Poli Sci Midterm

Human structures that are governed by rules and that have a functional organization in which each member plays a particular role, leading (ideally) to the successful achievement of some goal.

institutions

Thomas Hobbes declared the natural state of humanity, typified during the context of war, as:

solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short

The concept of false consciousness is most closely associated with which political philosopher?

Karl Marx

To which ancient Greek philosopher do we mainly owe our understanding of well-being as being either hedonistic, practical, and theoretical?

Aristotle

Can be both an intrinsic good and an instrumental good in that economic, scientific, and technological advancements can be instrumental to all the other goods but they can also enrich society more generally, relieving the condition of scarcity that is one of the causes of infringing on liberty.

development

“A court has found you guilty of intentionally burning three acres of your neighbor's land. To bring about fairness, your neighbor is authorized by the court to burn three acres of your land, no more, no less.” This statement highlights what type of justice?

lex talionis

Distributive justice is ______ to corrective justice in the sense that it determines what rights individuals possess that ought to be protected.

prior

Justice as ______ allocates roles in society purely in accordance with talent and effort.

merit

Justice as ______ seeks to address these social and natural causes of inequality by redistributing resources and status so as to give everyone an equal opportunity to make effective use of their freedoms.

fair opportunity

According to Plato, human nature can be divided into three aspects. What are they?

reason, honor, and appetites

“The government should do very little more than ensure life, liberty, and property, and promote the conditions where people can become rich if they so choose.” This statement highlights the ______ view of politics.

realist

According to Woodrow Wilson, the diffusion of power in the U.S. system is a:

negative characteristic because it hinders effective political action

According to James Madison’s argument in Federalist 10, the best manner to prevent and restrict tyrannies of the majority is to:

extend the sphere, allowing a multiplicity of interests to come together naturally

Oligarchy describes a scenario in which political power is concentrated in the hands of the:

moneyed elite

A “telos” of something, including that of government, is its:

purpose

Which thinker seeks to strengthen the power of the state?

Hobbes

What is J.S. Mill’s ideal of well-being?

individuality

What distinguishes human beings from animals, on Rousseau’s view?

freedom

“Democracy may not be perfect, but it is better than all the alternatives. It encourages identifying many problems and developing solutions creatively because the people have much input. This does not take place in monarchies or modern dictatorships, for instance.” This statement typifies which type of democracy?

epistemic

In the debates over human nature, what is one debate over what governs human action?

reason or emotion

“I mean, I could help build the park, but I’m going to get the benefits of it when it opens whether I work on it or not. So, I’ll just wait until everybody else is done building the thing and enjoy the public park at that time.” Political scientists would characterize the speaker here as a:

free rider

Unlike churches or social clubs, the political community is more effective in providing security because the political community:

uses force of coercion

As a political philosopher, Adam Smith argued that:

a country’s wealth was its overall productivity and economic output

True or False: Thomas Hobbes’s political philosophy is predicated on the belief that there are sufficient natural resources to keep all human beings alive.

false

True or False: Originalists believe that legal change should happen primarily through the courts.

false