Introduction to Political Science Exam Practice Tests
Course Introduction
Introduction to Political Science provides students with a foundational understanding of the key concepts, theories, and institutions that shape political life and governance. This course explores the major subfields of political science, including comparative politics, international relations, political theory, and public administration. Students will analyze the functioning of political systems, political behavior, ideologies, and policy-making processes across different societies. By engaging with case studies and contemporary political issues, students will develop critical thinking and analytical skills essential for understanding the complex dynamics of power, authority, and civic engagement in the modern world.
Recommended Textbook
A Novel Approach to Politics 5th Edition by Douglas
A. Van Belle
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13 Chapters
518 Verified Questions
518 Flashcards
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Chapter
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is a political activity?
A)choosing not to vote
B)running for office
C)participating in a political rally
D)all of these
Answer: D
Q2) Plato pointed out that it is possible to take a bad form of government and improve it.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) The struggles that torment the characters in films such as Star Wars are reflective of our own struggles between ______.
A)idealism and realism
B)good and evil
C)rich and poor
D)Black and White
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: Why Government Security, Anarchy, and Some
Basic Group Dynamics
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements is true?
A)Individual security is the ability of a leader to hold on to power.
B)What many people call regime security,political scientists refer to as national security.
C)Security is only a marginal governmental concern.
D)Security is the ability to protect something of value.
Answer: D
Q2) Which of the following statements about group identity is false?
A)Group identification first becomes important when the members ask the crucial question of who can be a member of the group.
B)Human groups tend to be amorphous.
C)Leaders constantly try to manipulate the qualifications for group membership to achieve their own political ends.
D)Group identity is fixed;it never varies.
Answer: D
Q3) The "other" is often referred to as our allies.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter
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Sample Questions
Q1) Leaders can achieve legitimacy in any of the following ways,EXCEPT ______.
A)by a prolonged use of violence
B)by remaining in power for a long time
C)by receiving the approval of a prior leader who was believed to be legitimate
D)by convincing the public that it is in their best interest to accept their leadership voluntarily
Answer: A
Q2) Discuss the limitation of atomization with the advent of social media and provide relevant examples.
Answer: Varies depending on the student's analysis of the impact of social media on individuals.However,a strong answer will discuss what atomization is: keeping people separate and difficulties in achieving atomization on social media sites where individuals interact on a daily basis.
Q3) Using force is not very effective in the short term.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 4: Governments Role in the Economy: The Offer
You Cant Refuse
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Q1) What is one of the most important labels that can be placed on Karl Marx?
A)humanist
B)Marxist
C)capitalist
D)liberal
Q2) Available fresh,clean water is an example of a modern-day tragedy of the commons.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following represents a modern-day tragedy of the commons?
A)global warming
B)air and water pollution
C)depletion of oil (fossil fuel)supplies
D)all of these
Q4) What is the driving force of capitalism?
A)capital
B)free market environment
C)competition
D)labor
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Chapter 5: Structures and Institutions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Organizational structures through which political power is exercised are ______.
A)political institutions
B)political structures
C)political associations
D)political organizations
Q2) Foundations do not have to share characteristics.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A dictatorship is considered a perverted form of government.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Discuss how a federal governance system is the best system for a capitalist economic system.
Q5) Which of the following systems of government is not currently used by any of the world's countries,although it is used by the United Nations and the European Union?
A)a federal system
B)a unitary system
C)a confederal system
D)a federal,unitary,or confederal system
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Chapter 6: El Grande Loco Casa Blanca: The Executive in Bad Spanish
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Q1) Several forms of executive,such as 17th-century kings,are both head of state and head of government.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Executive as a structure of a political system refers to ______.
A)an entire branch of government that performs actions on behalf of the state
B)the office or position that an individual might hold
C)an individual holding an executive position
D)all of these are true
Q3) Explain the difference between the head of government and the head of state and note the important functions played by each.
Q4) The head of state functions as ______.
A)the chief legislator
B)the chief executive officer
C)the commander in chief
D)the apolitical symbolic representative of the country
Q5) Discuss the difference between a patriarchal and matriarchal hierarchy.
Page 8
Q6) Compare and contrast an authoritarian executive to a democratic executive.
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Chapter 7: The Confederacy of Dunces: The Legislative
Function Not in Bad Spanish
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Q1) A type of religious law,often associated with Islam,still practiced in some countries and regions today is ______.
A)sharia
B)Al-Qaeda
C)Islamic
D)Hinduism
Q2) At one point,U.S.presidents accumulated so much power that Arthur Schlesinger Jr.warned of which of the following?
