Question 1

To a comparativist, which would be of more value: discovery of a correlation or discovery of a causal relationship? Why?

Accepted Answer

A) correlation, because it demonstrates more empirically that two variables are interrelated 
B) causal relationship, because it describes a more concrete, specific relationship between two variables 
C) correlation, because it is more valuable for quantitative research findings 
D) causal relationship, because it is more valuable for qualitative research findings 
E) neither, as both terms describe essentially the same relationship between two variables 
A) correlation, because it demonstrates more empirically that two variables are interrelated 
B) causal relationship, because it describes a more concrete, specific relationship between two variables 
C) correlation, because it is more valuable for quantitative research findings 
D) causal relationship, because it is more valuable for qualitative research findings 
E) neither, as both terms describe essentially the same relationship between two variables B

Question 2

In which of the following ways did behavioralism differ from modernization theory?

Accepted Answer

A) It was more of a method than a general hypothesis. 
B) It was more in touch with real-world concerns than theory. 
C) It put less of an emphasis on empirical research. 
D) It demonstrated a more narrow geographic range of interest. 
E) It put greater emphasis on the evolution of political institutions. 
A) It was more of a method than a general hypothesis. 
B) It was more in touch with real-world concerns than theory. 
C) It put less of an emphasis on empirical research. 
D) It demonstrated a more narrow geographic range of interest. 
E) It put greater emphasis on the evolution of political institutions. A

Question 3

An institution can be defined as any:

Accepted Answer

A) organization or activity that is self-perpetuating and valued for its own sake. 
B) large, monolithic organization that depends on a core bureaucracy and a set of standard operating procedures. 
C) object or value that people support through public funds. 
D) organization or action that is subject to government regulation. 
E) spontaneous movement that is unable to sustain itself. 
A) organization or activity that is self-perpetuating and valued for its own sake. 
B) large, monolithic organization that depends on a core bureaucracy and a set of standard operating procedures. 
C) object or value that people support through public funds. 
D) organization or action that is subject to government regulation. 
E) spontaneous movement that is unable to sustain itself. A

Question 4

Which of the following is true of the concept of political institutions?

Accepted Answer

A) Strong institutions generate good norms and values; weak institutions generate negative or destructive ones. 
B) Baseball and soccer are considered to be national institutions in the United States. 
C) U.S.democracy is an institution in both the formal and informal sense. 
D) Most countries lack common formal political institutions. 
E) When taxation is "institutionalized," tax evasion often increases as a result. 
A) Strong institutions generate good norms and values; weak institutions generate negative or destructive ones. 
B) Baseball and soccer are considered to be national institutions in the United States. 
C) U.S.democracy is an institution in both the formal and informal sense. 
D) Most countries lack common formal political institutions. 
E) When taxation is "institutionalized," tax evasion often increases as a result.

Question 5

The substance of politics is inevitably bound up in the struggle between:

Accepted Answer

A) individual freedom and collective equality. 
B) individual rights and collective responsibilities. 
C) equality of opportunities and equality of outcomes. 
D) liberty versus security. 
E) revolutionary versus evolutionary change. 
A) individual freedom and collective equality. 
B) individual rights and collective responsibilities. 
C) equality of opportunities and equality of outcomes. 
D) liberty versus security. 
E) revolutionary versus evolutionary change.

Question 6

Which of the following served as a major modern turning point for the study of comparative politics?

Accepted Answer

A) World War I 
B) the Great Depression 
C) the American Civil War 
D) the birth of the United Nations 
E) the growth of European countries as colonial powers 
A) World War I 
B) the Great Depression 
C) the American Civil War 
D) the birth of the United Nations 
E) the growth of European countries as colonial powers

Question 7

Modernization theory can be defined as the view that:

Accepted Answer

A) few countries will ever modernize and embrace democracy. 
B) as societies develop, they will become capitalist democracies. 
C) each country and region will modernize in a different way, each with a different result. 
D) significant change is possible only through revolution. 
E) the only way to modernize is to apply scientific methods to policy problems. 
A) few countries will ever modernize and embrace democracy. 
B) as societies develop, they will become capitalist democracies. 
C) each country and region will modernize in a different way, each with a different result. 
D) significant change is possible only through revolution. 
E) the only way to modernize is to apply scientific methods to policy problems.

Question 8

Which of the following forms of research or data would more likely be used by a quantitative research study than by a qualitative research study?

Accepted Answer

A) economic data 
B) interview data 
C) observational research 
D) archival data 
E) documentary research 
A) economic data 
B) interview data 
C) observational research 
D) archival data 
E) documentary research

Question 9

A greater focus on collective equality is associated with:

Accepted Answer

A) a smaller state. 
B) greater government control of private economic assets. 
C) political violence. 
D) civic responsibility. 
E) political parties. 
A) a smaller state. 
B) greater government control of private economic assets. 
C) political violence. 
D) civic responsibility. 
E) political parties.

