Deck 1: Understanding Underdevelopment

Question 1

Over the years,how have political scientists viewed the relationship between democracy and political development?

A) Political Scientists have never believed that a country must be democratic to be politically developed.
B) Political Scientists no longer consider democracy a characteristic of political development.
C) Political Scientists have always considered democracy a characteristic of political development.
D) Over time, more of them have considered it a characteristic of political development.
E) Over time, less of them have considered it a characteristic of political development

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Conflict theory,a branch of modernization theory,focuses on

A) the negative impact of political conflicts on developing nations.
B) the conflict between different goals of modernization.
C) the conflict between the interests of Third and First World nations.
D) increasing political instability within less developed countries.
E) the conflict between economic and social development.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

In what way did Fernando Henrique Cardoso's version of dependency theory differ from the earlier versions of that theory?

A) It stressed the importance of competition between core nations
B) It viewed dependent development as the best path to modernization
C) It showed how some countries in the periphery exploited other peripheral countries
D) It argued that in some developing nations foreign investment helps create dependent development
E) It rejected the division of countries between the core and the periphery

Answer 3

D

Question 4

A number of Sub-Saharan African countries have experienced sharp declines in life expectancy since the 1970s.What has been the major cause of that decline?

A) Increased civil warfare
B) The spread of Malaria
C) The spread of HIV/AIDS
D) Declining food production
E) Reduced foreign aid from the West

Question 5

What was a major contribution of dependency theory?

A) It placed greater stress on the importance of political development than on economic development
B) It emphasized the importance of international trade and other external factors that had previously been somewhat neglected
C) It dismissed the importance of economic factors as an influence on political development
D) It showed the negative consequences of Third World revolutions
E) It demonstrated how social and economic development go hand in hand

Question 6

According to Samuel Huntington,as countries become more economically developed

A) they become more politically stable.
B) they become less politically stable.
C) they are more likely to experience civil wars.
D) the stakes in political conflicts become greater.
E) they initially are less politically stable but tend to become more politically stable as they advance further economically.

Question 7

Which of the following regions experienced slow or even negative economic growth during most of the final decades of the twentieth century,but has enjoyed rapid growth in the past decade?

A) Latin America
B) East Asia
C) The Middle East
D) Western Asia
E) Sub-Saharan Africa

Question 8

Which of the following statements most accurately describes the pattern of income distribution within Third World and First World nations?

A) Income is almost always more concentrated within First World countries than within Third World countries.
B) Income is actually more evenly distributed within Third World countries.
C) The richer a country is, the more its national income tends to be concentrated.
D) Income is quite unequally distributed within a number of countries in both the First World and Third World.
E) Income distribution is almost always more concentrated within the poorest countries.

Question 9

Countries are defined as underdeveloped only if

A) both their political and economic systems are underdeveloped.
B) their political, economic, and social systems are all underdeveloped.
C) they are not fully integrated into the global economy.
D) they are excessively dependent on the global economy.
E) they have some aspects of economic, political, or social underdevelopment.

Question 10

Which of the following economic or social indicators offers the most accurate indication of the quality of life in a particular developing nation?

A) The GDP
B) The HDI
C) The GNP
D) The Gender-Equality Index
E) The Gini Index

Question 11

Comparisons between modernization and dependency theory reveal that

A) modernization theory suffers from economic determinism.
B) dependency theory suffers from economic determinism.
C) dependency theory overestimated the influence of political forces.
D) modernization theory ignored economic influences.
E) the two theories were more similar than originally believed.

Question 12

One of the major weaknesses of early dependency theory was that

A) it was overly pessimistic regarding the chances of development in Third World countries.
B) it failed to understand the connection between economic and political underdevelopment.
C) it overestimated the role of religion in less developed countries.
D) it ignored the importance of core nations.
E) it ignored modernization theory.

Question 13

In order to significantly increase their life expectancy,countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (including India and Pakistan)will have to concentrate most on

A) reducing infant mortality.
B) raising literacy rates.
C) fighting infectious diseases.
D) increasing the use of birth control.
E) reducing ethnic conflict.

Question 14

Which of the following terms is NOT used by political scientists or economists as an alternative to the term Third World countries?

A) Poor countries
B) Developing countries
C) Less developed countries
D) Developing world
E) Developing nations

Question 15

What did modernization theorists feel was the major cause of Third World underdevelopment?

