Deck 17: Violence and Revolution

Question 1

Why might even a period of prosperity bring about revolution?

A)When people move in and out of poverty, they have no hope for the future, and so see nothing to lose in rebelling.
B)When things improve for the wealthy, they start imagining an even better future. No longer content with their already luxurious lot, they want improvement faster than even a growing economy can deliver.
C)When things improve for the poor, they realize just how bad they've had it and their anger is unleashed.
D)When things improve for the poor, people start imagining a better future, and no longer content with their lot, they want improvement faster than even a growing economy can deliver.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In 1976, black students in South Africa's Soweto township protested against the issue of being forced to __________.

A)modernize
B)have no more than one child per family
C)learn Afrikaans in school
D)take part in military service

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Fighting between Arabs and Darfuris in Sudan, Sunni and Shia in Iraq, and Tibets and Chinese in Tibet are all examples of __________.

A)underground violence
B)primordial violence
C)rebellions based on Communist politics
D)self-defense

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Why did the South African government finally begin a dialogue leading to the release of Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990, among other concessions?

A)The government was running out of the money it needed to fund police and military actions against black South-Africans.
B)The escalating violence between armed black South Africans and the government
C)The escalating violence among armed black South Africans
D)The government was infiltrated by less and less-racist whites.

Question 5

How is high unemployment relevant to civil conflict?

A)Unemployed young men incline naturally to unrest.
B)The unemployed tend to be passive, keeping civil conflict at bay.
C)Unemployed mothers, desperate for their children, tend to take to the streets.
D)The unemployed tend to be uninformed about politics, and therefore rarely take part in civil conflict.

Question 6

Thousands of __________ occur in China each year in which citizens gather to protest corrupt local officials, the seizure of farmland, toxic factories, or police cover-up of crimes.

A)"mass incidents"
B)acts of enormous violence
C)"public actions"
D)upper class movements

Question 7

Despite thousands of young black South Africans being willing to risk jail or worse by taking up arms against the whites-only regime, that regime imagined for decades that the massive African majority would __________.

A)continue to rebel, but to no avail
B)simply keep their place
C)peacefully be folded into the political system
D)emigrate over time

Question 8

Until recently, Central America and Southern Africa were home to __________ violence.

A)unrecognized
B)revolutionary
C)mild
D)non-revolutionary

Question 9

Rarely the work of small bands and conspirators alone, __________ are usually the result of system collapse, which permits small but well-organized groups (often military) to take over.

A)the erosion of legitimacy
B)acts of genocide
C)dictatorships
D)coup d'état

Question 10

Thinkpieces are often justifiable because we know that many data are __________.

A)flawed
B)falsified
C)analogous
D)always based on facts rather than estimates

Question 11

Several decades ago political scientists tended to overlook __________.

A)revolutions
B)dictatorships
C)government legitimacy
D)violence and upheaval

Question 12

What was the relationship between the rough handling by army troops of World War I veterans known as the "Bonus Army" and then-President Herbert Hoover's election outcome?

A)Public support for the veterans' rough treatment helped turn the country decisively equally in support of President Herbert Hoover in that fall's election.
B)Public revulsion at the veterans' rough treatment helped force President Herbert Hoover to replace his Vice President in that fall's election.
C)Public revulsion at the veterans' rough treatment helped turn the country decisively against President Herbert Hoover in that fall's election.
D)Public support at the veterans' rough treatment helped turn the country decisively equally in support of Hoover's sending of American forces to protect American interests during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, and hence his campaign in that fall's election.

Question 13

Riots triggered by police beating youths, protests against globalization, and labor strikes against austerity are all examples of __________.

A)purely traditional violence
B)issue-oriented violence
C)violence carried out by civilian institutions of government
D)coups

Question 14

What is the most common response to serious domestic unrest?

A)Revolution
B)Coup d'état
C)Military takeover
D)UN diplomatic action

Question 15

What is the relationship between a high sense of government legitimacy among the people and police officers? Where legitimacy is high __________.

A)spending on policing is low
B)it is because there are fewer police interfering in civilian life
C)fewer police are needed
D)it is because police use a particularly heavy hand

Question 16

Describe what can often happen in a changing society when, during times of prosperity, some people get rich faster than others.

A)Jealousy is aroused.
B)Politicians pay more attention to poverty.
C)The very poor revolt.
D)Economists become confused.

Question 17

At the 1968 Democratic convention, Chicago police attacked __________ protestors, as well as many who just happened to be passing.

A)Vietnam War
B)feminist
C)anarcho-syndicalist
D)Cuban Missile Crisis

Question 18

What was the consequence of the separatist Ibo attempting to break away from Nigeria with their new state of Biafra in the late 1960s?

