SOSC 188 Study Guide for the First Exam (50 points)
Part I (Short Essays):
Part II (Long Essay)
Answer 3 out of 6, 10 points each, with a total of 30 points
Answer 1 out of 3, 20 points
Short Essay (6 questions will be selected from the following concepts, and you
answer 3)
The Modernization School
What’s modernization; five pattern variables; demographic theory; achievement
motivation; “modern man”; stages of economic growth; city-countryside gap;
academic critiques of modernization theory; political critiques of modernization
theory
The Dependency School
Development of underdevelopment; classical colonial dependency; cultural
imperialism and brain drain; characteristics of colonial cities; the debt crises/financial
dependence; the new dependency theory, dependent development; colonial
dependence in Tai wan; bureaucratic-authoritarian state
Long Essay (3 questions will be selected from the following, and you answer 1)
1. Compare the similarities and differences between the sociological theory of
modernization and the political theory of modernization? Which one do you agree
with more? Why?
2. What are the major academic and political criticisms to the Modernization School?
Do you agree with such criticism? Why or Why not? Please give examples to support
your arguments.
3. Compare the similarities and differences between the old dependency theory and
the new dependency theory. What do you see are the strengths ( or weaknesses) of the
new dependency theory?
4. Select one major institution (such as education, cities, and economy). Compare the
Modernization School (either the Old or the New Dependency Theory) with respect to
their analyses of this particular institution. Which School’s analysis is better? Why?
5. Outline one major problem of development (such as economic backwardness and
lack of democracy) in the third world. Discuss the solutions offered by the
Modernization School and the Dependency School to solve these problems. Which
school has provided a better solution?