Introduction to Political Science PE101- Groups (1&3) Ahmed Hamdon Revision Questions (Ch. 1) 1. The statement “Man is by nature a political animal” is attributed to __________. a. Niccolò Machiavelli b. Max Weber c. Karl Marx d. Aristotle Correct Answer: d 2. Voting for someone who is charismatic but whose policies might not benefit you would be considered __________ behavior. a. irrational b. rational c. legitimate d. selfish Correct Answer: a 3. Although they seized __________, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan lacked __________. a. authority; power b. control; power c. power; legitimacy d. control; authority Correct Answer: c 4. Aristotle’s view that, like herd animals, humans naturally live in groups is most related to which kind of explanation for political power? a. biological b. psychological c. cultural d. economic Correct Answer: a 5. The ability to shape others’ behavior is known as __________. a. legitimacy b. control c. authority d. power Correct Answer: d Introduction to Political Science PE101- Groups (1&3) Ahmed Hamdon 6. Potential explanations that a scientist tests are known as __________. a. ideologies b. biases c. qualitative data d. hypotheses Correct Answer: d 7. Politics could be considered the “master science” because it __________. a. predates the other social sciences b. is more rigorous than other social sciences c. is more commonly studied than other social sciences d. relates to other social sciences Correct Answer: d 8. Lasswell’s question, “Who gets what?” applies best to the social science of __________. a. economics b. geography c. psychology d. anthropology Correct Answer: a 9. __________ is a subfield of political science. a. Public administration b. Anthropology c. Psychology d. Sociology Correct Answer: a 10. The subfield of __________studies major thinkers and attempts to define the good polity. a. public administration b. comparative politics c. public policy d. political theory Correct Answer: d 11. The subfield of international relations most directly includes the study of __________. a. diplomacy and political philosophers b. diplomacy and public opinion c. conflict and the Constitution Introduction to Political Science PE101- Groups (1&3) Ahmed Hamdon d. conflict and international law Correct Answer: d 12. A political scientist who studies the politics of several Eastern European countries following the fall of the Soviet Union would, most specifically, be considered an expert in the subfield of __________. a. political science b. public policy c. political theory d. comparative politics Correct Answer: d 13. Which of the following concepts did Machiavelli contribute to the study of politics? a. social contract theory b. the role of power in politics c. the role of wealth in society d. the connection between race and politics Correct Answer: b True or False Questions 1. Conflict and diplomacy are the primary areas of interest within the subfield of comparative politics. 2. Harold Lasswell argued that politics is the study of “who gets what.” 3. If a political leader convinces the public to support legislation that is against its own interests, the public is behaving irrationally. Introduction to Political Science PE101- Groups (1&3) Ahmed Hamdon Revision Questions (Ch. 3) Multiple Choice Questions 1. Political institutions represent established and durable patterns of __________ in a country. a. authority b. dissent c. instability d. anarchy Correct Answer: a 2. Political institutions involve the __________ of a government. a. weakness b. public support c. working structures d. periphery Correct Answer: c 3. Which of the following would demonstrate institutionalized power? a. the U.S. Supreme Court striking down a law as unconstitutional b. the majority of Americans being in agreement on a major issue in an opinion poll c. a large corporation using its influence to receive generous tax breaks d. a significant increase in consumer confidence Correct Answer: a 4. 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. b. They are flexible but filled with partisanship. c. They are flexible but always produce the same results. d. They are flexible and have changed steadily over the years. Correct Answer: a 5. Almost all countries today are republics; this includes constitutional monarchies, due to the fact that royal families in constitutional monarchies __________. a. appoint prime ministers b. are only figureheads Introduction to Political Science PE101- Groups (1&3) Ahmed Hamdon c. control the agenda in parliaments d. are all deceased Correct Answer: b 6. A state that is able to control and tax its entire territory would be considered __________. a. Weak b. Ineffective c. Failed d. effective Correct Answer: d 7. Weak states are characterized by __________. a. the lack of civilian control over the military b. the penetration of crime into politics c. an adherence to economics d. obedience to laws Correct Answer: b 8. 