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Comparative Politics Final Review

Terms in this set (78)

The term "universal suffrage" refers to which of the following?
voting rights
Using the variables of participation and contestation, which of the following statements about democratic accountability is most accurate?
A state with high levels of participation and contestation is more likely to be accountable to its citizens.
How is accountability related to the idea of democratic governance?
It provides a way for citizens to remove rulers from office while maintaining political stability.
Which of the following is one of the three key requirements in determining whether a country is a democracy?
civil liberties
What is the relationship between civil liberties and democratic government?
Civil liberties protect certain key individual and group rights that enable citizens to freely express ideas and have access to information necessary for self-governance.
Which of the following would lead to a country having a high rating on the Freedom House scale?
The country guarantees political equality within its borders.
A set of key laws and principles that structure the extent and distribution of government authority and individual rights by determining the rules of the political game is known as __________.
a constitution
Which of the following characterizes the structure of authority in a non-democratic state?
Authority is structured to enforce the government's vision of law and order.
Which of the following illustrates a solution to Madison's Dilemma?
establishing political institutions that check and balance politicians' ambitions against each other to ensure that no single person or group can dominate government
Which of the following countries uses a federal system of government?
Russia
Why might a country choose to empower subnational governments at the expense of the national government?
to protect the rights of linguistic minority identity groups
Under which of the following conditions would a unitary constitution be most appropriate?
a country that is relatively homogenous with a relatively small population
What is the chief executive in a parliamentary system known as?
prime minister
What distinguishes a parliamentary system from a presidential system?
In a parliamentary system the two branches of government depend on each other for their survival until the next scheduled election, while in a presidential system they are independent.
Who enjoys separation of survival in a semi-presidential hybrid system?
the president
The power of the courts to invalidate laws by declaring them unconstitutional is known as __________.
judicial review
What factor led to the rise of judicial review in Europe?
the rise of fascist governments in Germany, Spain, and Italy
Which of the following is a consequence of a state adopting judicial review mechanisms?
Effective government is often sacrificed to ensure limited government.
What translates the votes of citizens into legislative seats?
electoral system
Which of the following do majority rule and plurality rule have in common?
They tend to reward larger parties and penalize smaller parties.
If your political party won 39 percent of the vote in an election, what percentage of the seats would their seat share be under a majority and proportional system, respectively?
0%; 40%
Why might the government of Japan be considered less democratic than the government of the United States?
While Japan enjoys higher rates of political participation than the United States, it generally has lower levels of contestation for power.
What seems to be the upper limit on the term of office for directly elected presidents?
six years
Which of the following statements best characterizes Madison's Dilemma?
It is difficult to balance effective government with limited government.
What is the relationship between policy areas and federal systems?
For a system to qualify as federal, the constitution must grant governments at the local, state, or provincial level exclusive control over at least one policy area.
What principle prevents the legislature from firing a president under normal conditions?
separation of survival
What is a consequence of an institutional arrangement that has both separation of origin and separation of survival?
When the president and the legislative majority disagree about policy, the result might be government deadlock.
If your political party won the most seats but not a majority in a parliamentary election, what would you be required to do under a parliamentary system?
Find a coalition partner to obtain the necessary majority needed to govern.
Which of the following illustrates an outcome in a semi-presidential hybrid system?
The election of Jacques Chirac of the conservative Rally for the Republic Party as president, with the selection of Lionel Jospin of the Socialist Party as prime minister.
Which of the following is an argument against parliamentary supremacy?
Parliamentary majorities cannot be trusted to uphold limited government
Which of the following uses mixed electoral rules?
Germany
Which of the following statements about non-democracies is accurate?
The number of non-democracies has increased slightly in recent years.
Which of the following statements best explains the concept of reciprocal accountability?
The selectorate chooses and removes the leadership, but the leadership also selects and removes members of the selectorate.
Which of the following accurately distinguishes a non-democracy from a democracy?
Rulers in non-democracies are not held accountable to citizens, while leaders in democratic states are.
A set of political beliefs that structures and gives meaning to our political interests and that motivates people to act politically in particular ways is known as __________.
an ideology
Which of the following is the best example of an authoritarian state?
A state that allows citizens to form a music appreciation society, but uses armed force to repress political opposition.
In which type of state would you find the glorification of militarism and the interests of the state placed over the interests of individual citizens?
fascist
Government efforts to redistribute as much wealth as possible are hallmarks of which type of ideology?
communist
In which of the following ways does a communist ideology differ from a fascist ideology?
Communist ideologies stress the common interests of workers across nations, while fascist ideologies emphasize nationalism and racist principles.
Many monarchies have evolved into __________ by establishing formal limits on the monarch's powers.
constitutional monarchies
Which of the following is one factor that helps explain why military leaders might decide to engage in politics?
the perception that civilian political institutions are weak and inefficient
Which of the following distinguishes an oligarchy from a military regime?
In an oligarchy, the relationship between the leaders and the selectorate is much less formal than in a military regime.
Which of the following best characterizes regimes in the study of comparative politics?
