PLS 200 Exam 1

One way of defining politics is the making of a common decision for a group of people through the use of power: True or False?

True

A good hypothesis must be testable, but does not need to be falsifiable: True or false?

False

Politics should not be studied using the scientific method: True or false?

False

Power is the ability of one person to cause another to do what the first wishes by whatever means: True or false?

True

Coercion alone does not explain bases of power: True or false?

True

We should not underestimate the importance of habit in maintaining governments in power: True or false?

True

Positive theories express what ought to be, normative theories express what is: True or false?

False

Ideologies help individuals make sense of politics and gather allies for public argument: True or false?

True

In classic liberalism, power is a bad thing, so we should limit it as much as possible: True or false?

True

American liberalism has traditionally placed more emphasis on government regulation of people's social behaviors than American conservatism: True or false?

False

American conservatism is an offshoot of classic conservatism: True or false?

False

Most Americans identify themselves as moderate or conservative: True or false?

True

Americans are now less likely to have purely conservative or purely liberal political values than in the past: True or false?

False

Classic conservatism emphasizes the importance of hierarchy and acceptance of class and other forms of domination: True or false?

True

Socialism offers a more rigid interpretation of Marxist thought than Communism: True or false?

False

The Treaty of Westphalia set a precedent for noninterference in other states' affairs: true or false?

True

The process of state formation following the Treaty of Westphalia was short and abrupt: True or false?

False

A nation is a political entity whose government has ultimate authority: True or false?

False

The passionate identification with a nation is called nationalism: True or false?

True

A public good is something that benefits all members of the community, except those who did not contribute to it: True or false?

False

According to the Montevideo Convention, one condition for statehood is that other states recognize you as a state: True or false?

False

Meeting the four criteria of statehood defined by the Montevideo Convention does not guarantee statehood: True or false?

True

Declaring independence - if supported by a majority of individuals living within a territory - ensures that an aspiring state will be recognized by the international community: True or false?

False

Somaliland receives more direct bilateral aid than Somalia does: True or false?

False

One reason that Somaliland is not recognized as a state is because the international community fears that other breakaway regions will seek independence and conflict will erupt: True or false?

True

One of the policy domains in which governments vary is education.: True or false?

True

The United States spends far less on space programs than China: True or false?

False

Government spending in most places has increased over time except in industrialized countries.: True or false?

False

Government spending in the U.K. skyrocketed at the time of WWI and WWII: True or false?

True

Democracies tend to have higher levels of government spending than dictatorships: True or false?

True

The emergence of the state as a political entity has led to major declines in the quality of people's lives in the last 150 years or so: True or false?

False

Poorer states tend to have higher government spending because they need to spend more to catch up to the rest of the industrialized world: True or false?

False

Americans are more likely than Western Europeans to believe that the freedom to pursue life's goals are more important than ensuring nobody is in need: True or false?

True

The party of the incumbent wins more votes in US presidential elections when economic growth rates are high: True or false?

True

Two central concerns when making economic policy are economic performance and foreign relations: True or false?

False

Economic growth is the change in prices from one year to the next: True or false?

False

One way governments can address inflation is by raising interest rates: True or false?

True

Countries with greater income inequality have higher infant mortality and obesity rates: True or false?

True

A country's ranking on the HDI is often higher than its GDP per capita ranking when its GDP when its rich in natural resources: True or false?

False

Globalization has limited the range of economic policies available to states: True or false?

True

Planned economies feature nationalized industries: True or false?

True

Inequality tends to be lower the more the state intervenes in economic matters: True or false?

True

In a planned economy, industries have a strong incentive to be productive and innovative: True or false?

False

Market economies protect domestic industries from foreign competition: True or false?

False

Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index uses surveys to measure whether ordinary citizens have experienced corruption: True or false?

False

One problem with perception-based measures of corruption is that pre-conceived ideas about the kinds of countries that are corrupt drive responses: True or false?

True

Decentralized corruption (roving banditry) is more economically harmful than centralized corruption (stationary banditry): True or false?

True

One way in which corruption can be economically harmful is by robbing the state of tax revenue: True or false?

True

The key to tackling corruption is to ally with those engaging in corrupt activities and give them anti-corruption training: True or false?

False

Fear of tyranny of the majority is one reason why the Ancient Greeks advocated democracy: True or false?

False

The USA is a republic, not a direct democracy: True or false?

True

Minimalist approaches to democracy view free and fair elections as a necessary and sufficient condition for democracy: True or false?

