Chapter 1: What Is Political Science?

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. The authoritative distribution of resources is the definition and domain of ______.

a. government

b. politics

c. public goods

d. political science

Learning Objective: 1.1: Distinguish between politics and political science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Debating how easy or difficult it is for Congress or the executive branch to accomplish anything is one element of ______.

a. political science

b. organizational studies

c. politics

d. leadership studies

Learning Objective: 1.1: Distinguish between politics and political science.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Differences between Politics and Political Science

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Political science finds its origins in ______.

a. ancient Greece

b. medieval Europe

c. the Renaissance

d. the Enlightenment

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: History

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. The transition from the Medieval to the Renaissance period saw which philosophical transformation in political matters?

a. the development of ideas about justice, government, and morals

b. the understanding of religion and its role in government

c. the understanding of government as a social contract

d. the insight of politics as encompassing philosophy, law, and administration

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: History

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. The study of politics as we understand it came from which original development in ancient times?

a. the development of ideas about justice, government, and morals

b. the understanding of religion and its role in government

c. the understanding of government as a social contract

d. the insight of politics as encompassing philosophy, law, and administration

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: History

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Which of the following ideas emerged and developed during the Enlightenment period?

a. the development of ideas about justice, government, and morals

b. the understanding of religion and its role in government

c. the understanding of government as a social contract

d. the insight of politics as encompassing philosophy, law, and administration

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: History

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Natural rights are ______.

a. a set of rights that all humans have

b. an agreement entered into by members of a society agreeing to give up some rights in return for a governing structure

c. a thought experiment imagining what life and human behavior might look like in the absence of government, society, and culture

d. freedoms to be treated fairly and equally

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: History

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Asocial contract is ______.

a. a set of rights that all humans have

b. an agreement entered into by members of a society agreeing to give up some rights in return for a governing structure

c. a thought experiment imagining what life and human behavior might look like in the absence of government, society, and culture

d. freedoms to be treated fairly and equally

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: History

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. The founders of the United States of America were chiefly (though not completely) influenced by which of the following notions of politics and government?

a. the development of ideas about justice, government, and morals

b. the understanding of religion and its role in government

c. the understanding of government as a social contract

d. the insight of politics as encompassing philosophy, law, and administration

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: History

Difficulty Level: Hard

10. As a discipline, political science’s fundamental purpose is to ______.

a. establish a field of study that encompasses philosophy, law, and administration

b. inform public officials and the government of ways to improve

c. develop a systematic and scientific view of the world

d. understand social behaviors and processes

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Establishing a Discipline

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. Which of the following is a major development that characterizes political science in modern times?

a. the application of more scientifically based methods to understand the field

b. the understanding of religion and its role in government

c. the understanding of government as a social contract

d. the insight of politics as encompassing philosophy, law, and administration

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Twentieth-Century Political Science

Difficulty Level: Hard

12. The concept that all human action, and therefore political action, can be observed, quantified, and explained in an objective, scientific way is referred to as ______.

a. constructivism

b. behavioralism

c. institutionalism

d. functionalism

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Twentieth-Century Political Science

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. Institutionalism can be defined as ______.

a. the study of political institutions and how they influence individual behavior

b. the way in which institutions create normative meaning for individuals

c. the study of paths chosen or designed early in the existence of an institution and how they tend to be followed throughout the institution’s development

d. the approach that any given political actor within an institution will feel constrained or obligated by the norms and rules of the institution

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Twentieth-Century Political Science

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. The resurgence of political theory and philosophy in the 20th century and into the present day has been characterized by ______.

a. the study of institutions and how they influence behavior

b. the debate whether the purpose of political science is to produce scientific knowledge or knowledge of what is good or bad, just or unjust

c. a reconsidering of the role and purpose of the state, justice, and the social contract

d. the understanding and explanation of human and political action

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Role of Political Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. The approach that allows us to thoroughly and methodically ask a question and answer it using observational evidence is known as ______.

a. science

b. the scientific method

c. deductive reasoning

d. hypothesis generation

Learning Objective: 1.3: Examine the extent to which political science is a science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Is Political Science a Science?