Regimes are the most basic form of a state's government
Which of the following statements best illustrates the nature of political accountability in a non-democratic regime?
the leaders of a country removing members of the military officers corps that placed them in power
Which of the following describes an effect of an authoritarian regime on the lives of citizens?
The government uses coercion to limit political pluralism but citizens are still permitted to engage in limited amounts of social pluralism.
As the leader of an authoritarian state, which of the following would you be more inclined to work toward as you govern?
a broad demobilization of citizens in society coupled with efforts to discourage citizens from increasing their levels of political engagement
Which of the following statements best characterizes a totalitarian state?
The government tolerates no opposition to its ideology or policies.
If you believe that certain races are by nature superior to others, you most likely support which of the following?
social Darwinism
In a communist state, which of the following would you be most likely to experience?
radical efforts to redistribute wealth in society
Why does communism tend to be associated with utopian, radical left politics while fascism is associated with nostalgic, extreme right politics?
While both are totalitarian ideologies, they emerged in different and competing social contexts in Europe.
The leaders of a military regime are known as __________.
a junta
In a theocratic society, in what way is religion analogous to a totalitarian ideology?
Religious authorities seek to use the institutions of the state to reshape society.
Scholarship indicates that there have been how many waves of democratization in the world since 1825?
three
When the elected president of Chile, Salvador Allende, was overthrown and replaced by a dictator, General Augusto Pinochet, it was an example of __________.
regime change
Which of the following best characterizes the historical trends with respect to regime change in the world?
Regime change has generally proceeded in waves in which countries transition to democratic states, often followed by a reverse wave in which states collapse back into non-democratic regimes.
__________ reflects the level of citizens' active participation in public affairs.
Civic engagement
Why is using civic culture to explain regime change problematic?
The sheer number of organizations and the density of their memberships do not accurately measure a society's degree of civic engagement.
Which of the following statements accurately reflects the core premise of modernization theory?
Democratization is a product of the cultural changes that accompany economic development in a state.
The spread of political, cultural, and economic dynamics beyond the borders of any single country is known as __________.
globalization
In which of the following countries would we most expect to see democratic regime change occur?
a country with a strong middle class and high levels of political equality
What distinguishes the third wave of democratization from the first wave of democratization in global politics?
The third wave of democratization was fueled largely by global political dynamics influencing the balance of political power within states.
What did the transitions to democracy in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay in the 1980s have in common?
They were all under similar international pressures to democratize, but each regime collapsed due to a different short-term factor.
Drawing on the Titanic analogy presented in the text, which of the following statements best characterizes the relationship between short-term factors and regime change?
They are the iceberg that sinks the ship.
Why might democratic regimes be less susceptible to collapse in periods of short-term crisis than are non-democratic regimes?
The established pattern of rotating leaders and regular elections makes democratic regimes less brittle and rigid than non-democratic regimes, which provides a safety valve against citizen mobilization.
A country that has voting and elections but regularly suppresses political opposition and individual rights is best known as what type of democracy?
illiberal
In which of the following ways have the United States and the European Union (EU) contributed to an international climate that has encouraged backsliding into illiberal democracies?
The United States and the EU have generally supported democratic governments but have done so in a way that advances their own interests and is incredibly inconsistent.
How does the case of Venezuela demonstrate the paradox of illiberal democracies?
Its leaders were elected and quite popular with citizens, but they have subtly and gradually changed the political rules to weaken political contestation without eliminating it.
At a broad level, which of the following best characterizes the historical trends toward and away from democracy?
There have been three "waves" of democratization, two of which were followed by reverse waves in which many democracies collapsed into dictatorships.
Which of the following situations best demonstrates solidarity?
Citizens coming together following a natural disaster and helping to rebuild a devastated community.
As a researcher attempting to measure the civic culture of South Africa, which of the following research actions would help you measure civic engagement?
measuring the density of the social groups and associations within South Africa
Which of the following statements supports the hypothesis regarding class conflict and its relationship to regime change?
Societies that experience economic development see a newly emerging middle class fighting for political rights against the established upper class working to maintain their positions of privilege and power.
Which of the following best characterizes how military leaders view the identity of the armed forces within a state?
selfless
What effect did changes to U.S. foreign policy in the 1970s and 1980s have on the global patterns of regime change?
The U.S. redefinition of its national interests led to an increased emphasis on human rights and a decline in support for non-democratic leaders.
How did changes in the Catholic Church affect regime change?
It created greater opportunities for democratic regime change as Catholic doctrine shifted from indifference to democracy to support of democracy.
When countries that are geographically close to each other adopt similar regimes, it is known as __________.
the neighborhood effect
Which of the following is the best response when your teacher asks you to explain regime changes in states using the death of longtime dictators?
Short-term explanations are useful for explaining outcomes in politics, but they often vary widely among cases and as such cannot effectively explain larger or whole patterns of regime change
Which of the following would seem to present the greatest challenge to the growth of democratic regimes in the future?
Russian and Chinese indifference to democracy.
What is meant by the statement "Totalitarian states do not tolerate social or political pluralism"?
The central government subordinates all facets of social, economic, and political power.
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