A)The Nigerian government defeated the Ibo, but only with assistance from a number of European nations.
B)The Nigerian government allowed the Ibo to secede without any violence.
C)The Ibo were defeated in a lengthy, costly war.
D)The Ibo were victorious in a relatively brief war.

Question 19

What did anthropologist Eric R.Wolf argue regarding societal changes?

A)The shift from simple subsistence farming to cash crops dependent on markets, landlords, and banks brings greater wealth to many peasants and yet fails to prevent them from fomenting revolution.
B)The shift from simple subsistence farming to cash crops dependent on markets, landlords, and banks impoverishes many peasants but is enough to prevent them from fomenting revolution.
C)The shift from simple subsistence farming to cash crops dependent on markets, landlords, and banks brings wealth to many peasants and turns them away from revolution.
D)The shift from simple subsistence farming to cash crops dependent on markets, landlords, and banks impoverishes many peasants and turns them from quietude to revolution.

Question 20

Why did Hubert Humphrey lose the election to Richard Nixon in 1968?

A)Specifically because he supported the feminist movement
B)Mostly because he stood against secret U.S. bombing campaigns in Laos and Cambodia
C)Largely because of his enormous support of the protestors at the convention
D)Primarily because of his ambiguous position on the Vietnam War

Question 21

Why was jealousy provoked in the Iranian people, despite the booming economy of the early to mid-1970s?

A)Economic growth was only rapid for the working class and poor people, and was lacking for the wealthy.
B)No one who wasn't already rich became rich, igniting the emotions of all the other classes of society
C)Economic growth was relatively even, and previously working class or poor people felt themselves empowered enough to engage the grudge they had from previously being underserved
D)Economic growth was uneven, with some getting rich fast, and others benefitting little to not at all.

Question 22

Why is the Middle East currently the breeding ground for considerable terrorist activity?

A)High birth rates produce many unemployed youth who are attracted to the simplistic lessons of Islamism, which has made the United States an object of hate.
B)Low birth rates produce too few citizens to keep the economy growing and poverty breeds unrest.
C)High birth rates produce many unemployed youth who are attracted to the complex lessons of Islamism, which has made other Middle Eastern nations an object of hate.
D)Low birth rates produce too few citizens to keep the economy growing, and the poor are attracted to the simplistic lessons of Islamism, which has made the United States an object of hate.

Question 23

Occupying powers in Vietnam, whether French or American, deceived themselves into thinking they had __________ villages because they were able to drive through them in armored convoys.

A)infused democracy into
B)killed enough guerillas in
C)administrative control of
D)won the battle of hearts and minds in

Question 24

A lesson learned from the Vietnam War was that while the insurgent is__________, the occupier or government is impatiently trying to substitute firepower for legitimacy.

A)planting tripwire bomb devices
B)patiently building a network to supplant the regime
C)trying to find the best possible leader for its cause
D)lobbying for international support

Question 25

Does terrorism work?

A)Rarely, and seldom without political and/or economic pressure
B)Rarely, but primarily when brought against democratic nations
C)Often, and without much need for political pressure to aid it
D)Often, but only with the assistance of economic and/or political pressure

Question 26

Preachers, teachers, lawyers, journalists, and others who deal with ideas often have a professional stake in __________ the system.

A)enriching
B)documenting
C)criticizing
D)supporting

Question 27

What is likely to happen if the people are unhappy and there is no organization to focus their discontents?

A)They will almost assuredly turn to violence.
B)Not much will happen.
C)The people will organize themselves, regardless.
D)They will eventually find other means of achieving contentedness.

Question 28

__________is a small or moderate change that essentially leaves the system intact.

A)Mass discontent
B)Reform
C)Dramatic system change
D)A coup d'etat

Question 29

How might one measure whether a genuine revolution has taken place?

A)The regime itself claims they are going through a revolution.
B)The old elites are replaces by new elites.
C)The regime is violently overthrown.
D)The state media declare a revolution has taken place.

Question 30

When the moderate Iranian, Mohammed Khatami, won the presidency his reforms were blocked because real power stayed in the hands of __________.

A)insurgents
B)Muslim liberals
C)the religious elite
D)military leaders

Question 31

Describe what happens to intellectuals during Brinton's "the old regime decays" stage of the revolution.

A)Intellectuals are alienated from the regime and turn to a proposed ideal system.
B)Intellectuals are liquidated.
C)The state intelligence agencies fold the intellectuals into their operations.
D)Intellectuals exult.

Question 32

Why are intellectuals nearly everywhere discontented with the existing state of affairs?

A)They are highly educated and acquainted with a variety of ideas, some of them utopian.
B)They are elitist and can work with neither the people nor with the government.
C)Negative people tend to be attracted to intellectual spheres of life.
D)Intellectuals are no more discontented with the existing state of affairs than the rest of the population.