A) Lack of investment capital
B) Failure to believe in God and the ten commandments
C) Extreme economic inequality
D) Nonproductive agricultural sectors
E) Traditional values

Question 16

One of the major weaknesses of early modernization theory was that

A) it underestimated the role of religion within developing nations.
B) it focused excessively on the political aspects of underdevelopment.
C) it was too optimistic about the ability of developing countries to modernize.
D) it underestimated the importance of economic underdevelopment.
E) it had no way of measuring different aspects of development.

Question 17

The term "Third World" was coined to encompass developing nations

A) to indicate that only a third of their populations have an adequate standard of living.
B) to differentiate them from both Western democracies and former communist countries.
C) to highlight how poor these countries are.
D) to indicate that industrial production in those countries lags behind agriculture and commerce.
E) to highlight the gap between the rich, the middle class, and the poor.

Question 18

Which of the following developing regions has the most concentrated income distribution?

A) Latin America
B) Africa
C) Asia
D) The Middle East
E) North Africa

Question 19

Which type of underdevelopment has most frequently been defined in subjective,western terms?

A) Social Developmen
B) Political Developme
C) Intellectual Developmen
D) Economic Developmen
E) Educational Developmen

Question 20

Dependentistas believe that underdevelopment is caused by

A) lack of sufficient economic ties with economically developed countries.
B) distorted cultural values.
C) exploitation by economically advanced countries.
D) their lack of stable national borders.
E) tribal and other ethnic conflicts.

Question 21

Fernando Henrique Cardoso's version of dependency theory took into account conditions within developing countries that influenced the nature of their dependency.

Question 22

Many political scientists argue that a large number of Third World countries are now overdeveloped.

Question 23

Third World countries are simply those that do not belong to the First or Second Worlds.

Question 24

Modernization theorists stressed the importance of cultural values in explaining underdevelopment.

Question 25

Governments that are legitimate

A) have strong legal systems in place.
B) are admitted to the United Nations.
C) are viewed by their citizens as having the right to rule.
D) are rarely democratic.
E) obey the law.

Question 26

Which of the following statements about Third World economies is most accurate?

A) The poorest regions of the developing world (South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa) continue to grow at a slower rate than other regions do.
B) All of the developing regions have fairly similar incomes (GDP) per capita.
C) In most countries half the population does not live beyond the age of 40.
D) South Asia had the most rapid rate of economic growth in the past decade.
E) After years of growth, gains in education have leveled off.

Question 27

The labels "Third World" and LDCs can be used interchangeably.

Question 28

Political development

A) rarely correlates with economic development.
B) rarely correlates with social development.
C) always correlates with social and economic development.
D) usually correlates with cultural development.
E) usually correlates with economic development.

Question 29

To be classified as a Third World nation,a country must be economically,socially,and politically underdeveloped.

Question 30

Which of these statements regarding the overall level of Third World poverty in recent decades is NOT true?

A) The percentage of people living below the poverty line has decreased.
B) The total number of people living below the poverty line has increased.
C) Poverty levels are highest in Sub-Saharan Africa.
D) Infant mortality rates have fallen.
E) The number of women dying during child birth has increased.

Question 31

Which region of the developing world is best known for its "economic miracle?"

A) Russia
B) South Americ
C) East Asia
D)The Middle East
E) Central America

Question 32

Early dependency theorists accurately predicted rapid industrialization in East Asia.

Question 33

Early modernization theorists erroneously assumed that "all good things go together."

Question 34

Modernization theorists believe that developing countries benefit from increased contact with industrialized nations.

Question 35

The HDI is a multi-variable measure of political underdevelopment.

Question 36

Dependency theory played a major role in U.S.foreign policy toward less developed countries during the Cold War against communism.

Question 37

One important component of political underdevelopment is political corruption.

Question 38

East Asia's per capita income is the highest among the Third World's regions.

Question 39

An income ratio compares the richest segment of society to the poorest segment.

Question 40

The United States has higher income concentration (more inequality)than a heavy majority of developing countries.

Question 41

Discuss the relationship between economic and social underdevelopment.

Question 42

What modifications have been made over the years in both dependency theory and modernization theory? What trends or developments in the Third World prompted those changes in the two theories?

Question 43

Discuss the ways in which the Third World has made significant economic and political gains in the past 3-4 decades.What are the most serious economic and political problems still facing many developing nations?

Question 44

Discuss the components of political development.Select 2-3 of those components and discuss how they are affected by a country's level of economic development.

Question 45

What are the most important differences between modernization and dependency theory?