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. ______ are non-exclusive, and their use does not reduce their availability to others.

a. Natural rights

b. Public goods

c. Civil liberties

d. Social contracts

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Public Goods, the Tragedy of the Commons, and Free Riders

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. The free rider problem describes ______.

a. the idea that people will not pay to participate in achieving a public good or to participate in a public interest group

b. a situation in which people overuse a good available to all thereby depleting it for all

c. the reasons why natural rights and our ability to do certain things must be protected from government

d. the practice in which not all views are considered in governmental decisions

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Public Goods, the Tragedy of the Commons, and Free Riders

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. A group of people sharing a common background, history, culture, or language living under a single governmental system is known as a ______.

a. nation

b. state

c. unified society

d. nation-state

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: States

Difficulty Level: Easy

19. Which of the following countries is an example of a TRUE monarchy?

a. Norway

b. Saudi Arabia

c. Malaysia

d. the United Kingdom

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Government

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. A governmental system that is ruled by one individual with no constraints of law, institutions, or custom is known as ______.

a. monarchy

b. authoritarianism

c. democracy

d. oligarchy

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Government

Difficulty Level: Easy

21. The style and structure of the institutions that make authoritative decisions for a society is known as ______.

a. a corporation

b. a nation

c. a government

d. a state

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Government

Difficulty Level: Easy

22. The governmental system for which inheritance by family ties is the traditional mode of political succession is known as ______.

a. monarchy

b. authoritarianism

c. democracy

d. oligarchy

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Government

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. The governmental system in which citizens vote for people to represent them is often referred to as ______.

a. direct democracy

b. indirect democracy

c. oligarchy

d. tyranny

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Government

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. Neustadt’s conceptualization that power is persuasion argues that power is ______.

a. the ability to use resources to get others to do what they otherwise would not

b. the ability to convince someone that they want to do something of their own volition

c. the resources that can be used to make others respond in a positive way to what is wanted

d. the ability to co-opt rather than coerce others to do what they otherwise would not

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Power

Difficulty Level: Hard

25. Nye defines ‘hard power’ as ______.

a. the ability to use resources to get others to do what they otherwise would not

b. the ability to convince someone that they want to do something of their own volition

c. the resources that can be used to make others respond in a positive way to what is wanted

d. the ability to co-opt rather than coerce others to do what they otherwise would not

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Power

Difficulty Level: Hard

26. Power can be generally defined as ______.

a. the style and structure of the institutions that make authoritative decisions for a society

b. the ability to get one to do something they otherwise would not do

c. a consistent and coherent set of ideas concerning politics and how a state should be run

d. the exercise by a group to enhance their status and achieve a common objective

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Power

Difficulty Level: Easy

27. An ideology may be defined as ______.

a. the style and structure of the institutions that make authoritative decisions for a society

b. the ability to get one to do something they otherwise would not do

c. a consistent and coherent set of ideas concerning politics and how a state should be run

d. the exercise by a group to enhance their status and achieve a common objective

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ideology

Difficulty Level: Easy

28. The difference between government and ideology can be best described as which of the following?

a. Ideology provides the vehicle, government provides the direction.

b. Governments determine and form ideologies that define how states are run.

c. Ideology defines forms of government and thus how states are run.

d. Government provides the vehicle, ideology provides the direction.