True

Both max and min approaches to democracy emphasize the importance of voter turnout: True or false?

False

Maximalist approaches to democracy are the norm in contemporary research because they are subjective and better enable analyses of cause and effect: True or false?

False

The percentage of elections in the world that are free and fair have increased since the end of the Cold War: True or false?

False

Common Policy

A decision made for a whole group of people (a POLITICAL decision)

National Policies

Policies that apply the same to all people in a country

Power

The ability of one person to cause another to do what the first wishes, by whatever means.

Coercion

Forcing someone to do something they did not want to do

Persuasion

convincing someone that that is what they really wish to do

Construction of incentives

When we make the alternative so unattractive that only one real option remains

Politics

Consists of making common decisions for a group through the use of power

Government

Group of people with ultimate authority in a certain territory

Legitimacy

Enough people believe that the government does have authority

Legitimacy by results

Gaining legitimacy by obtaining what people most want

Legitimacy by habit

People have become accustomed and complacent with the obeying government simply because they have for so long

Legitimacy by historical/religious/ethnic identity

Legitimacy because of the leaders past accomplishment or because of religious/ethnic similiarity between government leaders and it’s people

American Liberalism

• Loosely held sense of support for underdogs

• Concerns for the economic equality, human rights, and the environment

• Radical defense of freedom of expression

American Conservatism

• Emphasizes minimizing government regulation and self-reliance

• In the past few years, expanded to maintain common values of “morality” and spirituality and opposition to legalized abortion

Liberalism

• One of the 3 major ideologies to spring out of the 18th and 19th centuries

• Posits that the highest good of society is the ability of members of that society to develop their INDIVIDUAL capacities to the fullest

• Democracy is the proper form of government

• Full intellectual freedom

• Government should remain minimal with few regulations

• People should regulate their OWN economic activity

• Power of one person over another is a BAD thing

Conservatism

• A group of people creates greater happiness and meaning through its existence/maitenance as a group than its members could individually produce for themselves.

• Society should have order and structure that should let people know where they stand with each other

• Maintain religion and “standards of morality”

• Power is a binding/shaping force in good ways

• Emphasis on aiding the weak

Socialism

• Maintains the liberal ideas of equal treatment by the state/equal opportunities, but does not posit that people could develop individually and is less suspicious of the concentration of power.

• Offshoot of Marxism

• Rise of working class following industrialization

• Geared to protect labor

Marxism

• Wealth at the cost of suffering

• Classes lead to exploitation and should be abolished

• Eliminate unequal property, class domination, and exploitation

• Provide infrastructure to benefit larger society

Communism

• Revolutionary strategy

• Rigid commitment to the power of the working class

• State ownership of means of production

• Bolshevik Revolution in 1917

Fascism

• Despises intellectualism/idealogy

• Opportunist political style

• Violence and terror

• Hitler/Mussolini

• Propaganda

Neoliberalism

• Philosophy that favors free-market capitalism, minimal government intervention, strong private sector, emerged in the 1900s.

Treaty of Peace of Westphalia (1648)

One of the two events listed in the invention of the modern state

• Codified EXTERNAL SOVEREIGNTY

• State formation started to take place after

Congress of Vienna (1815)

Marking the invention of the modern states with Napolean’s work from 1800-1815

Externality

Outcome of a transaction/process that effects third parties

A State

A political unit that has ultimate responsibilty for the conduct of its own affairs

Regime

A form of government that a state has

Failed states

Geographic entities with no effective central state status

Autonomous State

The state often participates autonomously in political conflict/ decision making

Civil Society

The part of society that is organized/active but is neither controlled by the government nor focused on private concerns.

Nation

The people

Montevideo Convention (1933)

What makes a state?

• A defined territory

• A permanent population

• A government

• The capacity to enter into formal relations with other states

Industrialized Democracies

Prosperous states, usually democracies, with a per capita annual income above 25k or so.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Total amount of all economic transcations in the state

Rents

When governments in political arenas and those who are dominant within the government extract money to cushion economic blows for some people

Comparative advantage

The relative economic advantage one country has in producing items compared to other countries

Inflation

A general rise in prices, which means that currencies is woth less than previously

Central Bank

A ____ that a government establishes to help handle its transactions, coordinate the policies of private banks, and, above all, control interest rates either by lending it reserves freely or by increasing its reserves.

Progressive taxation

Takes a greater % of income from a person who is relatively well off and a smaller % from a person who is not

Regressive taxation

Higher % from poor people than from well off people