Question 1

The Federation Council's primary role is to

Accepted Answer

A) generate legislation. 
B) represent local interests. 
C) serve as the prime minister's cabinet. 
D) advise the president on foreign policy issues. 
A) generate legislation. 
B) represent local interests. 
C) serve as the prime minister's cabinet. 
D) advise the president on foreign policy issues. B

Question 2

Which of the following statements about Russia's judiciary and rule of law is accurate?

Accepted Answer

A) The public trusts law enforcement agencies but has little faith in government institutions like the presidency or the Duma. 
B) The Russian Supreme Court occupies the top of the Russian legal structure. 
C) The courts in Russia often play an activist role. 
D) The Rule of Law Index ranks Russia lower than China and Iran. 
A) The public trusts law enforcement agencies but has little faith in government institutions like the presidency or the Duma. 
B) The Russian Supreme Court occupies the top of the Russian legal structure. 
C) The courts in Russia often play an activist role. 
D) The Rule of Law Index ranks Russia lower than China and Iran. D

Question 3

Civil society in Russia

Accepted Answer

A) remains strong as a legacy of Soviet rule. 
B) has been repressed under Putin. 
C) was weak under Soviet rule but has grown dramatically since then. 
D) has built and supports a vibrant and diverse media. 
A) remains strong as a legacy of Soviet rule. 
B) has been repressed under Putin. 
C) was weak under Soviet rule but has grown dramatically since then. 
D) has built and supports a vibrant and diverse media. B

Question 4

After Stalin's death in 1953,the Soviet leadership made which of the following changes?

Accepted Answer

A) Use of centralized power was reduced. 
B) Power was taken away from the Politburo. 
C) The nomenklatura lost their authority over the daily life of citizens. 
D) Economic control was taken away from the central planning bureaucracy. 
A) Use of centralized power was reduced. 
B) Power was taken away from the Politburo. 
C) The nomenklatura lost their authority over the daily life of citizens. 
D) Economic control was taken away from the central planning bureaucracy.

Question 5

What were the central factors that allowed for the 1917 revolution?

Accepted Answer

A good answer should note the disjunctur

Question 6

Which of the following was the result of Gorbachev's attempt at reform?

Accepted Answer

A) increased economic growth 
B) membership in the European Union 
C) democratic elections by which the Communists were returned to power 
D) the breakup of the Soviet Union 
A) increased economic growth 
B) membership in the European Union 
C) democratic elections by which the Communists were returned to power 
D) the breakup of the Soviet Union

Question 7

Which of the following statements about the Russian Constitutional Court is accurate?

Accepted Answer

A) Its members are subject to 20-year term limits. 
B) It does not serve as a court of last appeal for criminal cases. 
C) Its members are nominated by the Duma. 
D) It has the power of concrete review but lacks the power of abstract review. 
A) Its members are subject to 20-year term limits. 
B) It does not serve as a court of last appeal for criminal cases. 
C) Its members are nominated by the Duma. 
D) It has the power of concrete review but lacks the power of abstract review.

Question 8

Considering the significant power of the Russian presidency,does the national legislature serve any important independent functions in modern Russia? How has the national legislature's role evolved since 1991?

Accepted Answer

A good answer will note that the legisla

Question 9

In which institution does most political power lie in Russia?

Accepted Answer

A) president 
B) prime minister 
C) Duma 
D) Federation Council 
A) president 
B) prime minister 
C) Duma 
D) Federation Council

Question 10

In which of the following ways does the electoral structure under Putin differ from that under President Yeltsin?

Accepted Answer

A) It has two rounds of voting for the Duma instead of a single round. 
B) It is pure proportional representation instead of mixed PR and SMD. 
C) Voters must cast ballots for individual candidates instead of for parties. 
D) Voters must demonstrate registration with a specific pre-approved political party in order to cast a ballot. 
A) It has two rounds of voting for the Duma instead of a single round. 
B) It is pure proportional representation instead of mixed PR and SMD. 
C) Voters must cast ballots for individual candidates instead of for parties. 
D) Voters must demonstrate registration with a specific pre-approved political party in order to cast a ballot.

Question 11

What role has civil society played in Russia since the 1917 Revolution? What tools has the state used to control and limit civil society in the last two decades?

Accepted Answer

A good answer will note that Russian civ

Question 12

Which of the following statements about Russian presidential power is accurate?

Accepted Answer

A) The president both chooses and dismisses the prime minister. 
B) The president can both propose and veto bills. 
C) The president cannot dissolve Parliament in the year following parliamentary elections. 
D) The president appoints the leaders of all of the federal districts. 
A) The president both chooses and dismisses the prime minister. 
B) The president can both propose and veto bills. 
C) The president cannot dissolve Parliament in the year following parliamentary elections. 
D) The president appoints the leaders of all of the federal districts.

