Deck 8: Political Culture and Political Behavior

Question 1

Political parties are different from interest groups in that they

A) lobby for particular policies.
B) actually govern the country.
C) contest elections and nominate candidates for office.
D) rally their members to vote.
E) conduct information campaigns.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Party discipline

A) is a feature associated with nondemocratic countries.
B) is generally higher in Europe than in the United States.
C) will be higher if there are primary elections.
D) makes politics more unpredictable.
E) is enforced through referendums.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

An example of a single-issue party is

A) the French Communist Party.
B) the German Social Democratic Party.
C) the Dutch Party for Animals
D) the Swedish Christian Democratic Party.
E) the British Conservative Party.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The iron law of oligarchy

A) applies to nondemocratic countries.
B) suggests that inequality will increase as societies grow.
C) suggests that concerns about electoral laws affect the number of parties in a system.
D) is about relations among branches of government.
E) is about how organizations become more bureaucratic and less democratic over time.

Question 5

Dealignment is a sign that

A) people are becoming more alienated from politics.
B) people are becoming more conservative.
C) power is becoming concentrated in the hands of elites.
D) catch-all parties are gaining more adherents than single-issue parties.
E) xenophobia is on the rise.

Question 6

Which parties would be classified, according to the textbook, as on the Left?

A) Communists and Social Democrats
B) Greens and Liberals
C) Liberals and Communists
D) Christian Democrats and Communists
E) Social Democrats and Christian Democrats

Question 7

The Left tends to favor all of the following EXCEPT

A) higher taxes.
B) more regulations.
C) equality.
D) minority rights.
E) a greater role for religion in public life.

Question 8

The "Third Way" refers to

A) movement by parties of the Right to the center.
B) movement by parties of the Left to the center.
C) the changes since 1989 in the communist parties in Eastern Europe.
D) the rise of post-materialism.
E) the tension between cosmopolitans and nationalists.

Question 9

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, many communist parties

A) have associated themselves with the idea of the "Third Way.".
B) have surprisingly won more votes in elections in Western Europe.
C) have renamed themselves and become more social-democratic.
D) have been part of coalition governments in France and Germany.
E) have abandoned communism in favor of nationalism.

Question 10

In addition to the environment, Green parties have also focused on

A) minority rights.
B) lower taxes.
C) slowing down European integration.
D) preventing immigration.
E) lobbying for state ownership of property.

Question 11

Leaders associated with the "Third Way" include

A) Chirac and Berlusconi.
B) Blair and Schröder.
C) Merkel and Schröder.
D) Thatcher and Anzar.
E) Gorbachev and Thatcher.

Question 12

Christian Democratic parties tend to

A) reject core elements of the welfare state.
B) favor establishment of a state religion.
C) be the most anti-Muslim and antiimmigrant parties in Europe.
D) accept the idea that societies have an obligation toward the poor.
E) reject notions of consensual politics.

Question 13

The Freedom Party in Austria and Danish Peoples' Party are examples of

A) liberal parties.
B) social-democratic parties.
C) far-right parties.
D) conservative parties.
E) communist parties.

Question 14

Far-right parties distinguish themselves on the basis of what political cleavage?

A) Class
B) Religion
C) Post-materialism
D) Cosmopolitanism versus nationalism
E) Urban/rural divides

Question 15

What statement is most true about liberal parties?

A) They favor more government regulation.
B) They occupy the far-left of the political spectrum.
C) They are very concerned about immigration.
D) They occupy the political center.
E) They are dominant in many European states.

Question 16

Because most European countries have parliamentary systems,

A) political campaigns tend to be very long and expensive.
B) voter turnout is larger than in the United States.
C) parties must be ready for elections at any time.
D) there are more political parties than in the United States.
E) extremist parties have a good chance of winning parliamentary seats.

Question 17

Since the 1990s, voter turnout

A) has declined most markedly in post-communist countries.
B) has declined uniformly across all European countries.
C) has stayed about the same across the continent.
D) has risen most markedly in post-communist countries.
E) has risen uniformly across the continent.

Question 18

In 2007 elections, French voters opted for the presidential candidate that

A) had the strongest platform against immigration.
B) favored raising the minimum wage.
C) favored withdrawing from the EU.
D) favored free market reforms.
E) was the most anti-American.

Question 19

Volatility in party systems

A) has been consistently low.
B) was high in the past but has declined since the 1990s.
C) was relatively low in the past but has increased since the 1990s.
D) is lowest in post-communist Europe.
E) is strongly influenced by the EU.

Question 20

Volatility in party systems is related to what concept?

A) The iron law of oligarchy
B) Dealignment
C) Cosmopolitanism
D) Subsidiarity
E) Post-materialism

Question 21

The Jobbik party in Hungary

A) has been a leading party in Hungary since the fall of communism.
B) is an example of a post-materialist party.
C) is an example of the volatility of post-communist political systems.
D) won the most votes in 2010 elections.
E) is a revival of the old communist party.

Question 22

Since the collapse of communism,

A) a center-right coalition has consistently won elections in Poland.
B) a center-left coalition has consistently won elections in Poland.
C) hard-line communists continue to do well in Polish elections.
D) the party system in Poland has been very unstable.
E) Poland has been ruled by the Polish Peoples' Party.

Question 23

Silvio Berlusconi became the Italian prime minister after 2008 elections thanks to

A) his record of honesty and integrity.
B) his past record as a successful reformer.
C) his promise to pull Italian troops out of Iraq.
D) his personal charisma.
E) a swing in the Italian electorate to the left.

Question 24

What did the Liberal-Democratic party accomplish in the 2010 election in Great Britain?

A) It won seats in Parliament for the first time.
B) It received more votes than any other party.
C) It came in second.
D) It won enough seats to deny a majority to one of the two major parties.
E) Its leader became prime minister.

Question 25

Political campaigns in Europe are different from those in the United States in all of the following ways EXCEPT

A) they are less expensive.
B) parties receive state funding.
C) parties are given a quota of advertisements on TV.
D) there is less reliance on polling.
E) European political parties are better at getting their supporters to vote.

Question 26

Most Europeans say they trust political parties.

Question 27

The iron law of oligarchy is affected by the level of dealignment in a country.

Question 28

Parties of the Left tend to be more secular than those on the Right.

Question 29

Class remains the best predictor of an individual's political orientation.

Question 30

Green parties tend to perform best in northern Europe.

Question 31

Among the different types of parties, xenophobic far-right parties seem to be growing the fastest.

Question 32

Liberals in European countries are socially liberal and favor free markets.

Question 33

France's National Front is an example of a liberal party.

Question 34

Conservative parties tend to have a more pro-business orientation than Christian-Democratic parties.

Question 35

Shadow cabinets are a sign that the political system has become corrupt.

Question 36

Explain how different types of political cleavages in Europe are manifested in different types of political parties.

Question 37

What does it mean that European political parties are not highly "Europeanized"? Why might this be so?

Question 38

Some contend that the rise of far-right, xenophobic parties is a threat to democracy in Europe. Do you agree?

Question 39

What general changes have occurred in European party systems in the past two decades? Pick one country and describe the dynamics of its party system.

Question 40

Analyze a recent election in Europe in terms of political cleavages, types of parties, the main issues in the election, and what accounts for the outcome.