32. The national government’s authority in Germany is constrained by:
a. the European Union and the European Central Bank, as well as the regional Länder
(state) governments.
b. only the regional Länder governments.
c. Germany’s membership in the United Nations.
d. trade unions.
political institutions, and party system within Germany.
Topic: Germany: The State
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
33. The lower house of the German parliament is the ______________.
a. Bundesrat
b. Bundestag
c. Reichstag
d. Riksdag
political institutions, and party system within Germany.
Topic: Germany: The State
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
34. The upper house of the German parliament is the ____________, with representatives
selected by _____________:
a. Bundesrat, Lander (state) governments
b. Bundestag, by the people of Lander (state) governments
c. Reichstag, by people of parliamentary district
d. Bundesrat, with members appointed according to the proportions of votes received in
national elections
political institutions, and party system within Germany.
Topic: Germany: The State
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
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35. The incorporation of the formerly Communist East Germany into the democratic and
capitalist West Germany accelerated ____________ of the latter’s party system.
a. dealignment
b. destabilization
c. devolution
d. destruction
political institutions, and party system within Germany.
Topic: Germany: State and Society
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
36. Germany’s social market economy was, in addition to high wages and benefits, notable
for its:
a. reliance on consensus and coordination among employers, unions, banks and other
interests.
b. reliance upon extensive state intervention in pricing and production schedules.
c. reliance upon nationalized industry.
d. reliance on the stock market to provide investment capital to firms that need it.
political institutions, and party system within Germany.
Topic: Germany: Political Economy
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
37. Germany fared better than most European Union member states after the recession of
2007 and 2008 because:
a. via market-friendly policies, the national government set the nation on the course to
becoming an economic market democracy.
b. the nation was well-positioned to engage in expansionary stimulus policies, given
earlier welfare state cuts and wage restraint.
c. the erosion of the social market economy was already on its way to revival.
d. the government spent the little extra money it had on job retraining and subsidies.
political institutions, and party system within Germany.
Topic: Germany: Political Economy
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
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38. In terms of physical well-being of the population, which of the following statements is
true?
a. Extreme market democracies perform the best.
b. Extreme market democracies perform the worst.
c. Social democratic countries perform the worst.
d. Christian democratic countries perform the best.
Germany.
Topic: Comparing Capabilities Among Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Germany:
Physical Well-Being
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
39. In terms of informed decision-making, which of the following statements is true?
a. Social democratic countries perform the best.
b. Christian democratic countries perform the best.
c. Extreme market democracies perform the best.
d. Extreme market democracies performed better than social democratic countries but
not as well as Christian democracies.
Germany.
Topic: Comparing Capabilities Among Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Germany:
Informed Decision-Making
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
40. Which of the following nations was shown to have the lowest homicide rate, in a
comparative study?
a. the United Kingdom, the extreme market democracy representative
b. the Christian democratic nation of Germany
c. Sweden, the social democratic model exemplar
d. Germany, the social democratic model representative
Germany.
Topic: Comparing Capabilities Among Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Germany:
Safety
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
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Short Answer Questions
41. List three main differences between welfare states in social democratic countries and
welfare states in extreme market democracies.
Topic: Social Democracy
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
42. List three main differences between welfare states in Christian democratic countries and
welfare states in extreme market democracies.
Topic: Social Democracy
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
43. Define “consensual democracy” and list three factors that make Sweden a consensual
democracy.
political institutions, and party system within Sweden.
Topic: Sweden
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
44. Explain why Germany is called a “semisovereign” state and discuss three main constraints
on the German state.
political institutions, and party systems within Germany.
Topic: Germany
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Essay Questions
45. Explain what is meant by “political models” and the main differences in the welfare states
of the political models of social democracy and extreme market democracy.
introduce the three models found among them.
Topic: Introduction
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
46. Use Sweden and the United Kingdom to explain why the consequences of welfare state
spending in the two nations for the average person’s life can be are very different.
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political institutions, and party system within the United Kingdom.
Topic: United Kingdom/State and Society
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
47. Explain how Sweden can be one of the most economically competitive countries in the
global economy despite having very high tax levels and a large welfare state.
political institutions, and party system within Sweden.
Topic: Sweden/Political Economy
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
48. Compare and contrast four main features of welfare states in social democracies and
extreme market democracies.
Topic: Extreme Market Democracy
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
49. Analyze why left-leaning parties have not fared as well in extreme market democracy
nations as is social democratic or Christian democratic countries, using relative strength of
labor and business and differences in political culture as your two main variables.
Topic: Extreme Market Democracy
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
50. Explain how the policies of the Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher’s steered the country, which once had a much larger welfare state, into more of a
market-driven society. What constituted some of her philosophy? How has her legacy
affected Britain up to the modern era?
political institutions, and party system within the United Kingdom.
Topic: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland/State and Society
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
248
51. Welfare states in social democratic and Christian democratic countries had great success in
the 1950s through the 1960s in combining high economic growth, large welfare states, and
long stretches of time when one party won election after election. Analyze why slowed
economic growth and immigration have become major threats to these kinds of welfare
states that have emerged since 1970.
model.
Topic: Christian Democracy
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
52. Analyze the ways that the governments in Sweden, Germany, and the United Kingdom
responded to the recession that began in 2007 and 2008. How might their respective policy
responses have fit, or not fit, their respective profiles as social democratic, Christian
democratic, and extreme market democratic nations?
political institutions, and party system within Germany.
Topic: Germany/Political Economy
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
53. Analyze why extreme market democracies perform worst in all four categories of
capability, and analyze whether a different way of operationally defining the capabilities
would improve the ranking of extreme market countries.
Germany.
Topic: Comparing Capabilities Among Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Germany
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
54. Critics of social democratic and Christian democratic countries say these countries’ low
levels of poverty and infant mortality have come at the expense of slow growth rates and
high unemployment. Explain which method of comparative analysis would produce the
most convincing results of a test of the hypothesis that countries with high taxes have
slower economic growth than countries low taxes. State your hypothesis and explain how
you would operationally define your independent and dependent variables.
model.
Topic: Christian Democracy
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
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