Democracy and Authoritarianism Test
Questions
Course Introduction
This course explores the fundamental differences between democratic and authoritarian political systems, analyzing how power is structured, exercised, and contested within each. Students will examine the origins, development, and functioning of both forms of governance, considering the historical, cultural, and economic factors that contribute to their rise and stability. Through case studies from various regions and periods, the course investigates the processes of democratization, the challenges to sustaining democracy, and the persistence of authoritarian rule. Key topics include institutional design, civil society, political participation, state-society relations, and the role of ideology and leadership. By the end of the course, students will have a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics and implications of democracy and authoritarianism in the contemporary world.
Recommended Textbook
Cases in Comparative Politics Fifth Edition by Patrick H. ONeil
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14 Chapters
420 Verified Questions
420 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Introduction
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30 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Amnesty International and the International Red Cross are examples of:
A)intergovernmental organizations.
B)multinational corporations.
C)global government groups.
D)world trade organizations.
E)nongovernmental organizations.
Answer: E
Q2) The symbol of the people, their formal representative both nationally and internationally that embodies and articulates the goals of the regime, is the:
A)head of state.
B)head of government.
C)ambassador.
D)legislature.
E)prime minister.
Answer: A
Q3) What are the major differences seen among parliamentary, presidential, and semi-presidential systems? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each model?
Answer: Answers will vary.
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Page 3
Chapter 2: United Kingdom
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the similarities that exist between Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher, despite Thatcher being a Conservative and Blair a Labourite.
Answer: Answers will vary.
Q2) Violence in Northern Ireland was largely ended by:
A)a military intervention by the Irish Republic.
B)the Catholic victory in the civil war.
C)the Good Friday Agreement.
D)the Protestant victory in the civil war.
E)the Belfast compromise.
Answer: C
Q3) Which term best describes the UK political regime?
A)authoritarian
B)majoritarian
C)checks and balances
D)separation of powers
E)corporatist
Answer: B
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Chapter 3: United States
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30 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements about the New Deal is accurate?
A)The New Deal resulted in growth of the state bureaucracy despite opposition from the Supreme Court.
B)Use of the state to restrict the power of big business was a centerpiece of the New Deal programs.
C)The New Deal concept was largely generated and pushed through by Republican reformers.
D)One long-term impact of the New Deal was to devolve power to the states.
E)The New Deal increased subsidies to some workers but reduced the rights of workers overall.
Answer: A
Q2) Political action committees (PACs) are often cited as an example of:
A)the strength of political parties in the United States.
B)how difficult it is for organized groups to influence national government.
C)the role of organized interests in fund-raising and influencing elected officials.
D)the power of third parties as "kingmakers" in congressional elections.
E)the ability of average citizens to get involved in politics.
Answer: C
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Page 5
Chapter 4: France
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which best describes the upper house (Sénat) in France?
A)directly elected
B)weaker than the lower house
C)more powerful than the lower house
D)recently dissolved as a result of constitutional reform
E)directly appointed by the president
Q2) Which of the following statements about France's Constitutional Council is accurate?
A)Most appeals to the council come from legislators.
B)It has been less active in the Fifth Republic than in the Fourth Republic.
C)Members of the Constitutional Council receive lifetime appointments.
D)Former legislators and presidents are barred from serving on the council.
E)In addition to constitutional matters, the council serves as a court of last appeal for cases from lower courts.
Q3) Which best describes the legislative-executive relations in France?
A)parliamentary
B)presidential
C)semi-presidential
D)constitutional monarchy
E)authoritarian
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Page 6
Chapter 5: Germany
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Sample Questions
Q1) The regime established by Hitler is best described as:
A)a social democracy.
B)a Communist dictatorship.
C)an illiberal democracy.
D)a theocracy.
E)a fascist totalitarian dictatorship.
Q2) The German policy of codetermination refers to:
A)consulting both East and West Germans before implementing major policies.
B)coordinating EU and German national policies.
C)forced seating of union leaders on the corporate boards of private firms.
