Deck 18: Transitions to Democracy

Question 1

Which statement best summarizes the fundamental argument in Hernando do Soto's work?

A) Economic assets are meaningless without the appropriate legal framework to recognize and develop them.
B) The poor are wrongfully suppressed by the wealthy.
C) The creation of property rights will bring squatters out of poverty
D) Without a legal framework and proper regulation, the poor are a drain on the system.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

What explanation would Francis Fukuyama most likely give for the difficulty in establishing liberal democracies in Iraq or Afghanistan?

A) The military capacity of these countries is not strong enough to protect citizens from outside threats.
B) Not enough people are voting in elections.
C) Access to judiciaries is limited, making accountability difficult.
D) Not enough time has passed for the development of an institutional balance.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Who wrote The Mystery of Capital?

A) Amartya Sen
B) Karl Marx
C) Hernando de Soto
D) Samuel P. Huntington

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Where is the Balkan Peninsula?

A) India
B) Turkey
C) Sri Lanka
D) southeastern Europe

Question 5

What was Peter Frank referring to with the words "unshakable structure"?

A) al-Qaeda
B) the U.S.A.
C) Islamic fundamentalism
D) the former Soviet Union

Question 6

Which term refers to the process by which democracy takes root and becomes formalized?

A) consociationalism
B) concurrent majority
C) consolidation
D) direct democracy

Question 7

According to Larry Diamond,what is much of the developing world now characterized by?

A) chaos
B) anarchism
C) authoritarianism
D) predatory states

Question 8

According to authors such as Larry Diamond and Iris Marion Young,which of the following is NOT necessary in the transitional process or in a full-fledged practising democracy?

A) a strong civil society
B) democratic dialogue
C) state institutions
D) an educated elite

Question 9

According to Larry Diamond,what state has the world slipped into?

A) chaos
B) totalitarianism
C) a democratic recession
D) an economic depression

Question 10

Which of the following examples fits closest with the argument of Iris Marion Young?

A) the assassination of Benazir Bhutto
B) the conflict between Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka
C) the corruption of Robert Mugabe
D) the military coups of Latin America

Question 11

Which of the following situations would Larry Diamond NOT use as an example of democratic recession?

A) A democratically elected president gives family members key political appointments.
B) A developing country is unable to afford public goods such as roads, infrastructure, and schools.
C) A politician gives a government contract to his brother-in-laws's company
D) Armed government forces are present at polling stations to intimidate voters.

Question 12

What was Amartya Sen's argument about economic development?

A) It must expand human capabilities and the real freedom that people enjoy.
B) What the poor need is a property system that can convert their work and savings into capital.
C) It has led the world into a democratic recession.
D) It has come under the control of corrupt elite.

Question 13

Given international experience with fraudulent elections,which of the following would best indicate that elections were free and fair?

A) Over 50% of registered voters turn out to the polls.
B) Voters come from all groups of society, not just the cultural majority.
C) An opposition party peacefully transitions into the governing party.
D) The incumbent ruler wins re-election and remains in power

Question 14

Which term refers to the phenomenon of strong and parochial ties between ethnic,religious,and national groups that leads to the disintegration of the political order due to conflict among such groups?

A) Balkanization
B) anarchy
C) consociationalism
D) fundamentalism

Question 15

Which term refers to the successful transition to democracy?

A) democratic surplus
B) democratization
C) constitutionalization
D) nationalization

Question 16

What argument did the book The Third Wave make?

A) The world has slipped into "a democratic recession."
B) Government should abandon the old ideas of the left (who want to expand the state) and of the right (who want to shrink it).
C) Democratic state institutions have important virtues for promoting social justice.
D) We are in the midst of a great epoch of democratization that began in 1974.

Question 17

Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from Benazir Bhutto's writing?

A) Religions with values similar to democratic values are of little threat to liberal democracy.
B) Islam is mostly incompatible with liberal democratic government.
C) A return to traditional, fundamentalist beliefs will end the conflict within Islam.
D) All religion poses challenged for liberal democracy.

Question 18

An important example of the rule of law is the principle that the government cannot incarcerate individuals and let them languish in prison; they must be charged and tried in court or released.What is the term for this principle?

A) consociationalism
B) habeas corpus
C) jus sanguinis
D) stare decisis

Question 19

Which of the following examples would best support Seymour Martin Lipset's argument about democratization?

A) Robert Mugabe's controversial electoral victory in 2008
B) Larry Diamond's observation that authoritarian governments reward friends and horde wealth for personal gains.
C) Samuel Huntington's claim that we are in the third wave of democratization.
D) Iris Marion Young's theory about social fragmentation.

Question 20

After rigorous debate in the legislature,which included statements from special-interest and minority groups,a proposed government bill on banking regulations is defeated in the House of Commons.What is this an example of?

