Deck 16: The Challenge of a New Millennium

Question 1

The most visible alternative to the democratic model is provided by which state?

A)Russia
B)Iran
C)China

Answer 1

China

Question 2

How is Evangelical Protestant Christianity best described?

A)It played no political role in Western societies.
B)It declined and almost disappeared in the United States.
C)It spread in Latin America, in part because of the Catholic Church's conservative position on several social issues.

Answer 2

It spread in Latin America, in part because of the Catholic Church's conservative position on several social issues.

Question 3

The End of History and the Last Man claims that while not perfect, the systems most effective in satisfying most human aspirations are which of the following?

A)Enlightened despotism and mercantilism
B)Communism and state socialism
C)Capitalism and liberal democracy

Answer 3

Capitalism and liberal democracy

Question 4

Rainforest destruction has proceeded most rapidly in which countries?

A)The United States and Canada
B)Brazil and Indonesia
C)Russia and Eastern Europe

Question 5

"McWorld culture" refers to which of the following?

A)Worldwide popularity of hamburgers
B)The global influence of Western popular culture
C)Popularity of a particular brand of computer

Question 6

Which of the following policies did Russia follow from the early 2000s?

A)A return to autocratic rule and a program of military expansion in former Soviet republics
B)A commitment to political democracy despite serious resistance from conservative ex-soviet officials
C)A period of confusion and near civil war as two rival governments vied for people's loyalties

Question 7

Which economic system most openly accepts the idea of materialism and private property?

A)Communism
B)Capitalism
C)Socialism

Question 8

Globalization has been opposed in the United States for what reason?

A)Companies have tended to offshore unskilled and low-skilled jobs instead of hiring locally.
B)Globalization typically results in slower customer deliveries.
C)Global economic connections are too complex to regulate effectively.

Question 9

According to many observers, why has capitalism proved so resilient?

A)It historically has performed better, longer than other ideologies.
B)It has inherent positive traits that create conditions for a better life.
C)It matches most closely natural human economic instincts.

Question 10

The "green revolution" refers to which of the following?

A)Genetically modified crops intended to improve food yields, especially on marginal farmlands
B)The rise of environmentally conscious political parties in Europe
C)A trend from the 1990s of embracing consumerism and materialism in the West

Question 11

Obstacles to meeting the challenge of global warming include all except which of the following?

A)A consensus among scientists that global warming is the result of natural rather than human actions
B)Unwillingness of most countries to take unilateral action
C)The lack of cooperation among advanced and developing nations

Question 12

Globalization made the economic downturn of 2008 harder for what reason?

A)World leaders' inability to insulate their peoples from the fluctuations of the marketplace
B)Immigration stopped
C)Outsourcing forced workers to move to other countries to maintain their jobs

Question 13

The highest levels of industrial pollution are found today in which country?

A)China
B)The United States
C)Japan

Question 14

What expectations did many in the West have for life after the end of the Cold War?

A)That liberal democracy and capitalism would become the global norm
B)That the West would increasingly lose its relevance
C)That new problems of terrorism and ethnic conflict would fill the void

Question 15

Globalization has been supported in the United States for what reason?

A)Industry is dependent on the importation of raw materials and reduction of labor costs.
B)Globalization should reduce the number of immigrants entering the country.
C)Global economic connections often create new jobs in developing countries.

Question 16

It is predicted that by 2050 the world's population will change in which of the following ways?

A)It will reach 9 billion.
B)It will decline to 7 billion.
C)It will remain stable at 6 billion.

Question 17

Who is the author of The End of History and the Last Man?

A)Alvin Toffler
B)Francis Fukuyama
C)Samuel P. Huntington

Question 18

Alvin Toffler's Third Wave refers to which of the following?

A)Agricultural Revolution
B)Industrial Revolution
C)Technological Revolution

Question 19

What realities did the world seem to be experiencing after the end of the Cold War?

A)New conflicts but mostly peaceful and trade-related
B)Relatively few new conflicts but some attempts to overthrow governments
C)A return to older conflicts centered around ethnicity

Question 20

A general economic slowdown at the beginning of the new century led to all except which of the following problems?

A)Rising unemployment
B)Growing resentment of recent immigrants
C)Inflation

Question 21

Why has capitalism started to lose its allure in many people's eyes in the recent decades?

A)Worse performance and financial crises, coupled with slowing or stagnant wage growth and growing wealth inequalities
B)Better performance in new sectors coupled with poor performance in others, leading to large numbers of layoffs
C)Shifting preferences in people's habits of consumption

Question 22

In the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, which American president envisioned a coming era of peace and international cooperation that he labeled the "new world order"?

A)Jimmy Carter
B)Ronald Reagan
C)George H. W. Bush

Question 23

Which of the following is the best summary of the scientific consensus on climate change as of May 2019?

A)Climate change is finally slowing, thanks to global efforts to reduce emissions.
B)Climate change is accelerating and widening its scope because current efforts to reduce emissions have been insufficient.
C)Climate change is perhaps less of a problem than initially thought, according to new measurements and observations.

Question 24

How have the economic policies of the Obama administration and the Trump administration differed?

Question 25

How have European governments been affected by the economic slowdowns and crises of the early twenty-first century?

A)These challenges have undercut the financial basis of European welfare programs, yet Europeans are committed to maintaining them as social rights.
B)These challenges have caused European welfare programs to become very unpopular, leading to resistance to centrist governments.
C)These challenges left many Europeans unable to afford to pay for welfare programs on their own.