D)devolving authority for economic policies from the federal level to state policy makers.
E)the requirement that German states approve all federal legislation.
Q3) Which of the following descriptions best applies to the German state of Bavaria?
A)wealthy, strongly Catholic
B)strongly Protestant, independent
C)working class, multiethnic
D)strongly Catholic, working class, culturally dependent on Prussia
E)weak in any religious affiliation, wealthy
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Chapter 6: Japan
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why is Japan's bureaucracy so powerful, and what prevents its reform? Should Japan take radical measures to eliminate its powerful iron triangle?
Q2) Historically, Japan's political leadership has been characterized by a persistent division of labor between:
A)bourgeoisie and proletariat.
B)shoguns and zaibatsu.
C)those who rule and those who symbolically reign.
D)warriors and clerics.
E)those who represent the people and those who represent the elites.
Q3) Why did Japan's "one-and-a-half" party system provide for such a stable government for so long? Why did that stability fracture in 2007?
Q4) Would you judge the reforms imposed on Japan during the American occupation successful and beneficial? Why or why not?
Q5) Describe Japan's industrial policy. How did government guidance and support lead to booming decades of growth, and what were the structural problems that became apparent in the 1990s?
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8
Chapter 7: Russia
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Commonwealth of Independent States is:
A)an alliance of Russia, Iran, and Venezuela against "American hegemony."
B)a body used by Russia to retain influence over former Soviet republics.
C)the post-Soviet military alliance of Russia, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam.
D)the coordinating body that manages relations between the European Union and Russia.
E)the name for the European Union before it took in Russia as a full member.
Q2) The differences in powers between different regions in Russia are referred to as:
A)unitary regionalism.
B)stochastic localism.
C)devolved federalism.
D)asymmetric federalism.
E)kleptocratic federalism.
Q3) What were the central factors that allowed for the 1917 revolution, and why did communism eventually fail in the Soviet Union? What legacies, if any, survive from the era of the tsars?
Q4) What explains the recent conflicts between the West and Russia, and what can be done to limit them in the future?
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Page 9
Chapter 8: China
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Sample Questions
Q1) In which of the following ways are the internal workings of the Chinese Communist Party similar to those of governments of advanced democracies?
A)Term limits are imposed on top leaders.
B)Party membership is formally required for ascension to top posts.
C)The party faces serious political opposition from several other popular parties.
D)The party has ceased to harass or detain members of public groups that it sees as a threat.
E)Top party leaders are subject to election by popular vote restricted to party members.
Q2) China's "floating population" refers to:
A)the huge number of overseas Chinese.
B)rural itinerant workers seeking greater prosperity in cities.
C)Chinese flooded out by the Three Gorges Dam.
D)China's recent population explosion.
E)large numbers of ethnic Japanese who represent a new trend in immigration.
Q3) How has China managed to pursue more than three decades of progressing economic freedom while continuing to restrict political freedoms? Can this policy of economic liberalism and political authoritarianism continue? Why or why not?
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Page 10
Chapter 9: India
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Sample Questions
Q1) India's Sepoy Mutiny pitted:
A)the East India Company against British colonial troops.
B)Hindu conscripts against Muslim conscripts.
C)British colonial troops against British officers.
D)Hindu and Muslim conscripts against British colonial troops.
E)British soldiers against French revolutionary forces.
Q2) Which prime minister declared emergency rule in 1975?
A)Rajiv Gandhi
B)Jawaharlal Nehru
C)Manmohan Singh
D)Indira Gandhi
E)Mohandes K. Gandhi
Q3) What is the modern legacy of the ancient patterns of division and settlement between Indo-Aryans and the Dravidians in India? What is the current state of the caste system in Indian society?
Q4) Identify and discuss three primary obstacles to economic development in India. Has the deepening of democracy helped or hindered India's modernization?
Q5) Discuss both the costs and benefits of British colonialism to Indian development, and assess the net influence of this colonial legacy.
