Intro to Comparative Politics Unit 1 Exam

In the United States, a member of cabinet is referred to by the title "secretary." What is the most common title for a member of cabinet in the United Kingdom?

"Minister"

In the United States, the chief executive along with the cabinet and other top political appointees is referred to as "an administration." What is this same group of people called in the United Kingdom?

"a government"

The "gender pay gap" refers to how much less women earn than men in the workplace. How big is the gender pay gap in Sweden?

1-5%

What is the representation threshold for getting members elected to the Riksdag?

4%

Which of the following would NOT be considered an issue of social policy in the United Kingdom?

Abortion rights

What are postmaterial issues?

political issues that don't directly have to do with people's financial wellbeing

Which of the following is NOT a postmaterial issue?

public university tuition funding

Which of the following is NOT a free or affordable public service provided by the state in Sweden?

sick pay, unemployment pay, and retirement pay

Which of the following is NOT associated with the active industrial policies of the German Lander?

All of the above Incentives to encourage local banks to provide low-interest loans to and take ownership stakes in local businesses. Incentives to encourage local businesses to cooperate rather than compete. The Lander itself taking an ownership stake in important local companies. Much less offshoring of German manufacturing jobs than in the liberal countries.

Which of the following is true regarding Germany's electoral system?

All of the above It ensures that the substantial majority of German voters are represented both geographically and ideologically. It has a five-percent threshold to guard against extreme fragmentation of the party system. The two largest parties win most of the electoral districts. A party that wins 10% of the vote will win at least 10% of the seats in the Bundestag.

What are the consequences of the German Christian Democrats' shift to the ideological center under Angela Merkel?

All of the listed answers are consequences The Christian democrats focus on governing competence rather than ideological issues. The declining vote share of the social democrats. The rise of the Alternative for Germany

The likely consequences of Brexit include:

All of these answers are likely. The reunification of ireland lingering economic recession the independence of Scotland

How are members of the Bundesrat chosen?

Appointed by the Lander governments

From 1950 to 1975, the Swedish government pursued what was known as a "solidaristic wage policy." Which of the following is NOT true about this policy?

Because everyone made the same amount of money no matter how hard they worked, the solidaristic wage policy led to dramatic declines in productivity among Swedish workers

Markets are justly lauded as democratic institutions for deciding societal priorities regarding what gets made and who gets to have it. Why are they also justly criticized as not entirely democratic?

Because one's voice in the market depends on how much money one has.

Why have the Liberal Democrats had such difficulty gaining representation in Parliament?

British constituencies are single member districts.

What group is specially tasked with approving all national laws that affect the Lander

Bundesrat

What is the basis of the German welfare state philosophy?

Catholic Social Thought

Which of the following help explain how Sweden has managed to maintain economic growth, an expansive welfare state, and low unemployment?

Centralized bargaining

Which German party or parties formed the government for most of the post-WWII period?

Christian Democratic Party and Free Democratic Party

What economic problem did the Hartz Reforms seek to address?

High unemployment rates

At what level is German bargaining structured?

Industry-level

Which of Britain's three major parties has traditionally advocated policies furthest to the left?

Labour Party

From left to right, how are Britain's three major parties currently arranged on the political spectrum?

Labour Party-Liberal Democratic Party-Conservative Party

Which of the following correctly orders the named Swedish parties from Green to TAN?

Left party, Christian Democrats, Sweden Democrats

From left to right, how are Germany's six major parties currently arranged on the political spectrum?

Left party, Social Democratic Party, Green party, Christian Democrats, Free Democrats, Alternative for Germany

From left to right, how are Sweden's eight major parties currently arranged?

Left party, social democratic party, green party, center party, Christian democrats, liberal party, moderate party, Sweden democrats

Which of the following best describes gasoline taxes in Germany?

MUCH higher than in Sweden

What accounts for the much higher percentage of women elected to the Riksdag than to the U.S. Congress?

Party-list proportional representation allows parties to demonstrate their commitment to gender equality by naming women as every other one of their candidates.

who is more likely to be able to implement their preferred policies, Prime Ministers or presidents?

Prime ministers, because they are guaranteed to have a legislative majority.

How does the Scottish National Party win seats in the British Parliament even though it wins only a low percentage of votes?

SNP voters are concentrated in only a few constituencies.

Why did Angela Merkel bring marriage equality tp a vote in the Bundestag in 2017?

She knew that marriage equality would be a demand of the Greens in coalition talks after the upcoming elections, and she wanted to avoid that roadblock to forming a government

Margaret Thatcher accomplished many goals of the UK's liberals while in office. Which of the following was one of them?

She led a thoroughgoing campaign of privatization and deregulation.

Which Swedish party or parties are currently in government?

Social Democratic Party and Green Party

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of German's Christian Democratic Welfare state?

State-run subsidized childcare centers in every neighborhood

The following is what type of unemployment? When location or skills of unemployed workers do not match available jobs.

Structural

Which of the following statements about bicameralism is true?

The British Parliament is not considered bicameral because although the members of the House of Lords and House of Commons are selected differently, the house of Commons has much more power than the House of lords.

Which party has historically been the party of the right in the United Kingdom?

The Conservative Party, also known as the Tories

What is the biggest difference between the U.S. and U.K. political institutions?

The UK is parliamentary and the US has a presidential system

In the Christian Democratic welfare state, what institution is relied upon to provide welfare for citizens?

The family

Which of the following has led to an informal solidaristic wage policy in Germany?

The industry structure of bargaining

How is it that the Social Democrats remain the dominant force in Swedish politics today?

The other parties know that their voters prefer Social Democratic government to the feasible alternatives

Why do so many more women hold office in the Bundestag than in the US congress?

The party-list component of MMP means that greener parties can demonstrate their commitment to gender equality by putting equal numbers of women and men on their lists, and other parties put many women remain competitive on the issue

What is proportional representation (PR)?

The share of seats won by each party is equal to the share of votes it received

Subsidiarity refers to what?

The smallest social unit that can handle the problem, should handle the problem.

What new circumstances led to the writing of the Rerum Novarum

The spread of industrialization across Europe

What is the main difference between the districts of the U.S. House of Reps and the constituencies of the British house of commons?

There really is no important differences.

When the Moderate-led coalition of "bourgeois" parties governed Sweden from 2006 to 2014, how did they address the issue of absenteeism among workers on the Friday's leading into three-day holiday weekends?

They required people to be absent from work for two days before becoming eligible for sick leave

Why was the Brexit referendum put on the ballot in 2015?

To prevent the traditional hierarchical parternalist wing of the Conservative Party from leaving the party.

What are the two wings of the Conservative Party?

Traditional hierarchical paternalist and liberal

Which terms best describe the social democratic welfare state in Sweden?

Universalistic and Comprehensive

How have the Christian Democrats responded to the erosion of universal breadwinner wages by the Hartz Reforms?

With "care cash" a per child transfer payment to stay-at-home mothers

What are forms of German co-determination?

Workers making day-to-day shop floor decisions through WORK COUNCILS and have reserved seats on corporate boards of directors

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of Sweden's political institutions?

federal

Which of the following is NOT part of Sweden's active labor market policy?

free college tuition and stipends for students

Which of the following statements about interest rates is true?

low interest rates tend to lead to currency devaluation, in turn making imports harder to buy and exports easier to sell