analysis from there.
Independent
Which of the following statemetns about India are NOT true?
India was a part of the French empire until independence in 1776.
Gas, bread, milk, and other goods cost more today than they did in the 1980s. This is an example of what concept?
Inflation
Which of the following best describes the development of the European Union?
Integration has been a slow process, taking place over decades.
The story and characters in the Harry Potter novels are an example of what kind of property?
Intellectual
Can include archival research or interviews.
Qualitative
Tend to be narrow in range but also more in-depth.
Qualitative
More likely to rely on deductive reasoning.
Quantitative
Use more statistical methods to understand politics.
Quantitative
Place the following political attitudes on the spectrum of left to right.
Radicals - liberals - conservatives - reactionaries
If a central back was worried that inflation was running too high, what steps might it take?
Raise interest rates.
Juan believes that the current regime in his state is worse than how things used to be. He wishes to return to a previous regime and restore it to its place in control of the state. Juan's political attitude can best be described as what?
Reactionary
Which of the following policies are NOT elements of economic liberalization?
Reducing property rights
One interaction governments may have with the economy is putting in place ______ to set boundaries on certain economic activities.
Regulations
Personal
Rule by a single person, resting on the idea that one individual alone is fit to rule. Ex: Brunei is ruled by a hereditary sultanate, making it one of the last absolute monarchies in the world.
Military
Rule by the armed forces of a state. Ex: In Thailand, the regime is run by the armed forces. A former general serves as the major source of power in the country.
EU Court of Justice
Rules on conflicts between member states and EU laws.
Buyers
Seek to obtain the best goods at the lowest prices.
The idea that there should be multiple branches of government and that they should have ways of keeping each other in check is known as what?
Separation of powers
European Council
Sets the general direction of the EU.
How have recent economic trends in developed democracies affected the welfare state?
Slow economic growth has made it harder to pay for growing social expenditures.
In developed democracies, economic growth has been ______ in the past decade than in the twenty years prior.
Slower
The fundamental unit of analysis in comparative politics is the ______. Within a territory, this is the durable set of institutions that maintains a monopoly on the use of violence.
State
More institutionalized —> Less institutionalized
State - Regime - Government
Mercantilism
Strongest emphasis on the economic health of the state itself.
Clientelism
Targets individuals by offering them specific benefits to gain their support
Which of the following are NOT examples of social expenditure?
Tax breaks for new businesses
What is a consequence of the shift in many developed democracies to a postindustrial economy?
Technological change has the ability to marginalize workers who lack education and training.
Which of the following are NOT characteristics of institutions?
Temporary
Traditional
The House of Bolkiah, the ruling house of Brunei, has ruled in various forms for hundreds of years.
Informal institutions
The United Kingdom's written constitution
Quota
The United States government limits imports on steel from China to 100,000 tons.
What does it mean to say that developed democracies are "postindustrial"?
The bulk of the economy is engaged in services rather than the creation of tangible goods.
What do mercantilist systems most emphasize?
The economic and political well-being of the state.
What is the most important factor in shaping the nature of a democracy's electoral system?
The electoral rules a country uses.
Select the bolder passages that refer to the United Kingdom's autonomy.
The past decade has been tumultuous for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In 2016 voters supported a referendum to leave the European Union. One of the main arguments for doing so was that the EU HAD TOO MUCH SAY in the daily lives of Britons. Another argument was that the United Kingdom was no longer able to carry out some of its essential functions because of its EU membership.
What is political economy?
The relationship between politics and economics.
What is a social expenditure?
The state's provision of a public benefit.
Which is gross domestic product (GDP)?
The total value of all goods and services produced by a country in a year.
An integrated set of hypotheses, assumptions, and facts taken together are known as what?
Theory
"Liberalism has been the dominant political-economic system of the twenty-first century." Which of the following are NOT objections one could raise to that statement?
There a more communist economies than liberal economies in the world today.
Why do kleptocracies rely more on coercion than do other clientelist regimes?
They are more likely to run out of resources with which to buy support.
The North Korean regime not only controls politics in the country but also seeks to control the entirety of society, the economy, and private interactions of its citizens. Because of this desire to control these elements, North Korea is an example of a ______ regime.
Totalitarian
A group can have an ethnic identity without it leading to a national identity.
True
Authoritarian or nondemocratic regimes represent a wide array of systems and, unlike democratic regimes, often bear little resemblance to one another.
True
Communism has a tendency towards authoritarianism.
True
Current evidence shows that even before the emergence of modern forms of political organization, humans lived in family and tribal groupings.
True
Developed democracies share a commitment to capitalism but with very different levels of wealth and income inequality.
True
Most developed democracies use proportional representation.
True
Nondemocratic regimes have declined as a percentage of world governments over the past 40 years.
True
One critique of modernization theory was that is privileged the West's view of progress and development.
True
Political scientists have begun to emphasize the relevance of their work in empowering lives of people and political decision makers.
True
Which of the following statements best summarizes our current understanding of the relationship between violence and the emergence of early states?
Waves of violent conflict, particularly in places with dense urbanized populations, led to the development of the political state.
At the most fundamental level, what divides one ethnicity from another?
When members of an ethnicity acknowledge and are acknowledged by outsiders as belonging to a distinct group.
Select the part of the passage that shows where selection bias occurred.
You decide to study what determines which party a person votes for in an election. You think there could be a number of factors, including their income, their genders their race, their occupation, and their age. To study this, you call up the elections office and ask for the list of REGISTERED VOTERS FOR ONE OF THE MAIN PARTIES. You then call that list in order to conduct a survey, asking each votes about each of the factors that you think might affect vote choice.
