Final Exam Review

SchedulePoli Sci 102 Section 10 (Mon/Wed 10-12):

Tuesday, August 11th, 2015

8:30 am Rm 360

Poli Sci 102 Section 13 (Tue/Thu 12-2):

Wednesday August 12th, 2015

1:30 pm Rm 334

Chapter 7 What are constitutions, what’s is their purpose? What are the most important roles of constitutions? What is constitutionalism? How do federal and unitary states differ? What are their similarities? Is one

system more democratic than another? What are the separation of powers? Are there different ways to separate powers? What role does the judiciary play in determining the constitutionality of laws?

Do courts ever (or ever not) have last say on whether a law is constitutional or not? What’s the difference between a flexible and rigid constitution – who uses which? Can constitutions only exist in democratic countries? Why might a non-

democratic country want a constitution? Why might federations lead to better (or worse) economic outcomes? Stability of

the state?

Chapter 8 What are the roles of legislatures? What is the role of the Magna Carta in the emergence of legislatures? Are legislatures always democratic In democratic states, what responsibilities to legislatures have in the functioning

of democracy What are the differences between unicameral and bicameral legislatures –

advantages and drawbacks? What are strengths and weaknesses of fused legislatures and systems with a

separation of powers? What are the different kinds of electoral systems? What are their strengths and

weaknesses? What values do you believe are most important in choosing representatives?

How does the relationship between the legislature and the executive differ across systems?

What are the different ways in which someone can interpret the meaning of representations

Are democratic systems always representative? Is the power of the legislature relative to the power of the executive the same

across different systems?

Chapter 9 What is the role of the executive branch? What is the difference between a head of state and a head of government

What’s a dual executive? Why does the executive often get the credit or blame for the actions of the

bureaucracy? Why does the executive often remain when a government falls back into authoritarianism?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of different kinds of political systems (that is to say: the presidential, parliamentary and semi-presidential/mixed systems of government)

What are the formal powers of executives as outlined in constitutions? What are the potential limitations on executive power? What are partisan powers? What is a coalition government? How do the come about?

What are the different kinds of coalitions? Which systems lead to greater levels of stability?

Chapter 10 What are political parties? What are the goals? What is an interest group and how does it differ from a political party? What is civil society and what does it seek to achieve?

What is the relationship between civil society and democracy What are the major kinds of political parties. How do they differ? What is a party system, what kinds of party systems are there and how do

different party systems emerge? Are single dominant party systems always associated with authoritarian

regimes? What does a bi-modal population look like? What kind of party system is

likely to emerge? What is pluralism? What is corporatism? What are social movements and what is their relationship to civil society?

How are the similar and different from interest groups and political parties?

Chapter 13

What is a “watershed” moment and what does it mean for society more broadly when someone like Barack Obama wins an election? What is a glass-ceiling?

What is a political identity? Why do identities imply the creation of boundaries? What is social construction and why are most boundaries socially constructed?

What are important socially constructed boundaries that remain in society which may have been considered primordial in the past? How have the interpretation of these boundaries changed?

What’s the difference between multiculturalism and a melting pot? What’s affirmative action and how does it relate to discrimination?

What role does stereotyping play in discrimination? What is empowerment and in what ways can groups be empowered?

What are differential rights? What is the difference between taking and being given empowerment?

What role do political parties play in trying to overcome discrimination? How might we seek to achieve better levels of equality in a political system?

Chapter 15 What are international relations and how does that differ from foreign policy? What is international political economy? How does it relate to globalization? What is the relationship between globalization and capital, both human and economic?

What’s outsourcing? Comparative advantage? What is multilateralism and how does it relate to the UN? What is nativism, how does it relate to immigration and what are the political implications

Brain drain? Why must the biggest environmental threats be dealt with at the international scale? What is the tragedy of the commons? What is the international role in dealing with issues surrounding terrorism and nuclear

proliferation Why have we seen the rise of nonstate actors on the international scale?

What are the differences between Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism and Marxism in how people understand international relationships?

What is a hegemon and a balance of power? What is game theory and the prisoners dilemma?

One more thing… Bonus questions, as with the midterm, will be drawn from

the case studies

In certain instances, where we used examples of the case studies in discussion key components in the class, you will be expected to connect these concepts

For instance: Understanding which countries we’ve studied use corporatism, or which one uses the run-off elections system.