Deck 2: States

Question 1

Which of the following lists Max Weber's three forms of political legitimacy?

A)traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal
B)traditional, charismatic, and technocratic
C)technocratic, democratic, and authoritarian
D)authoritarian, rational-legal, and charismatic
E)authoritarian, democratic, and revolutionary

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Thomas Hobbes believed that people gave up their rights to the coercive power of the state in order to:

A)seek greater equality between peoples.
B)have the power to elect their leaders.
C)gain religious freedom.
D)escape anarchy.
E)escape authoritarianism.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following statements about the development and spread of the modern state is accurate?

A)Many states were able to use ethnicity as a nationalizing force even as people began to define themselves less through characteristics like religion or town of residence.
B)Most colonial states that threw off European power attempted to reject the state as the primary organizing model of government and society.
C)The rapid spread of states reduced the ability of individuals and groups to eliminate political rivals, leading to greater political violence.
D)The increased warfare resulting from the rise of modern states in Europe restricted technological innovation for centuries.
E)China's inability to forge a powerful state structure before Europe led to its marginalization in world affairs for over a thousand years.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following might be a characteristic of a state with low autonomy?

A)a limited ability to disobey the public
B)freedom from a state of "capture"
C)government pursuit of the best interests of the country, despite public opinion
D)a lack of influence by private individuals
E)a tendency to resist the interests of well-organized groups

Question 5

What phenomenon is most responsible for bringing the organization of the modern state into adoption by most of the world?

A)increased international commerce and trade
B)imposition by European states through colonial dominance
C)the spread of philosophical treatises by European thinkers
D)a centuries-long process of wars and indigenous development of the state
E)consultation and negotiation with international organizations like the United Nations

Question 6

Recent research suggests that the rise of political organizations came about in large part because:

A)of the rise of monotheistic religions.
B)pre-state societies were extremely violent.
C)of writing as an innovation.
D)of the expansion of slavery.
E)of climate change.

Question 7

Asymmetric federalism refers to a system in which power is divided unevenly between:

A)federal departments or authorities.
B)regional bodies.
C)federal and judicial authorities.
D)national and federal bodies.
E)elected and nonelected officials.

Question 8

The shorthand term for the combination of regime, state, and government is:

A)nation.
B)people.
C)country.
D)territory.
E)federalism.

Question 9

In which of the following ways does a government built primarily on charismatic legitimacy differ from one based on traditional legitimacy?

A)Charismatic legitimacy is much more likely to transform into rational-legal legitimacy.
B)Charismatic legitimacy has a better chance of being institutionalized.
C)Charismatic legitimacy would likely be much shorter-lived.
D)The legitimacy of a charismatic system is less likely to end when the leader leaves office.
E)Charismatic legitimacy increases in power more from length of office than does traditional legitimacy.

Question 10

Which of the following can be said about the relationships among states, regimes, and governments?

A)The regime consists of either leaders elected by democratic means or leaders who took control by force.
B)States are more institutionalized than governments.
C)Governments are more institutionalized than regimes.
D)Governments tend to be longer-lived than regimes.
E)The state can be considered the machinery that operates the regime.

Question 11

An endogenous explanation of early urbanization and state building would suggest that:

A)religious authorities took the initiative to form early political institutions.
B)early communities formed, settled, and then built political institutions.
C)early forms of political institutions developed simultaneously with early communities.
D)early forms of political leadership existed well before humans settled into patterns of urbanization.
E)state building also occurred among hunter-gatherer groups that remained nomadic.

Question 12

Which of the following was a key characteristic of the first modern states that emerged from the European Dark Ages?

A)reduced urbanization
B)expansion of the serfdom/farming model
C)greater concentration of wealth in the hands of lords
D)less authoritarian power in the hands of a centralized government
E)increased domestic stability

Question 13

Government can be defined as:

A)a body that monopolizes violence, such as the army and police.
B)the leadership that runs the state.
C)bureaucrats who manage the paperwork and policies of the state.
D)any individual elected to office.
E)a form of democracy.

Question 14

Sovereignty is defined as the ability of:

A)individuals to vote freely in elections without restriction by the state or external actors.
B)individuals to depend on laws and regulations to be enforced with impartiality.
C)states to carry out actions or policies within a territory independent of external actors or internal rivals.
D)states to influence other actors in the international system by means of physical, cultural, or economic force.
E)modern democracies to encourage participation.

Question 15

Which of the following is most likely a reason for the emergence of the modern state in Europe rather than in another region?

A)the absence of significant internal geographic boundaries
B)the guidance of the Roman Empire in government formation
C)the presence of impressive farming and war-making technologies
D)a widespread collapse of law and civilization and the rise of a form of organized crime
E)the presence of a relatively homogeneous population

Question 16

Which of the following can be said about the concept of a regime?

