Political Science First Midterm
According to Locke, reason tells us we should not harm another man's:
Health, liberty, life, and possessions.
Which political philosopher does Locke refer to when describing the "duties [men] owe one another"?
Hooker.
For Stanton, how had the lack of the right to vote particularly harmed women, according to the Declaration of Sentiments?
None of these.
Which of the following types of groups has seen an increase in membership since the 1960s, according to Putnam?
None of these.
Which phrase might Stanton characterize the authors of the Declaration as using to describe men in general, in terms of the way men have treated women over history?
None of these.
Machiavelli asserted that The Prince can best lead by applying the finest traits associated with these two members of the animal kingdom.
Fox and lion.
A __________ approach seeks to determine how one "ought" to do something.
Normative.
By contrast with Plato, Aristotle pursued what kind of approach to the major questions of his day?
One that was more pragmatic, empirical and scientific.
Which of the following is the subfield of political science that focuses on the ideas and debates concerning important political questions?
Political theory.
The ancient political theory of Plato and Aristotle often focused on an understanding of justice to help explain politics, whereas the modern political theory of Machiavelli and Hobbes focuses on the concept of ______.
Power.
Marx identified this class as most likely to lead the Communist Revolution:
Proletariat.
Marx used the term "bourgeoisie" to refer to the:
Property-owning class.
It is in part because of Plato's warnings against democracy that the word democracy does not appear in the U.S. Constitution. Instead, Madison refers to the American system of government as a(an):
Republic.
Which of the following is NOT one of the three parts of the ideal republic/human soul as described by Plato in his Republic?
Rulers/power-seeking.
Which, for Elizabeth Cady Stanton, best summarizes the civic state of a married woman, according to her Declaration of Sentiments?
She is under the control of her husband in every way and has nothing to call her own.
This type of theory most closely linked with Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau typically provides an observation on human nature, an observation on problems that arise because of a lack of government, and recommends a best form of government.
Social contract theory
Who was the Greek philosopher sentenced to death by the Greek Senate for corrupting the youth and impiety?
Socrates
Which group of philosophers viewed "justice" or "truth" as social conventions?
Sophists
The ____________ problem of making political science scientifically valid as a discipline can be seen when we consider the limited number of cases available for political analysis.
Statistical
According to Machiavelli, why should a prince seek to be feared, but not hated?
Because hatred puts people in an emotional state and it makes it harder for the prince to control them as they are no longer motivated by self-interest
Why did Socrates refuse to flee his jail cell and his pending execution when offered an opportunity by his jailer?
Because he thought he had an obligation as a citizen to accept his punishment
Why does Aristotle hypothesize that a democracy needs a strong middle class?
Because it will balance the interests of the wealthy and the poor
Why did Machiavelli advise that leaders should create a state religion?
Because religious authority can help fortify the power of the prince
What types of civic engagement have recently declined in the U.S., according to Putnam?
Bowling in organized leagues, membership in labor unions and participation in parent-teacher organizations, membership in traditional women's groups, and participation in religious services and in church-related groups.
In his application of what may be seen as the origin of comparative politics, Aristotle defined oligarchy as that form of rule which was:
By few rulers, and corrupted.
For Anderson, the uprisings of ________ suggest that the calculated spread of popular movements seen across the Arab world last winter is not a new phenomenon.
1919.
The "best material" for a democracy, according to Aristotle, is a/an _____________ population:
Agricultural.
Which form of political protest used by Socrates includes refusing to obey laws of government in a non-violent way?
Civil disobedience
Plato's Allegory of the Cave reveals that most citizens are not suited to rule because they:
Confuse shadows for reality, mistakenly accept their opinion as truth, never leave the cave, and rely on "imagining" or "belief" rather than "knowledge."
In the absence of remedial institutions and norms, anyone facing the logic of the Prisoner's Dilemma has an incentive to:
Defect without regard to the other player's actions.
The _________ problem of making Political Science scientifically valid can be seen when we consider the difficulty of conducting any experiment, especially involving human beings and their polities, without contaminating the result.
Epistemologica
Thomas Hobbes was a nominalist, someone who believed that:
Humans construct a perception of "truth," language is necessary in part to help us make sense of the world, no permanent objective truth lies beneath our world of appearances, and "truth" is filtered through self-interest and the syllogisms of language.
For Aristotle, which is one of the "four chief divisions" of the common people?
Husbandmen
According to Marx, what is one difference between modern bourgeois society and societies of the past?
In modern society class antagonisms have been simplified into a struggle between two main rival groups.
According to Hobbes, the role of the sovereign in a Commonwealth is that he/she:
Is supposed to ensure the safety of all law-abiding citizens.