Question 26

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of the technological revolution as it continues in 2019?

A)Autonomous manufacturing systems powered
B)Artificially intelligent software assisting or replacing human decision-making
C)Virtual reality entertainment experiences

Question 27

How did the Trump administration attempt to stimulate economic growth in the United States?

A)Proposing a revision to tax law to cut taxes on the wealthy and on businesses in the hope that beneficiaries would invest in the U.S. economy
B)Freezing wage growth to allow struggling companies a chance to improve their financial health
C)Outlawing immigration for economic purposes so that more jobs would return to Americans

Question 28

Which of the following is NOT a leading reason for global migration in the past ten years?

A)Wars and violent conflicts
B)Government-assisted emigration schemes
C)Food or resource insecurity caused by climate change

Question 29

In what way has the Trump administration departed from conventional policies for promoting economic growth in capitalism economies?

A)Suspending tax credits for foreign businesses operating in the United States
B)Putting up trade barriers to prevent the free flow of goods into and out of major U.S. markets
C)Preventing U.S. companies from hiring too much foreign labor

Question 30

What was the "New World Order"?

Question 31

Which EU country was most reluctant to assist other countries during the 2008 economic collapse?

A)Germany
B)Spain
C)United Kingdom

Question 32

What was the U.S. minimum wage in 2019?

A)$10.25 per hour
B)$21.00 per hour
C)$7.50 per hour

Question 33

Which of the following have dramatically improved public health throughout the world, reducing infant mortality by nearly 50 percent?

A)Improved literacy
B)Vaccines
C)The Internet

Question 34

How did the global financial crisis of 2008 affect confidence in capitalism?

Question 35

Why were some liberal democracies compelled to cut funding to some social programs in the late twentieth century?

Question 36

How have lower wages helped Asian economies become competitive?

Question 37

What is the "blue revolution"?

A)A new wave of political support for centrist and left-leaning politicians in the United States
B)A project started by world health organizations aimed to increase public knowledge of basic sanitary practices
C)An initiative intended to increase food production from the world's bodies of water

Question 38

What is the best description of liberal democracy?

A)A system of politics in which all people have the right to participate in government and can live however they choose so long as it is within the rules decided on by people via the government
B)A system of politics that limits government to the smallest it can possibly be and encourages individual self-reliance over cooperation and compromise for the good of the community
C)A system of politics in which the government rules on behalf of the people and pursues policies intended to encourage conformity to a single ideal to increase the power of the state

Question 39

What challenges did 9/11 present to the liberal democratic world?

Question 40

In what region is the highest concentration of the world's poorest people?

A)The Hubei Province of China
B)The U.S. South
C)Sub-Saharan Africa

Question 41

What were the Kyoto Protocols of 1997, and why are they significant?

Question 42

Why do most agree that populist, far-right-wing movements are a threat to liberal democracies?

Question 43

What factors explain the resurgence of fundamentalist religious groups?

Question 44

How is the Internet being integrated into industrial processes?

Question 45

How has wage growth helped developing economies? How has it worked against developing economies in a global context?

Question 46

How has the Internet changed the format and consumption of music?

Question 47

How did the United States respond to the global financial crisis? What have been the results of this response?

Question 48

How are world population growth and climate change related to the contemporary migrant crisis?

Question 49

Why has populism generally been regarded as a threat to constitutional government?

Question 50

According to recent figures, how many people are illiterate?

A)1.4 billion
B)800 million
C)3.6 billion

Question 51

Where are the highest concentrations of impoverished people?

Question 52

Why are Russia's and China's foreign policies understood to have undermined the promise of the "New World Order"?

Question 53

Describe some causes for the growth in rates of contemporary migration.

Question 54

How have changes to the family unit been experienced differently across different societies and countries?

Question 55

During the first decade of the century, in the United States, the rich experienced which of the following?

A)They struggled under massive tax codes.
B)They got richer due to large tax cuts.
C)They saw their wealth decline while the poor gained access to better jobs.

Question 56

What is the importance of the green revolution?

Question 57

Why have far-right-wing political movements generally been regarded as a threat to liberal democracy?

Question 58

How important has the development of AI and autonomous systems been to the technological revolution occurring in industry? Why?

Question 59

What is automation, and why is it significant?

Question 60

What were the Paris Climate Accords of 2015, and why are they significant?

Question 61

Describe the current consensus on climate change. How has this consensus changed over the past decade?

Question 62

The financial crisis of 2008 was caused by all except which of the following?

A)Excessive taxation
B)Collapse of a housing bubble
C)Lax government regulatory procedures on lending

Question 63

By the end of the twentieth century, how is the "East Asian miracle" best described?

A)It continued to outperform the West in economic production and profits.
B)It had become less miraculous after the financial crisis of 1997.
C)It was led by Japan's continuing strong economic performance.

Question 64

How have technology and social media affected the quantity and quality of social connections in the past two decades?

Question 65

Many observers claim that the world's economy will follow which of the following routes?

A)It will revert to preindustrial formations as consumer demand plummets.
B)It has entered a postindustrial period in which manufacturing is no longer the most important part of an economy.
C)It has achieved an ideological equilibrium, leveling the playing field across the globe.

Question 66

What are the effects of the Internet-powered commodification of culture? What tensions have these effects created?

Question 67

The book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide argues which of the following?

A)Societies that do not treat women as equals are missing out on a tremendous economic opportunity.
B)Women are typically only capable of about half as much productivity as men.
C)Improvements in technology have finally allowed women to become more equal to men.