POSC 215 Part 1
Kesselman, pgs. 18-23, C:CP4-15
The Politics of Collective Identities
True or False Questions
1. In many long-established democracies, the importance of identities based on class membership has declined, although economically-based sources of collective identity do remain significant in influencing citizens’ party affiliation and preferences about economic policy True or False
2. Identity-based conflicts appears to have disappeared with the rise of the nation-state and modernity. True or False
3. Politics in democratic regimes involves a tug of war among groups over relative power and influence, both symbolic and substantive. True or False
4. According to Alfred Stepan, there are many states in the entire world that are relatively homogeneous nation-states. True or False
5. Religion is the one area where the collective identity of a group tends to minimize conflicts. True or False
6. The meaning of democracy has rarely, if ever, been a contentious issue because political scientists have formulated some very clear-cut and precise conditions for the lay person and social scientists to embrace. True or False
7. The Chinese Communist Party monopolizes most decision making, and its leaders are chosen by self-selection rather than popular election. True or False
8. In Iran, a theocratic authoritarian regime, there are no contested multiparty elections allowed by the Islamic clergy. True or False
9. Ever since democracy was restored in 1984, following a period of harsh military rule, Brazil has compiled a solid record of democratic practice. True or False
10. For all of the problems that Putin has generated in Russia, there is one area where democracy holds true; that is, there are open and fair elections with multi-party competition. True or False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Solidarities based on the shared experience of work or, more broadly, economic position refers to: a) religious affiliation, b) ethnic cohesion, c) social class, d) nationalism.
2. We now know that the formation of group attachments and the interplay of politically relevant collective identities are: a) more willing to peaceably and pragmatically pursue their interests, b) far more complex and uncertain, c) uniquely interspersed with other more reliable institutions, d) strictly tied to the formation of the state.
3. The following country was carved out by colonial powers putting ethnic groups together with little regard to preexisting collective identities: a) Japan, b) Turkey, c) Nigeria, d) Russia.
4. One of the primary reasons for the attacks of 9/11 by Al Qaeda against the U.S. was: a) the first war with Iraq, b) the support for a Lebanese outside military force headed by the Syrians, c) the daily propaganda by Al Jazeera and other Arab media that whipped up anti-American hostility, d) the stationing of Western military forces in what is regarded as sacred territory.
5. The use of power, particularly by the state, to allocate some kind of valued resource among competing groups. a) egalitarian politics, b) welfare state, c) distributional politics, d) affirmative action.
6. He wrote that the ruling ideas of an age are the ideas of the ruling class—in other words that those with power and wealth shape the values in a society: a) John Stuart Mill, b) Karl Marx, c) Benjamin Franklin, d) Winston Churchill.
7. Approximately, how many countries are there in the world today? a) about 100, b) less 120, c) more than 200, d) more than 270.
8. A method of classifying by using criteria that divide a group of cases into smaller cases with common characteristics: a) Hypothesis, b) Typology, c) Nomenclature, d) Model.
9. Democratic political systems that have been solidly and stably established for an ample period of time and in which there is relatively consistent adherence to the core democratic principles: a) Consolidated Democracy, b) Operatic Liberty, c) Systemic Confederation, d) Democratic Centralism.
10. Countries whose political systems exhibit some democratic and some authoritarian elements: a) mixed systems, b) transparent political systems, c) evolutionary democracy, d) adaptable governments.
11. The richest 1 percent of Americans own how much of all U.S. wealth? a) one-tenth, b) one-quarter, c) one-third, d) one-half.
12. A system of rule in which power depends not on popular legitimacy but on the coercive force of the political authorities: a) Unitary, b) Federalism, c) Authoritarian, d) Confederation.
13. The authors consider the following country a consolidated democracy: a) Brazil, b) Cuba, c) India, d) Vietnam.
Fill-in Questions
1. According to Kesselman, et. al., what are the conditions that define a democracy?
a) it requires the right of ______
b) it requires an independent ______
c) it requires substantial ______equality
d) it requires some ______of the ______field
2. The term authoritarianism refers to political systems in which
a) power (or authority) is highly concentrated in a single ______,
b) a small group of ______, or
c) a single ______, ethnic group, region, or
d) ______.
3. A according to the Chinese Communist Party, the political system of the People’s Republic of China is:
a) based on “______democracy,”
b) which it claims is superior to the “______democracy” of capitalist countries
c) that favors the interests of ______citizens.
4. Since Vladimir Putin’s reelection as president in 2012, the Russian government has engaged in numerous undemocratic practices including:
a) arbitrary ______and
b) rigged ______of opponents,
c) repeated violations of the ______, and
d) extensive political ______.
Answers
True/False Questions
1. True
3. True
5. False
7. True
9. True
Multiple Choice Questions
1. c
3. c
5. c
7. c
9. a
11. c
Fill-in Questions
1. a) privacy, b) judiciary, c) gender, d) leveling, economic
3. a) socialist, b) bourgeois, c) wealthier
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