Pol230 - Chap. 3 Part 1 Study Guide

2. The American Civil War was largely fought for reasons that involved __________.

*a. sectionalism

17. A process of devolution involves __________.

*a. shifting some powers from central government to component units

4. Which of the following would demonstrate institutionalized power?

*a. the U.S. Supreme Court striking down a law as unconstitutional

12. Francis Fukuyama would likely agree with which of the following statements regarding democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq?

*b. America's effort to democratize these countries has been met with very limited success because it essentially skipped over the prerequisites of a strong state and rule of law.

21. As it concerns the unitary versus federal classification of states, which country has a uniquely in-between situation, with some unitary aspects and notable decentralization?

*b. China

25. Which of the following would highlight a critical downside of a federal system?

*b. a component state unable to raise sufficient funds to provide certain government services at the local level

7. Almost all countries today are republics; this includes constitutional monarchies, due to the fact that royal families in constitutional monarchies __________.

*b. are only figureheads

11. Authoritarian systems that are often in the category of failed states deliberately confuse rule of law with "rule by law," which essentially means that __________.

*b. authorities use the law to achieve their ends, but are themselves above the law

14. First-order civil divisions in the United States are represented by __________.

*b. states

If you read reports from a particular country that indicate how easily people can bribe police officers, prosecutors, and judges to get themselves out of legal trouble, this would most likely suggest the existence of what kind of state?

*b. weak

6. George Washington retired after two terms. No other president tried to serve longer, until __________.

*c. Franklin Roosevelt

20. Which of the following is true of Japan's assembly?

*c. It is unicameral.

Consistent with the ideas of Francis Fukuyama, the establishment of democracy in a given country that was not ready for it is most likely to end up with what outcome?

*c. a fragile democracy followed by government collapse

15. Federalism is the balancing of power between a nation's central government and __________.

*c. its autonomous subdivisions

23. At the heart of the concept of a federal system is __________.

*c. the existence of component states with some powers that cannot be easily overridden by the central government

3. Political institutions involve the __________ of a government.

*c. working structures

24. Why have U.S. states been called laboratories of democracy?

*d. States can experiment with new programs, which, if successful, can be copied nationwide.

8. A state that is able to control and tax its entire territory would be considered __________.

*d. effective

19. Which of the following would highlight a critical downside of a unitary system?

*d. local officials unable to make basic decisions without the express consent of the central government

The process of decentralization in France was intended to make the country less __________.

*d. unitary

Weak states are characterized by __________.

*b. the penetration of crime into politics

5. Imagine that you are looking at a country's main political institutions to find out whether they meet a standard of good, effective governance. Which of the following characteristics would signify that they fail to meet this standard?

*a. They are inflexible and have not evolved.

1. Political institutions represent established and durable patterns of __________ in a country.

*a. authority

22. The components of a federal system are typically represented __________.

*a. in the upper chamber of the national legislature

16. Which of the following is often the basis for center-periphery tensions?

*a. regionalism