POL 1610: POLITICS & SOCIETY NAME: _______________________________
Spring 2007
Sample Exam March 5, 2007
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
Answer the following questions by circling the correct answer. [“A.o.t.a.” = “All of the above” and “N.o.t.a.” = “None of the above”.] If you can’t decide between two answers, mark them both and explain why you believe either could be correct. I may give full or partial credit for your response, depending on my perception of how well you understand the issue.
1. People who are strongly committed to an ideology and try to persuade others to accept it are called ____.
nationalists |
empiricists |
disciples |
ideologues |
N.o.t.a. |
2. Plato was adamantly opposed to _____.
monarchy |
democracy |
aristocracy |
A.o.t.a. |
N.o.t.a. |
3. Which of the following statements best describes the idea of mixed or balanced government?
Governing power will be shared by the one, the few, and the many |
People of different groups or nationalities will blend together into a single political unit |
The government will always try to promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number |
The government follows the rule, "What touches all should be decided by all" |
Anyone who wants to go into politics these days must be unbalanced |
4. Which of the following events took place in the nineteenth century?
the Protestant Reformation |
the English Civil War |
the American Revolution |
the French Revolution |
the division of liberalism into two competing branches |
ESSAY / SHORT ANSWERS QUESTIONS
Write your answers on the back of the exam sheets, starting on the reverse of the last page. Please number your answers so I can tell which questions you are answering.
5. Define any three of the following concepts. For each concept that you define, illustrate it with an example, being sure to clearly indicate why the example is an example of that concept.
a. the orientation function of ideology
b. the Social Contract
c. xx
d. yy
e. zz
Answer the following question:
6. List and explain two significant differences between the early classical liberalism (or “protoliberalism”) of Thomas Hobbes and the later classical liberalism of John Locke and Thomas Jefferson.
Answer one of the following questions.
7. One of your reading assignments was from Machiavelli’s Discourses. What was the main point he was trying to argue for in this selection? What was/were the main argument/s he advanced for that point?
8. xx
9. yy
[WRITE YOUR ANSWERS ON THE REVERSE OF THIS EXAM, STARTING WITH THE REVERSE OF THIS PAGE.]