Political Institutions and Processes
Review Questions
Course Introduction
This course offers an in-depth examination of political institutions and the processes through which they operate in various governmental systems. Students will explore the structure, functions, and interrelationships of key institutions such as legislatures, executives, and judiciaries, as well as the role of political parties, interest groups, and electoral systems. The course also investigates how these institutions shape policy outcomes, the dynamics of power and accountability, and the impact of institutional design on democratic governance, stability, and representation. Through comparative analysis, students will gain a nuanced understanding of how institutional arrangements influence political behavior and public policy across different contexts.
Recommended Textbook
Cases in Comparative Politics Sixth Edition by Patrick H. ONeil
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14 Chapters
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420 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Introduction
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Sample Questions
Q1) Political scientists use which term to describe the norms and rules regarding individual freedoms and collective equality,the locus of power,and the use of that power?
A) political regime
B) constitution
C) government
D) federal regime
Answer: A
Q2) Describe the major types of nondemocratic regimes.Discuss how nondemocratic governments use co-optation to support their regimes?
Answer: A good answer will list several major types of nondemocratic regimes-personal dictatorship,military regime,one-party regime,theocracy,communist,illiberal,and totalitarian.Additionally,a good answer will describe how co-optation-members of public in a beneficial relationship with the state-may take the form of clientelism,corporatism,or rent seeking.
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Chapter 2: United Kingdom
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Q1) Which of the following statements accurately describes results of the 2015 elections as they relate to the smaller British parties?
A) The SNP demonstrated surprising strength in the 2015 election,nearly sweeping all of Scotland's 59 seats in Parliament.
B) The United Kingdom Independence Party won increased support for its anti-EU platform,but it still holds only five seats in Parliament.
C) The showing of the Liberal Democratic Party made the best case in a half century for the viability of a three-party system.
D) The Liberal Democrats,who had maintained a coalition government with the Conservatives,were able to earn greater support by riding on the popularity of the Conservative Party in the 2014 elections.
Answer: A
Q2) The English Civil War resulted in a victory for
A) Catholic supporters.
B) the monarchy.
C) supporters of Parliament.
D) peasant laborers.
Answer: C
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Chapter 3: United States
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Q1) In which of the following ways does a 527 organization differ from a political action committee?
A) A 527 organization must remain strictly nonpartisan in its funded issue advocacy.
B) A 527 organization serves as a vehicle for corporations and trade unions to support individual candidates.
C) There are no limits on what a 527 organization can spend,as long as it directly supports a candidate or party.
D) A 527 organization is more tightly regulated by federal campaign finance law,but it is also allowed to make higher donations to political campaigns.
Answer: C
Q2) What branch of the government did the framers of the Constitution intend to be the dominant one?
A) executive
B) judiciary
C) legislature
D) none; separation of powers were intended to make them equal
Answer: C
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Page 5
Chapter 4: France
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Q1) What has led to conflicts over laïcité?
A) homeschooling
B) creationism
C) the head scarf
D) refusal by some students to sing the national anthem at school
Q2) How has France handled the issue of assimilation versus multiculturalism in recent decades? Is laïcité the right policy? Why or why not?
Q3) Which of the following was a founding principle of the French Revolution and creation of the French state that was absent from the principles of the American Revolution?
A) a strong central state
B) republicanism
C) commitment to a set of individual rights
D) separation of church and state
Q4) Charles de Gaulle's political legitimacy rested in part on his
A) having descended from Napoleon's family.
B) role in bringing the Reign of Terror to an end.
C) role in the resistance movement during World War II.
D) religious credentials.
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Chapter 5: Germany
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Q1) The Weimar Republic
A) collapsed in the face of rising Nazism in the 1930s.
B) sponsored German reunification in the 1990s.
C) fostered German industrialization in the 1890s.
D) replaced Nazi rule in the 1950s.
Q2) Which of the following was a major contributor to the electoral trouncing that Merkel's Conservative-Liberal government suffered in the 2011 Baden-Württemberg state elections?
A) increased taxes on corporate interests backed by the party
B) Merkel's refusal to intervene in the Libyan civil war
C) general anti-EU sentiment among the working class
D) Merkel's reluctance to shut down nuclear power plants
Q3) Which of the following statements about East Germany is accurate?
A) It was a (forced) Communist ally of the USSR.
B) It was far more affluent than West Germany.
C) It was a founding member of the European Union.
D) It became a cornerstone of the NATO alliance.
Q4) What are the consequences of Germany's mixed electoral system for the political makeup of parliament and the legislative process?
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Chapter 6: Japan
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Q1) Which of the following is the best description of the period known as Taisho democracy?
A) feudal-era localized democratic experiments
B) political system imposed on colonies by imperial Japan
C) elitist democracy practiced in Japan today
D) short-lived era of democratization during the 1920s
Q2) Which of the following descriptions best characterizes the nature of Japan's postwar party system?
A) two-party system
B) long-term domination by a single party
C) fragmentation across nearly a dozen small parties
D) series of alternating coalitions from the left and the right
Q3) Which of the following best describes the components of the Yoshida Doctrine?
A) focus on domestic economic recovery and reliance on American military protection
B) replacement of state corporatism with more liberal economic policies
C) abandonment of agricultural and corporate subsidies
D) a turning away from foreign interventions and a focus on domestic political development
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Chapter 7: Russia
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Q1) The Federation Council's primary role is to
A) generate legislation.
