Sample Questions for the Final:
The midterm exam will be on Monday, April 4th between 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. at 201 and it is going to cover
the following chapters: Chapters 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15.
Below, you will find some sample questions that will help you study for the exam. There will be about 30-35
multiple choice questions and 4-5 short essay questions in the exam. Some of the multiple choice questions
below might (or might not) appear in the exam. The answers for the multiple choice questions are marked
with the “*” sign. I will pick 4-5 questions from the short essay section below and those questions will appear
in the exam.
Please let me know if you have further questions.
Multiple Choice Questions:
1)
a)
b)
c)
d)
Elections serve as mechanisms to build up support for the system:
mainly in autocracies
occasionally in democracies
as much in democracies as in autocracies*
rarely in democracies and autocracies
2) Single-member district plurality (SMDP) and proportional representation (PR) electoral systems differ in
the extent to which they produce:
a) ties in elections
b) two-party systems and electoral turnout*
c) unitary systems vs. federal systems
d) one-party systems
3)
a)
b)
c)
d)
A system where a single member is elected from each district by getting the most votes is called:
referendum
single-member district plurality (SMDP)*
proportional representation (PR)
independent representation (IR)
4)
a)
b)
c)
d)
When might a small party do well in single-member district plurality (SMDP) electoral system?
if its support is concentrated in just a few districts and the districts are small*
if the leader of the party is charismatic, well-funded, and uses cutting edge campaigning techniques
if the districts are large and support is evenly spread throughout the country
never; it’s essentially impossible for small parties to obtain seats in legislatures elected by SMDP
5) Referendums are:
a) widely used in democracies
b) used regularly in only a few democracies and on occasion in some democracies for decisions of great
gravity*
c) only used in the United States
d) used regularly in most democracies for issues of little significance
6) A chief objective of political parties is :
a) to ensure that its officials attain power or are maintained in power*
b) to influence which policies are chosen through campaign contributions and lobbying
c) to ensure that the government runs in an efficient manner
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d) b and c
7) The first political parties developed in:
a) Britain
b) The United States*
c) France
d) The Netherlands
8) A system in which only a single party is allowed to be active is referred to as a:
a) supreme-party system
b) dominant-party system
c) one-party system*
d) consolidating-party system
9) Examples of two-party systems include:
a) Britain and Norway
b) Norway and Sweden
c) the United States and Britain*
d) the Netherlands and the United States
10) Most democratic systems are:
a) one-party systems
b) multi-party systems*
c) two-party systems
d) dominant-party systems
11)
a)
b)
c)
d)
In industrialized countries, the interest groups that are usually the most well represented are:
cultural interest groups
consumer interest groups
economic interest groups*
environmental interest groups
12)
a)
b)
c)
d)
Interest groups play a part in politics in:
only democracies and open societies
all states*
mainly Western Europe and North America
mainly Europe, North America and a few wealthy Asian states
13) The two types of interest groups that show the greatest contrast between those readily organized and
those not so readily organized are:
a) producer vs. environmental interests
b) producer vs. consumer interests*
c) environmental vs. consumer interests
d) producer vs. ethnic interests
14) According to Mancur Olson, which of the following factors helps interest groups overcome the problem
of collective action:
a) the group is sufficiently small
b) the group offers members selective incentives
c) the group is able to coerce members to join
d) all of the above*
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15)
a)
b)
c)
d)
Selective incentives are used to:
maintain membership in the group*
reward the top leaders of a group
gain support of politicians for the group’s cause
help create incentive compatibility
16)
a)
b)
c)
d)
The type of interest group whose role in government is most similar from country to country is:
the promotional interest group
the institutional interest group
the sectoral interest group*
the ethnic interest group
17)
a)
b)
c)
d)
A key feature of social movements that sets them apart from parties and interest groups is that:
they don’t have leaders
they are loosely organized*
they try to get their members elected to office
they try to influence government policy
18)
a)
b)
c)
d)
Confrontations between ordinary people and governing economic elites is referred to as:
violent action
politicking
contentious politics*
revolution
19) An informal collective movement of people whose actions are loosely coordinated and who use flexible
tactics to achieve their goals is referred to as a:
a) social movement*
b) political party
c) interest group
d) mob
20)
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Social movements have blossomed in the 20th and 21st centuries because of:
rapid and easy communication
the democratic doctrine that people should share in the making of policies
the rise of post-material political issues
the general decline in the centrality of political parties
all of the above*
21)
a)
b)
c)
d)
The informal organization of social movements is a disadvantage because:
their short duration allows policy makers to outlast them
they cannot find leaders who are willing to lead
they often have difficulty amassing the resources that political leaders respond to
a and c*
22)
a)
b)
c)
d)
Parliamentary systems are found in:
most democracies*
most democracies in North America
about half of the democracies in Western Europe
mainly in Asian and Northern European countries
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23)
a)
b)
c)
d)
In Parliamentary systems, the parliament is:
elected along with a president
the only elected body of the state*
always elected through proportional representation
always consists of a single house or chamber
24)
a)
b)
c)
d)
The executive power of the state in a parliamentary system lies in:
the president
the head of state
the cabinet*
the parliament
25)
a)
b)
c)
d)
The central principle of parliamentary government is:
the direct election of the chief executive (president)
power is divided rather than unified (separation of powers)
power is lodged in a democratically elected parliament led by a Prime Minister and Cabinet*
a and b
26)
a)
b)
c)
d)
Cabinets are generally able to control votes in parliament because:
most ordinary members aspire to cabinet positions and the current cabinet controls the selection process
cabinets consist largely of the leaders of the party or parties in power
cabinets control debate time and committee assignments in the parliament
all of the above*
27)
a)
b)
c)
d)
Presidential government is a democratic system in which:
the legislature and the executive exist independently and are elected independently of each other*
the president can dissolve the legislature and can force legislators to support her/his policies
the legislature elects the executive
the legislature is supreme and can remove the president through a vote of “no confidence”
28)
a)
b)
c)
d)
In presidential systems, political parties are:
usually more tightly unified than in parliamentary systems
more loosely unified than in parliamentary systems*
more numerous than in parliamentary systems
more extreme ideologically than in parliamentary systems
29)
a)
b)
c)
d)
In a presidential system, the responsibility of organizing the legislature is held by:
the cabinet
the courts
the legislature itself*
the executive
30)
a)
b)
c)
d)
In a presidential system, comprehensive policy is:
easier to make than in a parliamentary system
more difficult to make than in a parliamentary system*
easier to make if in a federal state
neither more difficult nor easier to make than in a parliamentary system
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31)
a)
b)
c)
d)
Leaders in presidential systems tend to emerge from:
careers in parliament
a wide variety of backgrounds*
mostly careers in Congress and sometimes the military
mostly careers in the military
Short Essay Questions:
1) Compare and contrast proportional representation (PR) and single-member district plurality (SMDP)
systems. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both systems? What groups benefit and what
groups are disadvantaged by each system?
2) What are the short-term and long-term factors that serve as a basis for how people vote? Please list and
explain four of those factors.
3) One of the striking things about political parties is the way in which they have been adapted to all sorts
of political systems. Why are political parties almost as important to non-democracies as to
democracies? Using an example, discuss how political parties function in non-democratic societies.
4) What are the differences between a one-party system and a dominant-party system? Give an example
of each.
5) In what ways do interest groups use economic power to influence policy?
6) What are the three important barriers to interest groups’ ability to represent public opinion accurately?
Why do interest groups give a distorted picture of interests in a country?
7) Explain the problem of collective action. According to Mancur Olson, what factors help explain how and
whether groups organize?
8) A key feature of social movements highlighted by the text is their loose organization. Discuss the key
advantages and disadvantages of loose organization.
9) Discuss the relevance of opportunity, mobilizing structures, and framing processes in the emergence and
success of social movements.
10) Why isn’t the parliament considered useless, even though its role in actually deciding what legislation is
to become law is minimal?
11) What are the key advantages and disadvantages of a parliamentary system as compared to more
fragmented systems like the presidential systems?
12) Compare and contrast the nature of policy making in presidential and parliamentary systems. In what
ways does this affect the nature of responsibility and leadership in each system? Does the system of
political parties affect this? How?
13) Discuss the character of the executive branch in both parliamentary and presidential systems. How are
they similar and different?
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