A)an imperial presidency
B)a dynamic presidency
C)a dual presidency
D)an amorphous presidency
Q3) The imperial presidency can happen only if the legislature fails to check its rise.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Lawmaking is probably the most fundamental role that legislative institutions play.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 8: Brazilian Bureaucracy: Do I Even Need to Bother
With the Jokes
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Sample Questions
Q1) The word bureaucracy is derived from the French word for people.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In Max Weber's conception of an ideal bureaucracy,how are persons selected to work in the bureaucracy?
A)They are democratically elected by citizens.
B)They are appointed by their community and confirmed in the Senate.
C)They are selected via the spoils system.
D)They are selected on the basis of merit.
Q3) In an iron triangle,what do interest groups do to ensure that legislation is crafted according to their preferences?
A)legislate
B)raise funds
C)lobby
D)make policy
Q4) Rules in Max Weber's ideal bureaucracy are necessary to ensure ______.
A)red tape and confusion
B)inflexibility and inequity
C)efficiency and fairness
D)equality of outcomes
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Chapter
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Sample Questions
Q1) The key difference between laws on the books and laws in action is ______.
A)the jurisdiction of the law enforcement
B)the interpretation of the meaning of the law
C)the intention of the lawmaker
D)there is no difference
Q2) Which of the following types of law does the textbook argue does not really exist?
A)federal law
B)state law
C)criminal law
D)international law
Q3) Identify the various types of jurisprudence that have competed for authority in the United States and briefly note their main features.
Q4) A governmental monitoring function of the courts,which lends legitimacy to government,is the power of ______.
A)prosecution
B)injunction
C)investigation
D)persecution
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Chapter 10: Not Quite Right,but Still Good: The Democratic
Ideal in Modern Politics
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Q1) Despite a representative democracy at the national level,the United States experiences direct democracy across all state governments.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which ancient Greek city-state was a direct democracy?
A)Sparta
B)Carthage
C)Athens
D)Madrid
Q3) Winston Churchill once said,"Democracy is the worst form of government,except for all those other forms." Explain some of the criticisms that have been made of democracy (Plato and Aristotle had some good ones),and then explain why,in spite of these issues,democracy remains a very powerful idea and ideal.
Q4) While initiatives themselves may not make it beyond the ballot,they often have positive results in ______.
A)bringing legislative attention to issues
B)causing legislative blocking of issues
C)prompting the issuance of executive orders
D)bringing national attention to issues
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Chapter 11: Media,Politics,and Government: Talking Heads
Are Better Than None
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Sample Questions
Q1) Not all conflicts are made up of two reasonably equal sides.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How can a journalist's efforts to provide both sides of a story work to distort reality?
Q3) The seeming collusion between the news media and elites is best explained by ______.
A)a vast conspiracy
B)the alien abduction model
C)the mutual exploitation model
D)the mutual assured destruction model
Q4) The mutual exploitation model concerns the relationship between which of the following two groups?
A)the news media and elites
B)the news media and protest groups
C)the news media and public interest groups
D)the news media and the attentive public
Q5) Describe the mutual exploitation model and explain how elites and the media benefit from their relationship with each other.
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Q6) Define and explain the difference between experiential and agreement reality.
Chapter 12: International Politics: Apocalypse Now and Then
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Q1) Anarchy is most commonly assumed to be the underlying dynamic of international politics.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is the only consistent theme likely to be found in fiction about the causes of war?
A)The decision to go to war is consciously made by one of the participants.
B)War is inevitable.
C)War is the result of conspiracies among elites.
D)War is accidental.
Q3) The theoretical construct of idealism provides the best example of how international politics operates in an anarchic environment.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In both balancing and bandwagoning,the key is compromise.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Explain Kant's concept of democratic peace.
Q6) What is a hegemon?
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Chapter 14: Political Culture: Sex and Agriculture, Getting
Rucked Explains It All
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Sample Questions
Q1) Of the following,which best describes New Zealand's position with regard to U.S.foreign policy?
A)New Zealand most closely resembles Great Britain in its unyielding willingness to support U.S.foreign policy decisions.
B)New Zealand simply ignores what the United States does and pretends that the United States does not even exist.
C)New Zealand believes it has a moral obligation to defy the United States when the United States acts geostrategically at the expense of democratic and liberal ideals.
D)New Zealand is more closely aligned with China than it is with the United States.
Q2) What factor limits New Zealand's lack of cable television infrastructure?
A)geography
B)economics
C)philosophy
D)politics
Q3) Define the term agent of political socialization and provide three examples of such agents.
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