CHAPTER 1
Introduction
CONCEPT MAP
1. What Is Comparative Politics?
1a. The Comparative Method
1b. Can We Make a Science of Comparative Politics?
2. A Guiding Concept: Political Institutions
3. A Guiding Ideal: Reconciling Freedom and Equality
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. An institution can be defined as any:
a. organization or pattern of 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.
ANS: A REF: Pages 4, 18 TOP: 2 MSC: Factual DIF:
Moderate
2. Politics is defined in our text as the:
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.
ANS: B REF: Page 5 TOP: 1 MSC: Factual DIF: Easy
3. What is deductive reasoning?
a. The means by which we go from a hypothesis to studying
a number of cases.
b. The means by which we go from studying a single case to
generating a hypothesis.
c. The means by which we test evidence using logic and
mathematics.
d. The means by which we test evidence using extensive field
research.
e. The means by which we use ideological assumptions to
create policy.
ANS: A REF: Page 6 TOP: 1a MSC: Applied DIF: Moderate
4. What is inductive reasoning?
a. The means by which we go from a hypothesis to studying
a number of cases.
b. The means by which we go from studying a single case to
generating a hypothesis.
, c. The means by which we test evidence using logic and
mathematics.
d. The means by which we test evidence using extensive field
research.
e. The means by which we use ideological assumptions to
create policy.
ANS: B REF: Page 6 TOP: 1a MSC: Applied DIF: Moderate
5. One of the problems in case study research can be in the
cases that we use, or what is known as:
a. selection bias.
b. inference liability.
c. choice limiting.
d. norm bounding.
e. area studies.
ANS: A REF: Page 9 TOP: 1a MSC: Applied DIF: Moderate
6. Political scientists are limited in their use of the comparative
method by:
a. the difficulty in controlling variables and a limited number
of cases.
b. the large number of comparable cases and the difficulties
in choosing between them.
c. university restrictions on carrying out field research.
d. their general reluctance to look at historical factors.
e. the decline of scholars interested in studying outside of
their home country.
ANS: A REF: Page 9 TOP: 1a MSC: Applied DIF: Difficult
7. Which of the following would be an example of selection
bias?
, 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 revolution by looking at case studies of revolution
only.
e. Studying revolution by looking at case studies of revolution
and nonrevolution.
ANS: D REF: Page 9 TOP: 1a MSC: Applied DIF: Difficult
8. Endogeneity refers to:
a. determining cause versus 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.
ANS: A REF: Page 10 TOP: 1a MSC: Factual DIF: Easy
9. The earliest political thinker who practiced a form of
comparative analysis was:
a. Plato.
b. Machiavelli.
c. Thucydides.
d. Aristotle.
e. Marx.
ANS: D REF: Page 11 TOP: 1b MSC: Factual DIF: Easy
Introduction
CONCEPT MAP
1. What Is Comparative Politics?
1a. The Comparative Method
1b. Can We Make a Science of Comparative Politics?
2. A Guiding Concept: Political Institutions
3. A Guiding Ideal: Reconciling Freedom and Equality
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. An institution can be defined as any:
a. organization or pattern of 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.
ANS: A REF: Pages 4, 18 TOP: 2 MSC: Factual DIF:
Moderate
2. Politics is defined in our text as the:
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.
ANS: B REF: Page 5 TOP: 1 MSC: Factual DIF: Easy
3. What is deductive reasoning?
a. The means by which we go from a hypothesis to studying
a number of cases.
b. The means by which we go from studying a single case to
generating a hypothesis.
c. The means by which we test evidence using logic and
mathematics.
d. The means by which we test evidence using extensive field
research.
e. The means by which we use ideological assumptions to
create policy.
ANS: A REF: Page 6 TOP: 1a MSC: Applied DIF: Moderate
4. What is inductive reasoning?
a. The means by which we go from a hypothesis to studying
a number of cases.
b. The means by which we go from studying a single case to
generating a hypothesis.
, c. The means by which we test evidence using logic and
mathematics.
d. The means by which we test evidence using extensive field
research.
e. The means by which we use ideological assumptions to
create policy.
ANS: B REF: Page 6 TOP: 1a MSC: Applied DIF: Moderate
5. One of the problems in case study research can be in the
cases that we use, or what is known as:
a. selection bias.
b. inference liability.
c. choice limiting.
d. norm bounding.
e. area studies.
ANS: A REF: Page 9 TOP: 1a MSC: Applied DIF: Moderate
6. Political scientists are limited in their use of the comparative
method by:
a. the difficulty in controlling variables and a limited number
of cases.
b. the large number of comparable cases and the difficulties
in choosing between them.
c. university restrictions on carrying out field research.
d. their general reluctance to look at historical factors.
e. the decline of scholars interested in studying outside of
their home country.
ANS: A REF: Page 9 TOP: 1a MSC: Applied DIF: Difficult
7. Which of the following would be an example of selection
bias?
, 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 revolution by looking at case studies of revolution
only.
e. Studying revolution by looking at case studies of revolution
and nonrevolution.
ANS: D REF: Page 9 TOP: 1a MSC: Applied DIF: Difficult
8. Endogeneity refers to:
a. determining cause versus 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.
ANS: A REF: Page 10 TOP: 1a MSC: Factual DIF: Easy
9. The earliest political thinker who practiced a form of
comparative analysis was:
a. Plato.
b. Machiavelli.
c. Thucydides.
d. Aristotle.
e. Marx.
ANS: D REF: Page 11 TOP: 1b MSC: Factual DIF: Easy