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ideology

Difficulty Level: Medium

29. Civil liberties are ______.

a. a set of rights that all humans have

b. the ability to do certain things that must be protected from government

c. freedoms to be treated fairly and equally that must be enforced by government

d. a set of political ideas, norms, or values in which a group of people generally believe

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, and Human Rights

Difficulty Level: Easy

30. Freedoms to be treated fairly and equally that must be enforced by government are known as ______.

a. natural rights

b. civil liberties

c. civil rights

d. human rights

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, and Human Rights

Difficulty Level: Easy

31. The notion of representation refers to which of the following?

a. the practice of all views being considered in governmental decisions

b. the agreement entered into by all members of a society to be governed

c. the idea of being treated fairly and equally

d. the broad set of ideas, norms, or beliefs in which a group of people generally believes

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Representation

Difficulty Level: Easy

32. The establishment of gender quotas in a number of European legislatures is an example of ______.

a. indirect representation

b. substantive representation

c. symbolic representation

d. descriptive representation

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Representation

Difficulty Level: Medium

33. The set of political ideas, norms, beliefs, and actions in which a group of people generally believes is known as ______.

a. social contracts

b. political culture

c. civil rights

d. ideology

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

34. In which type of political culture are people generally unaware of a central government and are rarely involved or interested in governance?

a. individual culture

b. parochial culture

c. subject culture

d. participant culture

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

35. In which type of political culture are people aware of the government and its decisions, but are relatively helpless to change or influence them?

a. individual culture

b. parochial culture

c. subject culture

d. participant culture

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

36. In which type of political culture are people aware of and can influence or change the process of government?

a. individual culture

b. parochial culture

c. subject culture

d. participant culture

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. Politics, especially those in America, have become far more polarizing and uncivil recently.

Learning Objective: 1.1: Distinguish between politics and political science.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. In a few specific cases, things in society can be connected to politics or political science in some way.

Learning Objective: 1.1: Distinguish between politics and political science.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Differences between Politics and Political Science

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Behavioralism in political science addresses the nature of politics and decision-making as subjective and irrational.

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Twentieth-Century Political Science

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. The rise of behavioralism in political science led to an increased dependence on quantitative and statistical methodologies.

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Twentieth-Century Political Science

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Institutionalists argue that the origins of political behavior lie in the rules of the game that structure people’s behaviors.

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Twentieth-Century Political Science

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Political theory in the current era is concerned with reconsidering the state, society, and the social contract.

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Role of Political Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. The observer effect and historical contingency make prediction difficult.

Learning Objective: 1.3: Examine the extent to which political science is a science.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Is Political Science a Science?

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. Though political science may concern itself with patterns of governmental or political behaviour, states are generally the main subject of study.

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: States

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. A true monarchy is one in which a state is ruled by one individual with no constraints of law, institutions, or custom.

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Government

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Ideologies are forms of government or determine how states are run.

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ideology

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. Political parties, like the Republicans or Democrats in the U.S., typically represent consistent or coherent beliefs.

Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify and discuss major concepts in political science, including the state, government, power, and ideology.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Ideology

Difficulty Level: Medium

Essay

1. What are some of the differences between politics and political science? Provide some unique examples to support your argument, which can be tied to different things in life or society around you.

Learning Objective: 1.1: Distinguish between politics and political science.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Differences between Politics and Political Science

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. Provide an overview of the evolution of political science as we know it over time, from its origins to the present day. How has each development had an effect on how we understand politics and political science?

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: History, Twentieth-Century Political Science

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Twentieth-century political science has been dominated by two general/broad approaches to understanding politics. How are they different? How are they similar? Provide some real world politics examples and make arguments as to how you think our understanding could benefit from one approach versus the other, or both.

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Twentieth-Century Political Science

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. What is the role of political theory in political science today? In what ways is it, or is it not, integral to political science? How and why?

Learning Objective: 1.2: Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history of political science.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Role of Political Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Is political science a science, or scientific? What arguments could be made in favor of the discipline being a true science? Or, alternatively, what are the reasons that political science is not, in fact, a science? Support your argument using examples of why this is the case.

Learning Objective: 1.3: Examine the extent to which political science is a science.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Is Political Science a Science?

Difficulty Level: Hard