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28. The difference between the head of government and the head of state:
a. is that the head of state represents the country, while the head of government directs
the executive branch.
b. is that the head of government represents the country, while the head of state directs
the executive branch.
c. makes little difference for policy-making purposes.
d. is not clear in most countries.
Topic: The Executive
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
29. In recent decades, why has political power become increasingly concentrated in the hands
of chief executives?
a. Chief executives are becoming more authoritarian and have greater power to directly
influence the judicial branch to implement their laws.
b. Chief executives have more government experience than legislators.
c. Chief executives have more staff at their disposal to coordinate policy, provide
expertise, manage their image, and help them develop political strategy.
d. Chief executives embody the national interest, which permits them to take charge of
international governing bodies.
Topic: The Executive
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
30. What is one reason why core executives often have a hard time imposing their will on
bureaucrats?
a. Because core executives do not have the power to make policy, they cannot delegate
tasks to bureaucrats.
b. Chief executives can be removed from office but officials cannot.
c. Policies can be thwarted by bureaucrats, who have their own interests separate from
political executives.
d. In order to keep core executive power in check, bureaucrats are from different
political parties.
Topic: The Bureaucracy
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
44
31. The case of “Deep Throat” is an example of:
a. a high-ranking bureaucrat leaking information to weaken a president and defend his
agency.
b. a high-ranking military officer criticizing a president’s military strategy.
c. a high-ranking bureaucrat concealing information from the press to avoid
embarrassment for her agency.
d. a high-ranking military officer ignoring a president’s commands.
Topic: The Bureaucracy
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
32. According to the famous German sociologist Max Weber, an essential feature of a
bureaucracy is:
a. inefficiency and lack of accountability.
b. a bicameral structure to ensure fair representation in large, diverse countries.
c. the ability of the core executive to declare war.
d. a division of labor.
Topic: The Bureaucracy
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
33. Which of the following conditions would BEST predict the likelihood of the military
seizing control of a state?
a. knowing whether the state is strong or weak
b. knowing whether the state has a unitary or federal system
c. knowing the infant mortality rate
d. knowing whether there are constitutional constraints on the military
Topic: The Military
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
45
34. The judiciary branch of a state:
a. is a benign political institution that acts in the interests of the core executive.
b. creates laws to further its own agenda.
c. can keep dictators and tyrants in check by making them adhere to the law.
d. can nullify laws in some European countries and the United States.
Topic: The Judiciary
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
35. A person who opposes judicial review would most likely argue that:
a. it is undemocratic.
b. it prevents majorities from trampling on the rights of minorities.
c. it is desirable for judges to be able to influence policy making.
d. it is desirable for judges to be appointed for life.
Topic: The Judiciary
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
36. The judicialization of politics refers to:
a. the increasing tendency of congressional committees to challenge presidents’
Supreme Court nominees.
b. the increasing tendency for political disputes to be settled in courtrooms rather than
legislatures.
c. the increasing tendency of political parties to block nominations of judges for lower
courts.
d. the increasing tendency for courts in Europe to retreat from decisions for or against
particular political parties.
Topic: Judicialization of Politics
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
46
37. In the Comparative Political Analysis Box, political scientist Arend Lijphart describes
majoritarian democracies as having which of the following characteristics?
a. unitary systems, unicameral legislatures, weak courts, and weak core executives
b. federal systems, bicameral legislatures, judicial review, and weak core executives
c. federal systems, unicameral legislatures, weak courts, and strong core executives
d. unitary systems, bicameral legislatures, weak courts, and strong core executives
Topic: Political Institutions
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
38. In the Comparative Political Analysis section, Arend Lijphart concludes that:
a. people live better in majoritarian democracies than in consensus democracies.
b. people live better in consensus democracies than in majoritarian democracies.
c. women are more likely to be elected to office in majoritarian democracies.
d. citizens were more satisfied with political performance in majoritarian democracies.
Topic: Political Institutions
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
39. This chapter argues that strong states are better than weak states at meeting the needs of
their citizens. How does data on a state’s form of government support this hypothesis?
a. Political systems in strong states are more authoritarian than in weak states.
b. Political systems in strong states are more democratic than in weak states.
c. Militaries in strong states have less power than in weak states.
d. Strong states have bicameral legislatures, whereas weak states have unicameral
legislatures.
according to the standards of the good society.