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? a. failed b. weak c. effective d. unitary Correct Answer: b 9. Authoritarian systems that are often in the category of failed states deliberately confuse rule of law with “rule by law,” which essentially means that __________. a. authorities adhere to the rule of law with no practical exceptions whatsoever b. authorities use the law to achieve their ends, but are themselves above the law c. there is an absence of any legal tradition in the country’s history d. the people play the most important role in shaping laws Correct Answer: b Introduction to Political Science PE101- Groups (1&3) Ahmed Hamdon 10. Federalism is the balancing of power between a nation’s central government and __________. a. the private sector b. the people c. its autonomous subdivisions d. a foreign government Correct Answer: c 11. Which of the following is often the basis for center-periphery tensions? a. regionalism b. unitary statism c. political devolution d. anarchy Correct Answer: a 12. A process of devolution involves __________. a. shifting some powers from central government to component units b. limiting the role of the government in economic affairs c. consolidating power within a central government d. the government playing a larger role in regulating the economy Correct Answer: a 13. The process of decentralization in France was intended to make the country less __________. a. partisan b. liberal c. federal d. unitary Correct Answer: d 14. Which of the following would highlight a critical downside of a unitary system? a. a parliament with very limited control over its national parks and wildlife reserves b. the absence of a responsive government when citizens make certain demands c. a declining sense of nationalism among elites in society d. local officials unable to make basic decisions without the express consent of the central government Correct Answer: d Introduction to Political Science PE101- Groups (1&3) Ahmed Hamdon 15. The components of a federal system are typically represented __________. a. in the upper chamber of the national legislature b. in the chief executive c. by individual political parties d. by unelected delegates Correct Answer: a 16. At the heart of the concept of a federal system is __________. a. the nearly absolute lack of government regulation of the economy b. the power of central government to dissolve political subunits at any time c. the existence of component states with some powers that cannot be easily overridden by the central government d. a fusion of the legislative and executive branch functions of government Correct Answer: c 17. Why have U.S. states been called laboratories of democracy? a. They demonstrate the ideal structure of democracy in a unitary state. b. They are forced to alter national policies that they disagree with. c. Democracy is practiced at the state level but not at the national level. d. States can experiment with new programs, which, if successful, can be copied nationwide. Correct Answer: d 18. Which of the following would highlight a critical downside of a federal system? a. the national legislature dominated by a single political party b. a component state unable to raise sufficient funds to provide certain government services at the local level c. the inability of component states to have any autonomy d. local officials unable to make basic decisions without the express consent of the central government Correct Answer: b Introduction to Political Science PE101- Groups (1&3) Ahmed Hamdon 19. Federal governments cannot always demand policy change in their component states, but they are often able to exert their influence in other ways. What would be an example of this dynamic? a. allowing a foreign government to impose order in the component state b. withholding grants from states that refuse to adopt a national policy standard c. adopting a new political ideology to better serve the given policy d. dissolving the component state Correct Answer: b True/False Questions 1. States exercise authority through exercises a set of temporary institutions 2. A country where crime has penetrated its politics would be considered a weak state. 3. A state that is unable to control and tax its entire territory would be considered an effective state. 4. The upper chamber of a parliament usually represents the components of a federal system. 5. The three key components of a state are People, territory and Government. 6. A nation is a political community that occupies a definite territory, has an organized government, and has sovereignty. 7. A state is a sizeablegroup of people that share common bonds of race, language, customs, and religion. 8. In the modern world numerous social organizations has the legitimate right to use force and coercion. 9. The government is more extensive than the state. 10. Governments are permanent while states are temporary entities. Essay Questions 1. What are some of the main characteristics that distinguish weak states from effective states? What are the implications for governance and quality of life for citizens? Correct Answer. An ideal response will: a. discuss the key differences outlined in the chapter between weak and effective states. This includes the critical aspect of the politics of weak states being penetrated by crime. b. discuss how this penetration of crime into politics can be toxic to a government’s ability to carry out its functions. 2. How are the structures of government different in unitary and federal systems? What are the key differences? How do these differences impact governmental operation? Correct Answer. An ideal response will: Introduction to Political Science PE101- Groups (1&3) Ahmed Hamdon a. describe in significant detail how unitary systems differ from federal ones, with a focus on the structure of government, including the national legislature. b. discuss the nature of center-periphery relations. c. outline and compare some ways in which politics plays out differently in unitary and federal systems.
