Comparative Politics Finals Questions
Comparative Politics Finals Questions
Paper details
Final Exam Questions
Answer each of these questions in 350 to 500 words for each question. Please double space your essays and use a standard 12 point font. Just title each response, “Question 1”, “Question 2”…etc.. to each of the questions. Treat each question as its own essay.
This exam is open book and open notes. You can draw off of any resource you wish. However, do not discuss the exam with other students in the class. The essays you submit should be your own original product. Do not plagiarize, copy, steal any other’s work.
QUESTION 1: Which type of electoral systems often result in no party having a legislative majority and the need to form coalitions? Explain why this is the case.
QUESTION 2: According to the textbook, Duverger’s theory proposes that “social divisions create the demand for political parties and electoral institutions then determine the extent to which this demand is translated into parties that win votes and parties that win seats.” In class, we discussed this dynamic as the sociological and institutional features of a country that contribute to the number of political parties. Explain why social divisions (sociological conditions) and electoral institutions (institutional conditions) influence how many significant political parties a country has.
QUESTION 3: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a multiparty system. Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
QUESTION 4: In class we discussed how the framers of the American Constitution were influenced by the ideas of classical liberalism developing in England in the late-1700s. The working class in England and elsewhere in Europe was initially drawn to parties that advocated this brand of classical liberalism but by the early 1900s the labor class and the liberal parties were no longer working together in England and elsewhere. Discuss why the interests of classical liberals and the labor class ultimately came to be at odds with one another.