Question 33

Because of its support of __________ governments in the Middle East, the United States is hated by Muslim terrorists.

A)primordial violence
B)secularism
C)corrupt and repressive
D)jihad

Question 34

Describe Harvard scholar, sociologist Theda Skocpol's recent theory on revolution.

A)Revolutions nearly always fail because states, even those that are poorly managed, simply have too much power at their disposal.
B)Revolutions primarily bubble up from below, but are usually aided by an explicitly incompetent state leader.
C)Governments caught in situations they are able to manage become distracted nevertheless, which leads to revolutions, rather than such rebellions simply bubbling up from below.
D)Governments caught in situations they cannot manage lead to revolutions, rather than such rebellions simply bubbling up from below.

Question 35

What is it that many experts believe could be the only solution to the problem of Islamist terrorism?

A)Infiltration of terrorist groups by covert operators
B)Totalitarian rule
C)Modernization
D)Pacification through military action

Question 36

Some states engage in __________, despite officially denouncing terrorism.

A)sharing intelligence with nongovernmental militias
B)"state-sponsored terrorism"
C)targeting specific groups for violence
D)democracy

Question 37

What are the aims of terrorists via their calculated acts of terrorism?

A)To panic their enemies, to gain publicity and recruits, and to get the foe to overreact and drive more people to side with the terrorists
B)To destroy as much of the economic strength of a nation as possible
C)To kill national leaders
D)To kill their enemies, to gain recruits, and to get the UN to overreact and cause more people to side with the terrorists

Question 38

What about U.S.agencies, like the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the CIA, make them so ill-prepared to fight terrorism?

A)They have extremely different missions when it comes to terrorism.
B)They are poorly funded.
C)They have a great deal of red-tape to get through in order to be able to communicate.
D)They are often unwilling to communicate with each other.

Question 39

ETA, PKK, PLO and the Tamil Tigers are all examples of __________.

A)Organizations sponsored by nations to stand in opposition to those that want their own state
B)Organizations that attempt to negotiate peace between organizations that want their own state and are opposed by nations in which they operate
C)Organizations that want their own state, and are supported by the nations in which they operate
D)Organizations that want their own state, and are opposed by the nations in which they operate

Question 40

The overthrowing of the moderates by the extremists is an example of a typical characteristic of which stage in Brinton's "stages of revolution"?

A)At first, moderates take over.
B)A "thermidor" ends the reign of terror.
C)The extremists take over.
D)The old regime decays.

Question 41

Which of the following options best describes countries before and after revolutions?

A)Before, revolutionary movements are still idealistic and convinced they will bring a better society; after seizing power, the revolutionary regime discovers it's not difficult to make an economy work.
B)Before, revolutionary movements are still idealistic and convinced they will bring a better society; after seizing power, the revolutionary regime discovers it's a lot harder to make an economy work than it thought.
C)Before, revolutionary movements believe that a truly committed regime can redo society; after seizing power, the revolutionary regime discovers its ideological ideals are impractical.
D)Before, revolutionary movements bomb and assassinate in an effort to overthrow corrupt governments; after seizing power, the revolutionary regime almost always finds itself being bombed and in the sights of assassins.

Question 42

Until recently, in Northern Ireland, terrorists killed with bombs and bullets, as a portion of the citizenry considered the government illegitimate.

Question 43

Intellectuals tend to resent people who are richer but not as smart.

Question 44

The U.S.hesitated supporting the __________ revolutions because it feared they would fall under extremist influences.

A)Cuban
B)"Arab Spring"
C)Iranian
D)"velvet"

Question 45

Hannah Arendt pointed out that rage is the fuel of revolution, but what is now the greatest cause of rage?

A)The low level of education in developing nations
B)The enormous economic mismanagement in industrialized nations
C)The extreme violence utilized by industrialized nations against developing nations
D)The massive corruption now found in the developing lands

Question 46

Prior to 9/11 few thought of using tons of jet fuel to bring down buildings.

Question 47

In practice, reforms are hard to apply to corrupt regimes because the class in power has much to lose and strongly resists.

Question 48

Islamic terrorism has hardly begun to fade.

Question 49

Attempting to correct social injustice, the Dutch Revolution became a bloody mess that ended in dictatorship.

Question 50

By the 1980s, many radical countries were trying to __________ their revolutionary systems.

A)crush
B)spread to other nations
C)back out of
D)further

Question 51

What brought about real mass unrest in the Soviet Union?