In Chapter XIII of Leviathan, Hobbes argues that all human beings living in a state of nature are equal because each:
Is vulnerable to harm from others.
What is Putnam's "social capital"?
It refers to features of social organization such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit.
Which political theorist stated that "Man is born free, and yet we see him everywhere in chains"?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
This political theorist authored A Social Contract and advocated for a direct democracy. He had a major influence on the French Revolution.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
This political theorist had a strong influence on Thomas Jefferson when he penned the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
John Locke.
Which of the following best describes Machiavelli's economy of violence theory?
Leaders should only use violence when necessary because violence wrongfully implemented could diminish the prince's power.
John Locke endorsed the belief in a(n) ______________ form of government.
Limited.
This Florentine statesman ruled Florence during the Italian Renaissance. Machiavelli sought to curry favor with his family when writing The Prince.
Lorenzo De'Medici
Henry David Thoreau was put in an American prison over his objection to slavery and this declared war.
Mexican-American War.
Machiavelli is considered to be an amoral theorist. He was characterized this way because he believed that:
Morality should be removed from all political decisions.
For Marx and Engels, bourgeois society is not characterized by:
More complex class relations.
A main idea communicated in Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels' Communist Manifesto is that the proletariat:
Must unite to overthrow the capitalist class.
According to Aristotle's Politics, this political ability is most highly valued because it allows us to put reason into action:
Political debate.
For Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto, history is the record of the:
Struggle between classes in society.
What widely accepted view was Socrates attempting to debunk in Plato's Republic?
That might makes right
The Stag Hunt differs from the Prisoner's Dilemma game in that:
The best payoff for each individual occurs when all cooperate in hunting the stag.
Marx and Engels would hold that which statement is false?
The bourgeoisie has created a new era of stability.
Aristotle's assertion that we are "political animals" derived from his belief that:
The polis is a natural outgrowth of human development.
In The Republic, Plato argues that those who excel in the business world should not rule the polis because the skills needed to secure profits do not necessarily translate well to the skills required to lead the republic. Those who excel in business should therefore remain in which societal group?
The craftspeople
Aristotle argues that there are three distinct forms of human communities that natural evolve into more complex social arrangements. What are the three human communities according to Aristotle?
The family unit, the village, the polis (state)
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of so-called "tertiary" organizations that Putnam indicates have increased in membership since the 1970s and 1980s?
The organizations are centered at the local level.
Individuals who are always better off if they choose "steal" over "split" strategies face:
The prisoner's dilemma.
Two suspects are arrested for allegedly committing a bank robbery. The police tell them that if one confesses, the confessor will be set free and the other will take the fall for the crime. In this scenario, the suspects are confronted with:
The prisoner's dilemma.
What quality separates excellent political systems from dreadful ones?
The pursuit of justice
People working together to achieve a collective good without which they would all be worse off both individually and collectively exemplifies a version of:
The stag hunt.
Which of these games is the most cooperative because making your opponent the "sucker" is not the best payoff available to you in the matrix?
The stag hunt.
Which best describes John Locke's view of the pre-contract state?
The state of nature is largely cooperative and guided by natural laws.
Which best describes John Locke's view of the precontract state?
The state of nature is largely cooperative and guided by natural laws.
Aristotle does not as vigorously advocate for one particular system of government over another. He instead advocates combining different forms of government into one government. This is better known as Aristotle's
Theory of mixed constitutions.
John Locke's Two Treatises of Government directly challenges the self-interested view of human nature and the authoritarian political theory of which theorist?
Thomas Hobbes
Harold Lasswell has defined politics as:
Who gets what, when, and how.
Plato's myth of the metals is meant to answer what question:
Why would the craftspeople agree to harmoniously contribute to the system when they are not permitted leadership positions?
Anderson states that the inspirational rhetoric of the Fourteen Points speech given by U.S. President ________, which helped spark the 1919 upheavals, made its way around the world by telegraph.
Wilson.
In The Republic, Plato argues that the guardians should rule the republic. Which three traits should a person have before entering into the guardian class?
Wisdom, courage, and temperance
Aristotle's theory of forms argues that all living things have a preexisting purpose. To make his point he uses the example of the
acorn and the oak tree.
John Locke argued that the most important role of government is to protect
individual rights, especially the right to own property.
The __________ problem of making Political Science scientifically valid can be seen when we consider that there is no consensus as to what human polities should be like, politically speaking, if they were to become what they should be.
ontological
The ________ problem of making Political Science scientifically valid can be seen when we consider the difficulty of constructing petri dishes, "ant farms" or terraria suitable for incubating human polities.
practical
Thomas Hobbes argues that life in the precontract state was
solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
Which of the following is NOT one of the issues analyzed by all three major social contract theorists?
women's suffrage