A)Regimes form the machinery of politics that generate policy.
B)Regimes are least susceptible to change by short-term, dramatic events like revolts or crises.
C)Regimes are most often transformed slowly by the evolving legislative and social preferences of citizens.
D)The differences between regimes are most likely to be unwritten and informal, though they can appear in written constitutions.
E)The most basic division among regimes is between the egalitarian regime and the socially unequal one.

Question 17

Political scientists, based on the work of Max Weber, define the state as:

A)a small regional unit within a country, found only under federalism.
B)an elected official of a country.
C)an organization that maintains a monopoly of violence over a territory.
D)the basic rules and norms of politics.
E)any condition that leads to political action.

Question 18

An institution that is recognized and accepted as right and proper by the public is seen as:

A)sovereign.
B)legitimate.
C)absolutist.
D)rational.
E)despotic.

Question 19

The emergence of the modern state is closely tied to which of the following specific developments?

A)the rise of the Chinese Empire
B)the collapse of the Roman Empire
C)the expansion of European empires around the globe
D)the development of the Mayan and Incan empires
E)the development of monotheism

Question 20

The development of the modern state in Europe was partly encouraged by:

A)linguistic and ethnic fragmentation.
B)the leadership of the Holy Roman emperor.
C)lucrative trade with Africa.
D)climate change.
E)the Crusades.

Question 21

What are the most important components that make up the regime of the United States? What are the formal, written elements, and what elements are informal and unwritten?

Question 22

Why do we have states? Would it be possible for people to live without them? If states disappeared in the future, what would replace them?

Question 23

Modern states are built primarily on what form of legitimacy?

A)traditional
B)charismatic
C)technocratic
D)rational-legal
E)revolutionary

Question 24

Do you live under a weak or strong state? Is it either too weak or too strong? Why?

Question 25

Which of the following characteristics is more likely to be seen in a unitary state than in a federalist state?

A)asymmetric division of power between regional bodies
B)exacerbated ethnic conflict
C)limited local policymaking
D)devolution of taxation to regional bodies
E)weakened state efficiency

Question 26

A small state government successfully makes major changes to its public education policy out of belief that it is the best thing for the people, even though the public largely opposes the new policy.At the same time, the state proves largely incapable of maintaining law and order or providing food and medical care in a region that is suffering through a drought.In which of the following ways could this state be categorized?

A)failed state
B)high capacity, high autonomy state
C)low capacity, high autonomy state
D)high capacity, low autonomy state
E)low capacity, low autonomy state

Question 27

Capacity can be defined as the:

A)ability of the state to wield power in order to carry out the basic tasks of providing security and reconciling freedom and equality.
B)ability of the state to use its legitimacy to raise revenue and encourage adherence to rules and regulations.
C)state's ability to influence international actors through either military force or diplomatic means.
D)level of economic modernization of a country.
E)ability of a state to develop policy based on the preferences of its electorate.

Question 28

Devolution is a process by which states:

A)reduce the size of their bureaucracy.
B)increase their autonomy.
C)increase their capacity.
D)move power from the central state to local levels.
E)break up into several smaller countries.

Question 29

Autonomy can be defined as the ability of the state to:

A)wield power independent of the public or international actors.
B)influence international actors through diplomacy and war.
C)wield power without relying on elections or other democratic means.
D)influence public opinion.
E)hold regular elections.

Question 30

Describe Weber's three forms of political legitimacy.Is one of them more associated with the modern state than the others? Briefly describe how each element is represented in the U.S.government.

Question 31

Which of the following statements about the process of devolution is accurate?

A)Devolution has decreased in popularity over the last century due to resulting violence among ethnic groups.
B)Devolution has most often been used to enhance the legitimacy of ethnic groups.
C)Devolution sometimes, but not often, leads to a change from a unitary to a federalist structure.
D)Devolution most often results in a transformation to a federalist structure.
E)States often devolve power to gain legitimacy but retain the same amount of power in the central government.

Question 32

Which of the following statements about Pakistan's slide toward state failure is accurate?

A)Pakistan's lack of a central government at the time of formation may have contributed to its continued weakness.
B)Central authority in Pakistan is too strong, leading to the formation of rebellious military groups on its borders.
C)Constant warfare has led to a weak Pakistani military that is unable to provide sufficient state support.
D)The first Pakistani leadership regime was too strongly institutionalized after independence.
E)The state maintains too tight a monopoly over the use of violence and economic assets in the country.

Question 33

The United States is a good example of a state with:

A)high capacity but low autonomy.
B)low capacity but high autonomy.
C)high capacity and high autonomy.
D)low capacity and low autonomy.
E)high democracy and low capacity.

Question 34

The text suggests that the difficulty of amending the U.S.Constitution is evidence of the power of:

A)rational-legal legitimacy.
B)traditional legitimacy.
C)modern bureaucratic "red tape."
D)federalism.
E)charismatic legitimacy.

Question 35

How is power typically divided in a federal system? What conditions in a country are most likely to lead to a system of asymmetric federalism?