A) free and fair elections
B) strong civil society
C) economic development
D) the rule of law

Question 21

Some people refer to globalization as the "McDonaldization" of the world.

Question 22

In 1988,Benazir Bhutto became the first woman to serve as head of government in an Islamic country.

Question 23

A large group of protestors march in front of the legislature to protest anti-democratic policies concerning privacy rights of citizens.In which way is this a sign of a healthy liberal democracy?

A) It is proof that the government is accountable to the people.
B) It is evidence of a strong, politically involved civil society.
C) It speaks to the economic development of the country.
D) It makes use of human capital.

Question 24

It is not simplistic to assume that overthrowing autocratic regimes will lead to democracy.

Question 25

Amartya Sen,a Nobel Prize-winning author in economics,argued that economic development must expand "human capabilities" and the "real freedom" that people enjoy.

Question 26

In his book,The Third Wave,Amartya Sen argued that government should abandon the old ideas of the left (who want to expand the state)and the right (who want to shrink it).

Question 27

Most political scientists agree that an election is the only peaceful method through which citizens of a polity can change their government.

Question 28

According to Samuel Huntington,we are in the midst of a great epoch of democratization,which began in 1974.

Question 29

Larry Diamond's idea of a predatory state describes countries like the U.S.A.and their history of imperialism.

Question 30

According to Howard Wiarda,what do we need in order to fully understand democratic transitions?

A) more military involvement
B) greater control and centralization of media functions
C) a set of "democracy" categories to help us define culturally conditioned moments in democratic transition
D) more social science experimentation

Question 31

The principle that gives governments the right to indefinitely incarcerate alleged terrorists without charge is known as habeas corpus.

Question 32

Another word for the successful transition to democracy is democratization.

Question 33

Larry Diamond has suggested that by 1995 there were as many as 117 democracies around the world.

Question 34

Which former Prime Minister of Pakistan wrote a book on the struggle between Muslim factions and explained how this struggle could have profound implications on Pakistan's democracy?

A) General Pervez Musharraf
B) Benazir Bhutto
C) Amartya Sen
D) Morgan Tsvangirai

Question 35

The process by which democracy takes root and becomes formalized is called consolidation.

Question 36

Whose ideas align most closely with Larry Diamond's theory of "democratic recession" and "predatory states"?

A) free and fair elections
B) the rule of law
C) ethnic and religious toleration
D) Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel

Question 37

According to Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel,what is the most serious violation of effective democracy?

A) elite corruption
B) globalization
C) communism
D) underdevelopment

Question 38

The phenomenon of strong and parochial ties between ethnic,religious,and national groups that leads to the disintegration of the political order due to conflict among such groups is called Balkanization.

Question 39

The Tamil Tigers are a secessionist movement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Question 40

After the 2008 elections in Zimbabwe,Robert Mugabe refused to concede defeat to Benazir Bhutto.

Question 41

There are four impediments to democratic transition: ____________ violence,religious___________,para- ___________ groups,and ___________.

Question 42

Does violence help or hinder the transition to democracy?

Question 43

In his book,The Mystery of Capital,__________ argued that "what the poor are missing are legally integrated __________ systems that can convert their work and savings into capital." And in his writings,the Nobel Prize-winning author in economics Amartya __________ argued that economic development must expand "human capabilities" and the "real _________" that people enjoy.

Question 44

Seymour Martin _________ noted a correlation between _________ and economic development and argued that growth depends on "sound,stable __________."

Question 45

Define and explain the significance of civil society in the successful transition to democracy.

Question 46

In 1988,Benazir _________ became the first woman to serve as head of government in an Islamic country,namely _________.

Question 47

The realm of organized social life that is open,voluntary,self-generating,and autonomous from the state is known as ___________.

Question 48

Define and explain the significance of economic development in the transition to democracy.Why might new democracies struggle with this aspect of democratization?

Question 49

Is the transition to liberal democracy enhanced or undermined by globalization? Does democracy need a capitalist economic system?

Question 50

What are the prospects for democratization in the newly industrialized or non-Western societies?

Question 51

There are four crucial components to democratic transition: constitutions and the ____________,free and fair___________,strong and viable ___________,and ___________.

Question 52

The only peaceful method through which citizens can change their government is free and fair _______.It is another crucial component of democratic _______.

Question 53

How does corruption affect the transition to democracy? Use examples in your answer.

Question 54

Explain why free and fair elections are so important for democratization.Offer an example of an election that has helped a country make a transition to democracy.

Question 55

A number of commentators have suggested a connection between democracy and economic development.Compare and contrast their views.Include the ideas of Amartya Sen and Hernando de Soto's arguments in his The Mystery of Capital.

Question 56

Why is it so difficult to build democracies throughout the world? What institutions would be necessary to enhance democracy?