Question 13

Gorbachev's reforms in the 1980s relied on the policies of glasnost and perestroika,or

Accepted Answer

A) political openness and economic restructuring. 
B) demilitarization and federalism. 
C) multiparty elections and constitutional reform. 
D) economic reform and increased competition with the West. 
A) political openness and economic restructuring. 
B) demilitarization and federalism. 
C) multiparty elections and constitutional reform. 
D) economic reform and increased competition with the West.

Question 14

In which of the following ways does Russia's Federation Council differ from the Duma?

Accepted Answer

A) It has more responsibility for protecting the letter of the constitution. 
B) It is capable of overriding a presidential veto,unlike the Duma. 
C) It has control over appointment and approval of the prime minister,which the Duma lacks. 
D) It lacks the power of approval over declarations of war and international treaties,which the Duma possesses. 
A) It has more responsibility for protecting the letter of the constitution. 
B) It is capable of overriding a presidential veto,unlike the Duma. 
C) It has control over appointment and approval of the prime minister,which the Duma lacks. 
D) It lacks the power of approval over declarations of war and international treaties,which the Duma possesses.

Question 15

Which of the following statements about the Russian province of Chechnya is accurate?

Accepted Answer

A) Putin's harsh invasion of Chechnya resulted in his initial loss of the presidency and assuming of the role of prime minister. 
B) Despite its status as an independent republic under the Soviet Union,Chechnya was denied independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union. 
C) Chechnya was able to operate as an independent country in actions,if not in formal status,during much of the 1990s. 
D) Chechnya's ideological identification with the West has in large part led to the numerous invasions by the Russian military. 
A) Putin's harsh invasion of Chechnya resulted in his initial loss of the presidency and assuming of the role of prime minister. 
B) Despite its status as an independent republic under the Soviet Union,Chechnya was denied independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union. 
C) Chechnya was able to operate as an independent country in actions,if not in formal status,during much of the 1990s. 
D) Chechnya's ideological identification with the West has in large part led to the numerous invasions by the Russian military.

Question 16

A key institution in Russia's religious and political culture is

Accepted Answer

A) Roman Catholicism. 
B) Orthodox Christianity. 
C) animism. 
D) Protestantism. 
A) Roman Catholicism. 
B) Orthodox Christianity. 
C) animism. 
D) Protestantism.

Question 17

How has the Communist Party developed in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union? How is the Communist Party of the Russian Federation different from other postcommunist parties in Eastern Europe?

Accepted Answer

A good answer will note that the CPRF,be

Question 18

Lenin consolidated the 1917 revolution in part through the nomenklatura,which were

Accepted Answer

A) the secret police. 
B) the mass armies used to defeat the opponents of the revolution. 
C) the local Soviets that provided grassroots support to the revolution. 
D) politically influential Communists who were given important jobs in the bureaucracy. 
A) the secret police. 
B) the mass armies used to defeat the opponents of the revolution. 
C) the local Soviets that provided grassroots support to the revolution. 
D) politically influential Communists who were given important jobs in the bureaucracy.

Question 19

Under Putin,economic assets have been increasingly concentrated in the hands of the

Accepted Answer

A) European Union. 
B) oligarchs. 
C) Communist Party. 
D) siloviki. 
A) European Union. 
B) oligarchs. 
C) Communist Party. 
D) siloviki.

Question 20

What immediately replaced the rule of the last tsar when he was finally forced to step down in 1917?

Accepted Answer

A) noncommunist republican leadership 
B) Lenin's Communist state 
C) dictatorship sympathetic to Germany 
D) antiwar prime minster and parliament 
A) noncommunist republican leadership 
B) Lenin's Communist state 
C) dictatorship sympathetic to Germany 
D) antiwar prime minster and parliament

Exam 15: Russia

The Federation Council's primary role is to

Which of the following statements about Russia's judiciary and rule of law is accurate?

Civil society in Russia

After Stalin's death in 1953,the Soviet leadership made which of the following changes?

What were the central factors that allowed for the 1917 revolution?

Which of the following was the result of Gorbachev's attempt at reform?

Which of the following statements about the Russian Constitutional Court is accurate?

Considering the significant power of the Russian presidency,does the national legislature serve any important independent functions in modern Russia? How has the national legislature's role evolved since 1991?

In which institution does most political power lie in Russia?

In which of the following ways does the electoral structure under Putin differ from that under President Yeltsin?

What role has civil society played in Russia since the 1917 Revolution? What tools has the state used to control and limit civil society in the last two decades?

Which of the following statements about Russian presidential power is accurate?

Gorbachev's reforms in the 1980s relied on the policies of glasnost and perestroika,or

In which of the following ways does Russia's Federation Council differ from the Duma?

Which of the following statements about the Russian province of Chechnya is accurate?

A key institution in Russia's religious and political culture is

How has the Communist Party developed in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union? How is the Communist Party of the Russian Federation different from other postcommunist parties in Eastern Europe?

Lenin consolidated the 1917 revolution in part through the nomenklatura,which were

Under Putin,economic assets have been increasingly concentrated in the hands of the

What immediately replaced the rule of the last tsar when he was finally forced to step down in 1917?

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