POSC 015: Chapter 2

Place the following in chronological order from the earliest developments of the state to the most recent.

1.) Individual tribes and families work together 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 norm of sovereignty 5.) Imperial expansion forces the modern state's form on territories in Asia, Africa, and the Americas

Sort the following into advantages of federal systems and unitary systems.

Advantages of Federal Systems: helps to better represent local interests by giving them more authority works as a check on the power of the central government Advantages of Unitary Systems: improves state efficiency by eliminating extra layers of authority

Identify whether each situation below illustrates the concept of autonomy or capacity in action.

Botswana provides security for its citizens so that they can carry out their daily economic activities: capacity North Korea continues to pursue the development of nuclear weapons despite efforts by other states to pressure them to stop: autonomy China is able to pursue major hydropower projects despite objections from affected members of the public: autonomy Japan is able to rebuild its power grid in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster: capacity

Click on the name of the country that has the most uneven levels of economic development, according to the Fragile States Index.

Central African Republic

Choose all of the following that were advantages the modern state had over alternate forms of political organization.

Correct answer(s): Domestic stability led to greater economic prosperity for modern states. Modern states encouraged economic development by permitting and respecting private property. Greater safety allowed for more domestic travel, which fostered a shared national identity. Modern states pursued technological innovation in both the economic and military realms.

Choose all of the following statements about sovereignty that are correct.

Correct answer(s): Sovereignty can refer to a state's autonomy from external forces such as the desires of neighboring countries. Sovereignty can refer to a state's capacity to ensure stability and security for its people. Incorrect answer(s): Sovereignty can refer to the institutions of the state being accepted and recognized as right and proper by the public. Sovereignty is absolute and is always respected by other countries.

What does legitimacy confer on a state?

Correct answer(s): reciprocal responsibility; Legitimacy makes citizens feel like they owe the state in return for the state's provision of security. power; People defer to the actions of a state if they consider it legitimate. authority; People agree that a state can take a certain action. Incorrect answer(s): freedom and equality; Legitimacy ensures that citizens of a state are treated fairly by the state.

In __________, the modern state developed naturally over time, whereas in the rest of the world, _________.

Europe, it was imposed by force

Devolution has rarely occurred in recent years.

False

When Liberal Party politician Justin Trudeau was elected prime minister of Canada, replacing 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 it has changed its "regime."

False

Drag the two descriptors to the box in the matrix below where each belongs.

High Capacity & High Autonomy: strongest possible state Low Capacity & Low Autonomy: weakest possible state

Why might a country want to engage in asymmetric federalism?

It can help a country smooth over ethnic or regional divisions

Select the bolded part(s) of the passage that discusses the government of Germany.

Nazis, Angela Markel

Current evidence shows that even before the emergence of modern forms of political organization, humans lived in family and tribal groupings.

True

Match each concept to the example(s) of it.

Xi Jinping is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China: government Mexico is a democracy, featuring regular elections of the president and the legislature: regime In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service collects taxes: state The police force in India helps ensure domestic tranquility: state The Iranian constitution was created in 1979 after the overthrow of the Shah: regime

Which of the following is true about a state but not necessarily about a regime or a government?

extremely durable and highly institutionalized

In a ____________ state, the structures of the state have largely broken down, and security and order are fleeting and hard to come by.

failed

This type of power arrangement devolves certain powers from the central government to regional and/or local bodies.

federalism

Strong states tend to have ________ capacity and ________ autonomy

high, high

Drag the labels to their appropriate spots on the diagram.

(Top to bottom): government, regime, state

In the following paragraph, select the bolded passages that refer to the United Kingdom's autonomy.

EU had too much to say

The rise of the modern state first took place on which continent?

Europe

Sort the following into characteristics of strong states and weak states.

Strong States: Rules are generally respected, and rule breaking is punished. Citizens feel like their territory is well defended. Weak States: Tax evasion is widespread. Corruption among government officials is higher.

Match each type of legitimacy to its correct example.

The House of Bolkiah, the ruling house of Brunei, has ruled in various forms for hundreds of years: traditional Kim Il-sung was able to establish a new regime in North Korea through the force of his personality and his individual successes: charismatic The Basic Laws of Sweden establish the functioning and rules of the Swedish regime: rational-legal

The capacity and autonomy that a state possesses may differ depending on which issue or topic one is looking at.

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 development of a political state

Which of the following best describes asymmetric federalism?

a system in which power is divided between a central and regional bodies, but power is distributed unevenly among those regions

Canada has a large French-Canadian minority population, much of which lives in the province of Quebec. As such, the Canadian government has special provisions for Quebec, including extra guaranteed seats on the Supreme Court. This is an example of ________.

asymmetric federalism

The ability of a state to carry out the basic tasks of providing security and reconciling freedom with equality is known as what?

capacity

Match the coercion or consensus models of political organization to each of the following descriptions.

may have been more likely to lead to democratic rule: consensus an individual ruler imposing authority and power: coercion based on the idea of security through cooperation: consensus security based on the idea of domination: coercion

In the modern world, legitimacy is most often based on the ________ model. This is often more stable than other forms of legitimacy and in particular is more stable than _________ legitimacy, which often struggles to outlast an individual leader.

rational-legal, charismatic

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 Joe Biden.

regime, government

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

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, subnational territories such as states and provinces within the country have control over more powers of lawmaking and security.

unitary, federal