Question 10

Which of the following is true of the work of most comparativists?

Accepted Answer

A) They try to choose countries with radically different political systems in order to maximize variability in cases. 
B) They seek to study countries for which the least amount of established research has been accomplished. 
C) When they expand study outside of a single country, they tend to limit their focus to a single geographic region. 
D) They tend to limit their focus to a single level of economic development. 
E) They exhibit bias toward regions with rapidly expanding influence in the world, like east Asia. 
A) They try to choose countries with radically different political systems in order to maximize variability in cases. 
B) They seek to study countries for which the least amount of established research has been accomplished. 
C) When they expand study outside of a single country, they tend to limit their focus to a single geographic region. 
D) They tend to limit their focus to a single level of economic development. 
E) They exhibit bias toward regions with rapidly expanding influence in the world, like east Asia.

Question 11

Endogeneity refers to:

Accepted Answer

A) the problem of distinguishing cause from effect. 
B) intellectual obstacles to new scholarship in social sciences. 
C) the use of tools such as psychology to understand comparative politics. 
D) the belief that most major political questions are close to being understood by scholars. 
E) the use of new information from biology to study human political behavior. 
A) the problem of distinguishing cause from effect. 
B) intellectual obstacles to new scholarship in social sciences. 
C) the use of tools such as psychology to understand comparative politics. 
D) the belief that most major political questions are close to being understood by scholars. 
E) the use of new information from biology to study human political behavior.

Question 12

Which of the following best describes the current trend in comparative politics research?

Accepted Answer

A) There is hopeful talk of moving away from models that describe politics, but much research in comparative politics remains descriptive and focused on a single country. 
B) An evolution toward models that analyze politics and compare its role in different countries-inductively, deductively, qualitatively, and quantitatively-is well under way. 
C) There has been a strong trend in comparative politics toward using quantitative methodologies to the near-total exclusion of qualitative methods. 
D) Most comparative politics scholars use full mixed-methods models to conduct research. 
E) There is a new emphasis among comparative politics researchers on building their research around the promotion of a particular ideal. 
A) There is hopeful talk of moving away from models that describe politics, but much research in comparative politics remains descriptive and focused on a single country. 
B) An evolution toward models that analyze politics and compare its role in different countries-inductively, deductively, qualitatively, and quantitatively-is well under way. 
C) There has been a strong trend in comparative politics toward using quantitative methodologies to the near-total exclusion of qualitative methods. 
D) Most comparative politics scholars use full mixed-methods models to conduct research. 
E) There is a new emphasis among comparative politics researchers on building their research around the promotion of a particular ideal.

Question 13

Politics is defined in the text as the:

Accepted Answer

A) ability to impose your values on others. 
B) struggle in any group for the power to make decisions for the larger group. 
C) battle over economic resources and their use. 
D) result of conflict between cultures. 
E) relationship between international actors. 
A) ability to impose your values on others. 
B) struggle in any group for the power to make decisions for the larger group. 
C) battle over economic resources and their use. 
D) result of conflict between cultures. 
E) relationship between international actors.

Question 14

Which of the following would be an example of selection bias?

Accepted Answer

A) studying female literacy to see if it is correlated with nondemocratic regimes 
B) only studying material that is consistent with your political ideology 
C) only using statistical methods to conduct research 
D) studying causes for the emergence of democracy by looking only at case studies where democracy emerged 
E) studying revolution by looking at case studies of revolution and nonrevolution 
A) studying female literacy to see if it is correlated with nondemocratic regimes 
B) only studying material that is consistent with your political ideology 
C) only using statistical methods to conduct research 
D) studying causes for the emergence of democracy by looking only at case studies where democracy emerged 
E) studying revolution by looking at case studies of revolution and nonrevolution

Question 15

Why has it been so difficult to create a science of comparative politics? Is it simply because this area of study is relatively new, or are there fundamental obstacles that will always limit what we can know?

Accepted Answer

The difficulty in creating a science of

Question 16

Describe the debate about whether or not qualitative or quantitative methodology is better for studying comparative politics.How has this evolved over time? How does a mixed-methods approach fit into this debate?

Accepted Answer

The debate about whether qualitative or

Question 17

In which of the following ways does quantitative research differ from qualitative research?

Accepted Answer

A) Its variables tend to be less rigorously defined. 
B) It is more likely to be reduced in utility by multicausality. 
C) It is more likely to use inductive reasoning. 
D) It favors a wider use of cases not restricted by area specialization. 
E) It is more likely to have a specific geographic focus. 
A) Its variables tend to be less rigorously defined. 
B) It is more likely to be reduced in utility by multicausality. 
C) It is more likely to use inductive reasoning. 
D) It favors a wider use of cases not restricted by area specialization. 
E) It is more likely to have a specific geographic focus.