B) represent local interests.
C) serve as the prime minister's cabinet.
D) advise the president on foreign policy issues.
Q2) What role has civil society played in Russia since the 1917 Revolution? What tools has the state used to control and limit civil society in the last two decades?
Q3) Lenin consolidated the 1917 revolution in part through the nomenklatura,which were
A) the secret police.
B) the mass armies used to defeat the opponents of the revolution.
C) the local Soviets that provided grassroots support to the revolution.
D) politically influential Communists who were given important jobs in the bureaucracy.
Q4) How has the Communist Party developed in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union? How is the Communist Party of the Russian Federation different from other postcommunist parties in Eastern Europe?
Q5) What were the central factors that allowed for the 1917 revolution?
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Chapter 8: China
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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) The party faces serious political opposition from several other popular parties.
C) Party membership is formally required for ascension to top posts.
D) Top party leaders are subject to election by popular vote restricted to party members.
Q2) Coastal capitalist enclaves established during the late 1970s as part of reform and opening were known as
A) special economic zones.
B) duty-free districts.
C) kaifa.
D) entrepôts.
Q3) How has the political culture changed in China from pre-communist times to present day? How has China blended Confucian and Maoist (communist) ideology? What obstacles exist for studying political culture in China?
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Chapter 9: India
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Q1) Which of the following statements about the Aam Aadmi ("Common Man's") Party (AAP) and the fight against corruption is accurate?
A) The anticorruption populist movement began in large part as a result of several scandals committed under the BJP single-party rule that replaced a string of more transparent coalition governments.
B) Although the watchdog bill advocated by the AAP was eventually passed,it was far inferior to the version desired by civil activists.
C) The AAP ultimately had much better success in national elections than in regional parliamentary elections.
D) The AAP only lasted 49 days in office before being voted out in early elections.
Q2) Explain the caste system and its influence on Indian society.How did British colonialism use the caste system and what were the effects after independence?
Q3) Discuss the several distinct advantages India brought to the endeavor of democratization.
Q4) What is the modern legacy of the ancient patterns of division and settlement between Indo-Aryans and the Dravidians in India?
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Page 11
Chapter 10: Iran
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Q1) What kind of electoral system does Iran use for the Majlis and Assembly of Experts?
A) single-member district
B) proportional representation
C) mixed proportional representation and single-member district
D) single-member and multimember districts
Q2) Which of the following powers is among those possessed by the president of the Iranian Republic?
A) vetoing legislation
B) dissolving the legislature
C) selecting a cabinet of ministers
D) controlling the military
Q3) Some note that Shiism resembles Christianity in its
A) belief that baptism can cleanse a person of past sins.
B) belief in a religious figure that will return to the world and restore faith and justice.
C) inherently political nature.
D) veneration of Jesus and Mary.
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Chapter 11: Mexico
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Q1) Mexico's current legislative-executive system is
A) presidential.
B) semi-presidential.
C) parliamentary.
D) authoritarian.
Q2) One of President Felipe Calderón's chief priorities was
A) land reform.
B) combating drug cartels.
C) nationalization of private enterprise.
D) opposition to U.S.foreign policy.
Q3) 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) It raised tariffs on agricultural imports but lowered them on manufactured goods.
D) It maintained relatively low labor costs that benefited Mexican entrepreneurs.
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Page 13
Chapter 12: Brazil
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Q1) Brazil's monarchy ended
A) after a bloody civil war deposed the monarch.
B) when a referendum voted against the monarchy.
C) when the king went into exile rather than face a coup d'état.
D) when the king died without an heir.
Q2) Describe the origins of Brazil's significant social and economic inequality.What was the role of the sugar trade in this development?
Q3) 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.
Q4) Describe the three main problems of Brazil's economy-inflation,public debt,and unemployment.Has democratization had a positive effect on these problems?
Q5) Democratization in Brazil during the 1980s resulted from
A) a gradual,controlled process.
B) a popular uprising.
C) the rapid collapse of the military.
D) foreign intervention.
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Chapter 13: South Africa
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Q1) South Africa's strongest opposition party is the
A) Congress of the People.
B) Democratic Alliance.
C) Inkatha Freedom Party.
D) African National Congress.
Q2) The most powerful house of the South African legislature is called the
A) Tribal Authority.
B) Executive Chamber.
C) National Council of Provinces.
D) National Assembly.
Q3) Which of the following was a controversial policy of President Thabo Mbeki?
A) his policy regarding HIV/AIDS
B) his involvement in African peacekeeping
C) his bitter opposition to Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe
D) his attempt to ban opposition political parties
Q4) South Africa currently uses which electoral system?
A) pure proportional representation
B) single-member district with plurality
C) single transferable vote
D) mixed single-member district and proportional representation
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Nigeria
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Q1) Nigeria's Fourth Republic has been characterized by A) successive peaceful democratic elections.
B) successive military coups.
C) the establishment of a parliamentary legislative system.
D) devolution of authority to regional legislatures.
Q2) What is the relationship between local state governments and the larger national government in Nigeria?
A) State governments must agree on and approve the president,who in turn assumes most of the executive power of the national government.
B) State governments have received advanced devolution of power in recent decades,taking over a lot of the administration of local natural resources.
C) State governments have little autonomy and are mainly recipients of patronage from central government officials.
D) Block voting by state governments in the legislature's upper house has allowed state coalitions to capture the legislative process on some occasions.
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