Deck 7: Russia

Question 1

What immediately replaced the rule of the last tsar when he was finally forced to step down in 1917?

A)a noncommunist republican leadership
B)a dictatorship sympathetic to Germany
C)Lenin's Communist state
D)a Communist democratic state
E)an antiwar prime minster and parliament

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The differences in powers between different regions in Russia are referred to as:

A)unitary regionalism.
B)stochastic localism.
C)devolved federalism.
D)asymmetric federalism.
E)kleptocratic federalism.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

A key institution in Russia's religious and political culture is:

A)Roman Catholicism.
B)Protestantism.
C)Orthodox Christianity.
D)animism.
E)Islamism.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The Federation Council's primary role is to:

A)advise the president on foreign policy issues.
B)represent local interests.
C)serve as the prime minister's cabinet.
D)generate Russian legislation.
E)serve as the highest constitutional court.

Question 5

Which of the following best describes Russia's geography?

A)It has few neighboring countries and is surrounded mostly by water.
B)Most of its population is located in Siberia.
C)It has a population larger than that of the European Union or the United States.
D)It is much larger, though less populated, than the United States.
E)It lacks natural resources.

Question 6

In which of the following ways does Russia's Federation Council differ from the Duma?

A)It is capable of overriding a presidential veto, unlike the Duma.
B)It has more responsibility for protecting the letter of the constitution.
C)It produces legislation specifically for taxation and budgetary issues, but other legislative areas belong to the Duma.
D)It has control over appointment and approval of the prime minister, which the Duma lacks.
E)It lacks the power of approval over declarations of war and international treaties, which the Duma possesses.

Question 7

Civil society in Russia:

A)remains strong as a legacy of Soviet rule.
B)was weak under Soviet rule but has grown dramatically since then, reaching near-Western levels.
C)has been repressed under Putin.
D)has built and supports a vibrant and diverse media.
E)has no public support.

Question 8

How does current federalism in Russia compare to federalism prior to Putin's presidency?

A)Local governors are now directly appointed by the president and approved by local legislatures; prior to Putin they were directly elected.
B)Federalism has deepened with recently devolved power to some of the republics that are more loyal to Putin.
C)New federal districts have absorbed some of the power previously held by republics.
D)Republic governors can now serve directly on the Federation Council.
E)Federal districts are now headed by presidential appointees instead of by elected leaders, as was the case before Putin.

Question 9

In which institution does most political power lie in Russia?

A)the Duma
B)the prime minister
C)the president
D)the Federation Council
E)local government and political parties

Question 10

Historically, Russia's international identity can be described as:

A)strongly European until the Russian Revolution.
B)strongly influenced by Confucianism's spread from China.
C)uncertain as to whether it was truly a part of Europe.
D)strongly influenced by Sufi Islam and Turkish culture.
E)uncertain as to whether it was part of Asia or the Mediterranean.

Question 11

Lenin consolidated the 1917 revolution in part through the nomenklatura, which were:

A)the secret police.
B)the local Soviets that provided grassroots support to the revolution.
C)politically influential Communists who were given important jobs in the bureaucracy.
D)the mass armies used to defeat the opponents of the revolution.
E)an ethnic minority that strongly supported the revolution.

Question 12

Under Putin, economic assets have been increasingly concentrated in the hands of:

A)the European Union.
B)the oligarchs.
C)the siloviki.
D)the Communist Party.
E)China.

Question 13

Gorbachev's reforms in the 1980s relied on the policies of glasnost and perestroika, or:

A)political openness and economic restructuring.
B)demilitarization and federalism.
C)multiparty elections and constitutional reform.
D)economic reform and increased competition with the West.
E)increased military spending and increased hostility toward the United States.

Question 14

Which of the following statements about the Russian province of Chechnya is accurate?

A)Chechnya's ideological identification with the West has in large part led to the numerous invasions by the Russian military.
B)Despite its status as an independent republic under the Soviet Union, Chechnya was denied independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
C)Chechnya was able to operate as an independent country in actions, if not in formal status, during much of the 1990s.
D)Putin's harsh invasion of Chechnya resulted in his initial loss of the presidency and assuming of the role of prime minister.
E)Chechnya's Islamic population was ethnically cleansed and removed from the region during the course of the two conflicts with Russia.

Question 15

In which of the following ways does the electoral structure under Putin differ from that under President Yeltsin?