Question 18

Which of the following could be considered a major challenge faced by political scientists in their use of the comparative method?

Accepted Answer

A) the difficulty in controlling variables 
B) the large number of comparable cases and difficulties in choosing between them 
C) university restrictions on carrying out field research 
D) a general reluctance to look at historical factors 
E) the tendency of researchers to focus on too broad a geographic area 
A) the difficulty in controlling variables 
B) the large number of comparable cases and difficulties in choosing between them 
C) university restrictions on carrying out field research 
D) a general reluctance to look at historical factors 
E) the tendency of researchers to focus on too broad a geographic area

Question 19

One big rift within the study of comparative politics is:

Accepted Answer

A) quantitative versus didactic research. 
B) epistemology versus ontology. 
C) religious versus secular research. 
D) quantitative versus qualitative research. 
E) structural versus ideational. 
A) quantitative versus didactic research. 
B) epistemology versus ontology. 
C) religious versus secular research. 
D) quantitative versus qualitative research. 
E) structural versus ideational.

Question 20

Critics of the behavioral revolution accused it of which of the following?

Accepted Answer

A) It had come to emphasize methodology over knowledge. 
B) It relied too much on Marxist assumptions regarding politics. 
C) It was too focused on history. 
D) It had not fully embraced mathematical innovations. 
E) It was not interested in developing predictive models of politics. 
A) It had come to emphasize methodology over knowledge. 
B) It relied too much on Marxist assumptions regarding politics. 
C) It was too focused on history. 
D) It had not fully embraced mathematical innovations. 
E) It was not interested in developing predictive models of politics.

To a comparativist, which would be of more value: discovery of a correlation or discovery of a causal relationship? Why?

In which of the following ways did behavioralism differ from modernization theory?

An institution can be defined as any:

Which of the following is true of the concept of political institutions?

The substance of politics is inevitably bound up in the struggle between:

Which of the following served as a major modern turning point for the study of comparative politics?

Modernization theory can be defined as the view that:

Which of the following forms of research or data would more likely be used by a quantitative research study than by a qualitative research study?

A greater focus on collective equality is associated with:

Which of the following is true of the work of most comparativists?

Endogeneity refers to:

Which of the following best describes the current trend in comparative politics research?

Politics is defined in the text as the:

Which of the following would be an example of selection bias?

Why has it been so difficult to create a science of comparative politics? Is it simply because this area of study is relatively new, or are there fundamental obstacles that will always limit what we can know?

Describe the debate about whether or not qualitative or quantitative methodology is better for studying comparative politics.How has this evolved over time? How does a mixed-methods approach fit into this debate?

In which of the following ways does quantitative research differ from qualitative research?

Which of the following could be considered a major challenge faced by political scientists in their use of the comparative method?

One big rift within the study of comparative politics is:

Critics of the behavioral revolution accused it of which of the following?

States

Nations and Society

Political Economy

Democratic Regimes

Nondemocratic Regimes

Political Violence

Developed Democracies

Communism and Postcommunism

Developing Countries

Globalization and the Future of Comparative Politics

Filters

Exam 1: Introduction

To a comparativist, which would be of more value: discovery of a correlation or discovery of a causal relationship? Why?

In which of the following ways did behavioralism differ from modernization theory?

An institution can be defined as any:

Which of the following is true of the concept of political institutions?

The substance of politics is inevitably bound up in the struggle between:

Which of the following served as a major modern turning point for the study of comparative politics?

Modernization theory can be defined as the view that:

Which of the following forms of research or data would more likely be used by a quantitative research study than by a qualitative research study?

A greater focus on collective equality is associated with:

Which of the following is true of the work of most comparativists?

Endogeneity refers to:

Which of the following best describes the current trend in comparative politics research?

Politics is defined in the text as the:

Which of the following would be an example of selection bias?

Why has it been so difficult to create a science of comparative politics? Is it simply because this area of study is relatively new, or are there fundamental obstacles that will always limit what we can know?

Describe the debate about whether or not qualitative or quantitative methodology is better for studying comparative politics.How has this evolved over time? How does a mixed-methods approach fit into this debate?

In which of the following ways does quantitative research differ from qualitative research?

Which of the following could be considered a major challenge faced by political scientists in their use of the comparative method?

One big rift within the study of comparative politics is:

Critics of the behavioral revolution accused it of which of the following?

States

Nations and Society

Political Economy

Democratic Regimes

Nondemocratic Regimes

Political Violence

Developed Democracies

Communism and Postcommunism

Developing Countries

Globalization and the Future of Comparative Politics

Filters