A)The fall of Soviet-supported communist regimes in Latin America
B)Brezhnev repressing the people
C)President Reagan threatening nuclear attack
D)Gorbachev admitting that things were wrong, and instituting major reforms

Question 52

"Class antagonism" can be described as certain groups feeling bypassed by the economic growth of other groups, and therefore feeling embittered.

Question 53

In France, the Revolution is still __________ more than two centuries later.

A)controversial
B)celebrated with unfettered zeal
C)not taught in schools
D)little talked about

Question 54

The Sandinistas' overthrow of Somoza in Nicaragua is an example of a peaceful revolutionary movement.

Question 55

Napoleon and Stalin are examples of __________.

A)revolutions' persistent tendency to overthrow one form of tyranny only to replace it with another
B)the partial despotism of revolutionaries being replaced by a government composed of society's elite
C)religious despots akin to Iran's Khomeini
D)largely nonviolent revolutionaries

Question 56

The United States, generally, paid little attention to the plight of poor, inner-city whites until a series of riots took place in the late 1960s.

Question 57

Why do some scholars say velvet revolutions are not revolutions at all?

A)They are not ideologically driven.
B)They fail to bring about genuine democracy.
C)They lack the ferocious qualities of violent revolutions.
D)They don't bring about real regime change.

Question 58

According to Hannah Arendt, the American struggle was indeed a revolution, perhaps history's only complete revolution, __________.

A)for it alone ended with a democratic institutions.
B)because it became an example for other nations.
C)because it managed to route what was then the great world power.
D)for it alone ended with a new foundation of liberty instead of the tyranny that came after other revolutions.

Question 59

As Russia was losing to Germany in World War II, the tsarist state collapsed, giving Lenin's small Bolshevik party a chance to grab power.

Question 60

What is the crux of radical revolutionary thinking?

A)An economic plan to back up political ideas
B)Belief that it is possible to remake society
C)Belief that violence is the key to change
D)A purely ideological motive

Question 61

What are the five types of violence, according to political scientist Fred R.von der Mehden? What are the distinguishing features of each type of violence? Are these types of violence mutually exclusive or not? Which type of violence do you think is the hardest to prevent? Why?

Question 62

The American struggle was not sidetracked by the __________ problem, so it could focus on establishing a just and durable constitution with balanced powers and political freedom

Question 63

Most twentieth-century revolutionary movements were founded and led by __________ people.

Question 64

What happens after a revolution? How is a post-revolution different than ordinary periods in the life of a nation? Provide examples.Do you agree that the American struggle was indeed a revolution? What roles do past revolutions play in the life of contemporary nations? Why are there so few revolutionary movements alive today?

Question 65

When faced with __________, a government's initial inclination is to crush it and blame a handful of "radicals and troublemaker."

Question 66

What is terrorism? How does terrorism differ from the five types of violence identified by Fred R.von der Mehden? Provide examples of acts of terrorism as well as acts that are not terrorism and explain the difference.What are the primary causes of terrorism, and what does this tell us about solutions to terrorism?

Question 67

An example of a situation starting in one issue category and __________ to another is when complaints of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo against their second-class status led successively to Albanian political parties, protests, underground groups, violence, and an armed rebellion that broke Kosovo away from Serbia in 1999.

Question 68

The Tamil fight in northern Sri Lanka, 1983-2009, is an example of what "type" of violence? Provide the characteristics of that "type" of violence.

Question 69

__________ and his followers were calm and rational in their pursuit of political goals that strike outsiders as mistaken and evil.

Question 70

In the "extremists take over" stage of revolution, even revolutionary comrades who are deemed to have strayed from the True path are __________.

Question 71

The__________, in Cambodia, in the late 1970s murdered an estimated 1.7 million of their fellow citizens.

Question 72

Why is the most common response to serious domestic unrest a military takeover?

Question 73

What are the primary indicators of the breakdown of political systems? Provide examples.How do we know systemic breakdown when we see it and distinguish it from other phenomena? Is violence always indicative of breakdown or not? Explain and provide examples.
What types of people are most likely to vote? Provide examples and explain why these groups are more likely than others to vote.Discuss their interests and abilities in your answer.

Question 74

Describe the role of intellectuals in political violence and revolution.

Question 75

Reasoning by __________ is often mistaken, as no two situations are exactly alike.

Question 76

What have been the consequences of the "Arab Spring," moving forward to the current moment?

Question 77

How was Hosni Mubarak an example of the idea that it's better to stick with the dictators you know than the revolutionaries you don't.

Question 78

In __________, British troops patrolled with automatic weapons and armored cars.

Question 79

Terrorism is difficult to fight because it falls between war and __________.

Question 80

Is modernization the most likely source of domestic unrest? Describe the various theories which link modernization and conflict, explain how these theories are different, and provide examples.Which theory do you find most convincing and why?