Democratization and Political Change Practice Exam
Course Introduction
This course examines the processes and dynamics of democratization and political change across different regions and historical periods. Students will explore key theories and concepts related to the emergence, consolidation, and challenges of democracy, as well as case studies of transitions from authoritarianism to democracy. The course analyzes internal and external factors influencing political change, such as civil society, institutions, economic development, social movements, and international actors. Additionally, students will engage critically with debates on democratization's prospects and limits in the contemporary world, assessing the impact of globalization, technology, and populist movements on democratic governance.
Recommended Textbook
Cases in Comparative Politics Sixth Edition by Patrick H. ONeil
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14 Chapters
420 Verified Questions
420 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Introduction
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Sample Questions
Q1) The act of a local nonprofit organization advocating for better schools is an example of which of the following?
A) civil society
B) co-optation
C) clientelism
D) patron-client relations
Answer: A
Q2) Which of the following units of government most often represents the population at large in lawmaking?
A) lower house of a bicameral legislature
B) upper house of a bicameral legislature
C) judiciary
D) executive
Answer: A
Q3) Amnesty International and the International Red Cross are examples of
A) intergovernmental organizations.
B) nongovernmental organizations.
C) institutions of global governance.
D) world trade organizations.
Answer: B
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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: A good answer will discuss how Blair and Thatcher both defied the conventions of their respective parities-Thatcher weakened the aristocracy's influence over the Conservative Party and Blair made the Labour Party less dependent on trade unions-and both pushed for a more free market-oriented political economy.
Q2) Which branch of government instituted reforms in 1999 to reduce the number of "hereditary peers," or members of the aristocracy,from positions of power?
A) House of Lords
B) judiciary
C) cabinet
D) regional legislatures
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: United States
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Sample Questions
Q1) The financial crisis in the United States in 2008 was largely triggered by A) excessive military spending.
B) a sharp decline in the housing market.
C) the collapse in technology stocks.
D) the trade deficit with China.
Answer: B
Q2) Separation of powers refers to the
A) division of power to prevent any branch from dominating the state.
B) basic individual freedoms laid out in the Bill of Rights.
C) delegation of powers to states in the Tenth Amendment.
D) separation between church and state.
Answer: A
Q3) Which of the following was a major result of the Civil War in the United States?
A) greater concentration of power in the federal government
B) greater delegation of power to the states
C) elimination of a standing army until World War I
D) end of all discrimination against African Americans
Answer: A
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5
Chapter 4: France
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Sample Questions
Q1) How does France's current welfare state differ from those of its social-democratic peers in Europe?
A) Most of its benefits go to the poorest French,while those of its peers mostly fund the middle class.
B) It has not undergone pension reforms or seen a reduction of the welfare bureaucracy.
C) It is less rigid,with fewer legal protections for employed workers.
D) Its broad scope has proved less popular domestically than those of its peers.
Q2) France's National Assembly is elected through
A) single-member district plurality (one round of voting).
B) single-member district majority (two rounds of voting).
C) proportional representation.
D) mixed single-member district majority and proportional representation.
Q3) The National Front in France is
A) the largest left-wing party in the legislature.
B) the party created to support Sarkozy's campaign for president.
C) the main body that directs policies that affect labor and industry.
D) an increasingly influential far-right,anti-EU party with xenophobic roots.
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Chapter 5: Germany
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Sample Questions
Q1) Has reunification succeeded in Germany? Identify the primary political,social,and economic challenges that remain.
Q2) Why did the Weimar Republic fail? Were internal or external factors more significant in its eventual demise?
Q3) The reunification of East and West Germany in 1990
A) prompted the establishment of a new regime and constitution.
B) incorporated East Germany into the West German regime.
C) incorporated West Germany into the East German regime.
D) allowed for the continuation of both regimes.
Q4) Which of the following descriptions best applies to the German state of Bavaria?
A) wealthy,strongly Catholic
B) strongly Protestant,independent
C) weak in any religious affiliation,wealthy
D) working class,multiethnic
Q5) Germany's current head of government is
A) Angela Merkel.
B) Horst Köhler.
C) Gerhard Schroeder.
D) Christian Wulff.
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Chapter 6: Japan
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain Japan's "one-and-a-half" party system.Why was that system so stable and why did that stability fracture in 2007?
Q2) Japan currently faces territorial issues with which three of the following countries?
A) North Korea,China,and the Philippines
B) North Korea,Russia,and the Philippines
C) Russia,China,and South Korea
D) Russia,Taiwan,and South Korea
Q3) Japan's nineteenth-century modernizing slogan "rich country,strong military" best reflects which one of the following political economic systems?
A) mercantilist
B) social-democratic
C) communist
D) liberal
Q4) Would you judge the reforms imposed on Japan during the American occupation successful and beneficial? Why or why not?
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8
Chapter 7: Russia
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Sample Questions
Q1) A key institution in Russia's religious and political culture is
A) Roman Catholicism.
B) Orthodox Christianity.
C) animism.
D) Protestantism.
Q2) After Stalin's death in 1953,the Soviet leadership made which of the following changes?
A) Use of centralized power was reduced.
B) Power was taken away from the Politburo.
C) The nomenklatura lost their authority over the daily life of citizens.
D) Economic control was taken away from the central planning bureaucracy.
Q3) Considering the significant power of the Russian presidency,does the national legislature serve any important independent functions in modern Russia? How has the national legislature's role evolved since 1991?
Q4) What immediately replaced the rule of the last tsar when he was finally forced to step down in 1917?
