Chapter - 2 States Quiz (Pt. 2)

Question 1

Philosophers have long debated…

Answer 1

Why people were motivated to make the shift from loose communities to more centralized forms of government

Question 2

Thomas Hobbes’ argument…

Answer 2

Humans submitted to a strong authority to gain protection from a violent anarchy.

Question 3

What book did Thomas Hobbes write and what famous quote do we remember from it?

Answer 3

In Leviathan, he states that life before the state was “nasty, brutish, and short.”

Question 4

John Locke’s argument…

Answer 4

People enter into a social contract with their leaders voluntarily due to the benefits authority provides.

Question 5

What book did John Locke write and what does he argue in it?

Answer 5

In his Two Treatises of Government, he argues that governments help protect such fundamental rights as property ownership.

Question 6

Jean-Jacque Rousseau’s argument…

Answer 6

Believed that the state of nature, was egalitarian, but that economic development led to political inequality through the division of labor and private property

Question 7

Voluntary

Answer 7

People submit to authority to overcome anarchy

Question 8

Coercion

Answer 8

Authority is forced on human interactions

Question 9

Biologist Jared Diamond’s argument…

Answer 9

Europe’s geographic proximity to Asia and the Middle East gave it access to new plants, animals, and technologies

Question 10

What resulted from religious wars during the 1500s and 1600s?

Answer 10

Devastated the continent and broke the Catholic Church’s political control, permanently shifting power toward local secular leaders

Question 11

Many scholars debate the “birth” of the modern state to…

Answer 11

The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the 30 Years War and established the idea that local rulers, not the Church, would shape the religious authority of their territory

Question 12

Why did the modern state emerge in Europe?

Answer 12

Violence and anarchy—>organizational evolution
Geographic location—>exposure to new ideas
Religious conflict—>sovereignty

Question 13

Main elements of 1648 Treaty of Westphalia…

Answer 13

Kings recognize each other

Authority bound by territory

Question 14

Key consequences of 1648 Treaty of Westphalia

Answer 14

Kings get all revenues from their territory

Gives kings incentive to regulate and promote their authority and sovereignty

Question 15

How many political units were there in Europe in 1500 and now…

Answer 15

1,000 then versus 30 now

Question 16

Characteristics of the Treaty of Westphalia (3)…

Answer 16

1) The treaty itself did not uniquely change politics, but it was emblematic of a larger transformation
2) In it, kings (technically princes) acknowledged each other’s rights to make rules within specified territories
3) Sovereignty is an institution - an organizing principle that people have reproduced throughout the period since. This set of rules is one that everyone has an incentive to follow

Question 17

Why do kings have an incentive to keep their own religious fanatics under control?

Answer 17

Sovereignty is not a free license.

King A will hold King B responsible if, for example, King B’s citizens cross into King A’s territory to burn heretics

Question 18

Why states are better than other forms of political organization…

Answer 18

1) States promote economic development
2) Staes encourage technological innovation
3) States create domestic stability
4) States encourage interaction and the emergence of shared identity

Question 19

Relationship between the state and imperialism…

Answer 19

The state created imperialism, and imperialism spread the state

Question 20

What helped Europe propel itself into a growth rate that would outpace any other region of the world?

Answer 20

Development of the state

Question 21

This economic advantage triggered what aspect of Europe?

Answer 21

Imperialist expansion, which in turn spread the state to the rest of the world