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Chapter 10: Iran
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Sample Questions
Q1) Within Iranian political culture, what is the relationship between followers of the "quietist" philosophy and the broader reformist vs. conservative division?
A)Quietists' fundamentalist belief in the totality of Islam makes them even more extreme than most conservatives, who occasionally use quietists as political allies.
B)Quietists' belief that Islam should act as an intermediary between state and society leads them to align with the conservatives who place clerics as stewards of government.
C)Quietists' opposition to the combination of politics with Islam leads them to align with the more secularist reform camp.
D)Quietists' belief that Islam should not be mixed with politics leads them to reject the broad positions of both the reformers and the conservatives.
E)Most quietist clerics are actually leaders of the conservative factions, hoping to bring their vision of Islam into government policy.
Q2) How did the discovery of oil in Iran affect its economic development, particularly with respect to the top-down mercantilist model? What role have the bonyads played in the Iranian economy?
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Chapter 11: Mexico
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements about the PRI's economic policies for most of its reign is accurate?
A)Liberal-minded PRI presidents sought greater and greater economic independence from the United States.
B)Nationalist PRI presidents tended to favor economic growth over redistribution.
C)The PRI maintained a state role in the economy that approached socialist levels of intervention.
D)It raised tariffs on agricultural imports but lowered them on manufactured goods.
E)It maintained relatively low labor costs that benefitted Mexican entrepreneurs.
Q2) Why could Mexico under the PRI be described as the "perfect dictatorship"? Was the stability it brought to Mexico worth the restriction of democracy?
Q3) What has been the result of constitutional term limits for legislators and the president? Why have so many sought an end to term limits?
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Chapter 12: Brazil
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why has Brazil been plagued by some of the worst poverty and inequality on the planet? How have more recent governments sought to alleviate these problems?
Q2) How did the two Cardoso administrations seek to assert state control over the military?
A)slashing the military budget
B)establishing a Truth Commission
C)having the Federal Supreme Court investigate human rights abuses
D)creating a single civilian Ministry of Defense
E)placing the selection of military commanders under the control of the legislature
Q3) Describe the Brazilian political party system, and note some of its distinctive features. Why do many scholars blame the structure of the electoral system on Brazil's persistent government corruption?
Q4) Brazil's military regime after 1964 was:
A)a Communist regime.
B)a bureaucratic authoritarian regime.
C)an illiberal democracy.
D)a populist dictatorship.
E)a socialist experiment.
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Chapter 13: South Africa
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Sample Questions
Q1) South Africa currently uses which electoral system?
A)single-member district with two-round voting
B)single-member district with plurality
C)pure proportional representation
D)mixed single-member district and proportional representation
E)single transferable vote
Q2) Which of the following statements about formal powers and rules of the National Assembly is accurate?
A)National Assembly members serve for single six-year terms and are not allowed to stand for re-election.
B)The National Assembly is in part charged with validating the results of popular election of the president by the people.
C)ANC dominance of the National Assembly has had a big influence on the failure of the legislature to demonstrate much policy independence from the president.
D)The upper-house National Council typically takes the policy lead on matters of national interest.
E)The National Assembly can override National Council decisions with a plurality vote.
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15
Chapter 14: Nigeria
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is a component of Nigeria's constitution of the Second Republic (and all subsequent constitutions)?
A)a combined head of state and head of government
B)a merged constitutional court and legislature into a single body
C)a unitary structure
D)a unicameral legislature
E)an indirectly-elected president
Q2) Nigeria's federal character principle refers to:
A)the remarkable unity of the Nigerian people.
B)the quota system for political appointments in Nigeria.
C)British colonial justification for Nigerian territorial divisions.
D)eligibility requirements for political candidates.
E)constitutional limits on the national judiciary.
Q3) Some have argued that postcolonial patrimonial leadership, not colonial exploitation, is more to blame for Nigeria's challenges of political and economic modernization. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Q4) For all of its real and potential wealth, the Niger Delta poses serious challenges for Nigeria. Identify the top social and political problems facing the Delta and assess the prospects for their successful resolution in the next decade.
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