A)Access to the vote is vastly more restricted, allowing only a much smaller section of the population to cast ballots.
B)It has two rounds of voting for the Duma instead of a single round.
C)It is pure proportional representation instead of mixed PR and SMD.
D)Voters must cast ballots for individual candidates instead of for parties.
E)Voters must demonstrate registration with a specific pre-approved political party in order to cast a ballot.

Question 16

The term parties of power denotes:

A)parties built by elites to serve their personal political aspirations.
B)parties in Russia that rely on a single ethnic group for support.
C)nationalist parties in Russia that call for the restoration of the Soviet Union.
D)parties that depend on votes from the armed forces.
E)those elites that controlled the Soviet Union until 1991.

Question 17

Which of the following statements about Russia's judiciary and rule of law is accurate?

A)The public trusts law enforcement agencies but has little faith in government institutions like the presidency or the Duma.
B)The Russian Supreme Court lies at the top of the Russian legal structure.
C)Russians are largely unable to rely on the courts to resolve legal disputes.
D)Corruption in Russia has steadily declined for a decade.
E)Russia has largely eliminated the problem of "legal nihilism" that plagued it during the Yeltsin presidency.

Question 18

After Stalin's death in 1953, Soviet leadership made which of the following changes?

A)The nomenklatura lost their authority over the daily life of citizens.
B)Economic control was taken away from the central planning bureaucracy.
C)Use of centralized power was reduced.
D)Power was taken away from the Politburo.
E)The Duma was established to share legislative powers.

Question 19

Which of the following statements about Russian presidential power is accurate?

A)The president both chooses and dismisses the prime minister.
B)The president cannot dissolve Parliament in the year following parliamentary elections.
C)The president can both propose and veto bills.
D)The president can issue laws that do not require legislative approval and that cannot be challenged in courts.
E)The president appoints the leaders of all of the federal districts.

Question 20

Which of the following was the result of Gorbachev's attempt at reform?

A)increased economic growth
B)the breakup of the Soviet Union
C)democratic elections by which the Communists were returned to power
D)membership in the European Union
E)war with China

Question 21

What is the current state of the "Great Game"?

A)Russia is the only constant actor, seeking influence in Central Asia.
B)Russia competes with the United States over the Middle East.
C)Russia competes with Britain and the United States over the Middle East and Central Asia.
D)The United States is the only constant actor, with Russia having given up influence in Afghanistan.
E)Britain and Russia compete for influence over Iran.

Question 22

The Commonwealth of Independent States is:

A)an alliance of Russia, Iran, and Venezuela against "American hegemony."
B)a body used by Russia to retain influence over former Soviet republics.
C)the post-Soviet military alliance of Russia, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam.
D)the coordinating body that manages relations between the European Union and Russia.
E)the name for the European Union before it took in Russia as a full member.

Question 23

How has the Communist Party developed in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union? How is the Communist Party of the Russian Federation different from other postcommunist parties in Eastern Europe?

Question 24

What explains the recent conflicts between the West and Russia, and what can be done to limit them in the future?

Question 25

In which of the following ways has the Russian government sought to combat its demographic problems?

A)offering cash payments to westerners that immigrate to Russia
B)barring all immigration from Asian countries
C)increasing taxes on immigrants that have more than two children
D)offering cash bonuses to women who have more than two children
E)offering cash payments to nonethnic Russians that emigrate from Russia

Question 26

Which of the following statements about the Russian Constitutional Court is accurate?

A)Its members are nominated by the Duma.
B)It does not serve as a court of last appeal for criminal cases.
C)Its members are subject to 20-year term limits.
D)It has the power of concrete review but lacks the power of abstract review.
E)It cannot rule on matters of civil rights.

Question 27

Considering the extreme power of the Russian presidency, does the national legislature serve any important independent functions in modern Russia? How has the national legislature's role evolved since 1991?

Question 28

One recent event that raised concerns over Russia's foreign policy was its intervention in:

A)Azerbaijan.
B)Bosnia.
C)Pakistan.
D)Ukraine.
E)Estonia.

Question 29

What were the central factors that allowed for the 1917 revolution, and why did communism eventually fail in the Soviet Union? What legacies, if any, survive from the era of the tsars?

Question 30

Why has true democracy failed to take root in Russia since the collapse of communism? What factors do you think are most important?