Topic: Democracy
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
47
40. Using infant mortality to measure a state’s ability to meet the physical needs of its
citizens reveals that:
a. low infant mortality rates among weak states indicates they are the least capable of
meeting their citizens’ physical needs.
b. low infant mortality rates among strong states indicates they are most capable of
meeting their citizens’ physical needs.
c. high infant mortality rates among strong states suggests they are least capable of
meeting their citizens’ physical needs.
d. high infant mortality rates among weak states indicates they are the most capable of
meeting their citizens’ physical needs.
according to the standards of the good society.
Topic: Physical Well-Being
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Short Answer Questions
41. Define what is meant by power and list the three forms it takes, with an example of each.
Learning Objective: LO 2.2: Define power and illustrate the different cultural, economic,
and political forms it takes.
Topic: Institutions and Power
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
42. Distinguish between unitary and federal systems and explain which kinds of countries are
likely to choose each system.
Learning Objective: LO 2.5: Compare the different ways states are organized.
Topic: Federal and Unitary Systems
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
43. Explain the four reasons why the legislative branch has lost ground to the executive in almost
all democratic countries.
Learning Objective: LO 2.5: Compare the different ways states are organized.
Topic: The Legislature
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
48
Essay Questions
44. Define what is meant by the term “institutions” and explain what it means to say that
institutions are the source of both our freedoms and unfreedoms, using two specific examples
of freedoms and two specific examples of unfreedoms.
Learning Objective: LO 2.2: Define power and illustrate the different cultural, economic,
and political forms it takes.
Topic: Institutions and Power
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
45. Distinguish between power and authority. Explain why it is desirable to have authority
instead of just having power.
Learning Objective: LO 2.2: Define power and illustrate the different cultural, economic,
and political forms it takes.
Topic: Institutions and Power
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
46. Define the meaning of the state, summarize how modernization, Marxist, and realist theories
explain the origin of states, and evaluate which explanation is the most useful.
Learning Objective: LO 2.4: Define the state.
Topic: The Origins of States
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
47. Assume you are a member of a committee with the task of designing a constitution for a
large, densely populated country divided regionally into distinct ethnic groups. Distinguish
between unitary and federal states and unicameral and bicameral legislatures and explain
which combination of the two you would recommend for the country.
Learning Objective: LO 2.5: Compare the different ways states are organized.
Topic: Political Institutions
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
48. Explain two reasons why some legislatures retain more power than others.
Learning Objective: LO 2.5: Compare the different ways states are organized.
Topic: The Legislature
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
49
49. Assume that you are the chief executive of a democratic country in Europe or North America
and that you have gotten the legislature to pass a major bill cutting military spending. Explain
three reasons why you might have a difficult time getting the bureaucracies that are
responsible for implementing the change in policy to do so, and two ways you could increase
the likelihood they would implement the policy.
Learning Objective: LO 2.5: Compare the different ways states are organized.
Topic: The Legislature
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
50. Explain why militaries are more likely to accept civilian control in countries where both state
and military institutions are strong, and why they are unlikely to accept civilian control when
both state and military institutions are weak.
Learning Objective: LO 2.5: Compare the different ways states are organized.
Topic: The Military
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
51. Explain what it means to say that there has been an increasing judicialization of politics.
Provide two examples of judicialization of politics, and evaluate whether this trend is
desirable or undesirable, using two reasons to substantiate your evaluation.
Learning Objective: LO 2.5: Compare the different ways states are organized.
Topic: The Judiciary
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
53. In the Comparative Political Analysis text box, Arend Lijphart tests the hypothesis that
consensus democracies produce better results for people’s lives than majoritarian
democracies. Summarize his conclusion and how he reached it. What did Lijphart’s analysis
conclude between consensus and majoritarian democracies in terms of economic
performance? Considering the differences between these two types of democracies (unitary
vs. federal, unicameral vs. bicameral, strengths of the courts and core executives), provide
three examples that would explain why consensus democracies produce better results for
people’s lives.
Learning Objective: LO 2.5: Compare the different ways states are organized.
Topic: The Judiciary
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
50
54. Some people believe the smaller the government, the freer the people. The logical extension
of this reasoning is that people would be freest where there is no government. Evaluate this
reasoning using what you have learned about what institutions and states do. Use the case
study of Somalia for evidence to support your evaluation.
Learning Objective: LO 2.6: Evaluate the performance of strong and weak states according to
the standards of the good society.
Topic: Weak States, Strong States, and the Good Society
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
51