A) noncommunist republican leadership
B) Lenin's Communist state
C) dictatorship sympathetic to Germany
D) antiwar prime minster and parliament
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Chapter 8: China
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Chinese leader responsible for initiating China's post-Mao program of reform and opening was
A) Hu Jintao.
B) Deng Xiaoping.
C) Wen Jiabao.
D) Xi Jinping.
Q2) Which of the following statements about China's political culture is accurate?
A) Chinese paternalism has weakened substantially in recent decades as women have regularly accepted top CCP leadership posts.
B) The large degree with which the Chinese people have accepted CCP leadership suggests that Maoism has had a deep and lasting impact on Chinese political culture.
C) Chinese leaders today promote Confucian values as a means of increasing governmental legitimacy,even though Mao opposed Confucianism.
D) Communist control of Chinese political culture remains evident in the inability of China's rural poor to organize any serious attempts at protest and dissent.
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Chapter 9: India
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Sample Questions
Q1) In which of the following ways does the Council of States differ from the House of the People?
A) It has greater policy influence over bills that raise revenue.
B) It holds less political influence over the cabinet.
C) It has the right to introduce legislation.
D) It can force the prime minister from office with a two-thirds vote.
Q2) Discuss the several distinct advantages India brought to the endeavor of democratization.
Q3) Which of the following has been a result of greater reliance on coalition governments?
A) increased policy influence by the prime minister
B) more frequent declarations of presidential rule
C) weakened regional parties
D) devolution of power to regional parties and states
Q4) The western Indian state in which Hindu retaliatory violence killed thousands of Muslims in 2002 is
A) Amritsar.
B) Ayodhya.
C) Gujarat.
D) Delhi.
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Chapter 10: Iran
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Sample Questions
Q1) Executive power in Iran lies primarily with the
A) supreme leader and president.
B) president's Assembly of Experts.
C) supreme leader and Majlis.
D) president and the Guardian Council.
Q2) Which individual largely articulated the ideas behind the Islamic Revolution of 1979?
A) Mohammad Mosaddeq
B) Ayatollah Khomeini
C) Ayatollah Khatami
D) Reza Khan
Q3) Describe the three events in 1979 that turned public protest against the shah into a revolution.What was the United States' role in these events?
Q4) Why did the Second Khordad Front ultimately fail to bring about major reforms?
A) The prime minister ultimately opposed the party's goals.
B) It had the support of the Expediency Council but not the Guardian Council.
C) It only controlled the Majlis and the presidency,both of which were relatively weak institutions.
D) It couldn't win a majority in the Majlis and couldn't form a coalition.
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Mexico
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain the rise of the PRD in the 1988 elections,including the primary issue leading to its splintering from the PRI,its success,and also the factors leading to its decrease in popularity among the Mexican middle class.
Q2) The dominant political party in twentieth-century Mexico was the
A) Partido Acción Nacional (PAN).
B) Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI).
C) Partido de la Revolucíon Democrática (PRD).
D) Mexican Green Party (PVEM).
Q3) Why could Mexico under the PRI be described as the "perfect dictatorship"? Was the stability it brought to Mexico worth the restriction of democracy?
Q4) In which of the following ways does the Mexican Senate differ from the Chamber of Deputies?
A) Senate members are unable to serve consecutive terms.
B) The Senate has the power to approve treaties.
C) The Senate has a committee system.
D) The Senate can levy taxes.
Q5) How has the Mexican state sought to prosecute the drug war over the last few decades? What is the primary drawback of this method of combating drug trafficking?
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Chapter 12: Brazil
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Sample Questions
Q1) The two Cardoso administrations sought to assert state control over the military by
A) slashing the military budget.
B) creating a single civilian Ministry of Defense.
C) placing the selection of military commanders under the control of the legislature.
D) establishing a Truth Commission.
Q2) What has been the most controversial aspect of affirmative action in Brazil?
A) racial quotas at public universities
B) racial quotas in the state bureaucracy
C) affirmative action in the diplomatic corps
D) cash payments for indigenous workers who have lost jobs
Q3) How has the issue of race evolved in Brazilian political discourse? What has been the effect of affirmative action programs introduced in the 1990s?
Q4) The Estado Nôvo was
A) Brazil's first democratic republic.
B) a dictatorial regime led by Getúlio Vargas.
C) a breakaway coastal state.
D) a Communist dictatorship.
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14
Chapter 13: South Africa
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following was a result of the investigation of the ANC by President Mbeki's Directorate of Special Operations?
A) the effective disbanding of the Directorate of Special Operations
B) the fall of President Mbeki himself
C) the rapid strengthening of opposition parties like COPE
D) a turf war between the Scorpions and the Directorate
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 reelection.
B) 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.
C) The National Assembly is in part charged with validating the results of popular election of the president by the people.
D) 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) Over three-fourths of Nigeria's local government councils have been replaced by A) military councils loyal to the president.
B) elder councils with religious authority derived from Sharia law.
C) "temporary" caretaker committees appointed by state governors.
D) no discernible government structure,resulting in largely lawless regions.
Q2) Personal rule by an authoritarian leader bestowing privileges upon loyal followers is called
A) personalism.
B) patrimonialism.
C) atriarchy.
D) clientelism.
Q3) Nigeria's current Hausa Muslim president is
A) Olusegun Obasanjo.
B) Muhammadu Buhari.
C) Umaru Yar'Adua.
D) Goodluck Jonathan.
Q4) Describe Nigeria's international political alignment during and since independence.Why did it remain pro-Western for so long and what factor(s) nudged it toward nonalignment?
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