Exam 1

Question 1

Least Developed Countries

Answer 1

LDCs are low-income countries confronting severe structural impediments to sustainable development.

Question 2

Mercantilism

Answer 2

An economic doctrine based on a belief that military power and economic influence were complements; applied especially to colonial empires in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries.

Question 3

Why do Institutions Last?

Answer 3

• Institutions are costly to create
• Size of the ruling elite
• Irreversible investments

Question 4

Democracy

Answer 4

A political system in which candidates compete for political office through frequent, fair elections in which a sizable portion of the adult population can vote.

Question 5

Bourgeois

Answer 5

a member of the middle class; a person whose political, economic, and social opinions are believed to be determined mainly by concern for property values and conventional respectability. Dictionary.com

Question 6

Democracy is about the struggle to:

Answer 6

• “Check arbitrary rulers”
• “Replace arbitrary rules with just and rational ones”
• “Obtain a share for the underlying population in the making of rules”

Question 7

For democracy to transition and become consolidated, research suggests you need particular levels of the following:

Answer 7

• Wealth
• Inequality
• Social trust
• Political participation•Political groups
• Social classes and social class alliances
• Civil society

Question 8

Civil Society

Answer 8

“understood as the realm of private voluntary association, from neighborhood committees to interest groups to philanthropic enterprise of all sorts, has come to be see as an essential ingredient in both democratization and the health of established democracies.”

Question 9

Democratic Peace

Answer 9

The observation that there are few, if any, clear cases of war between mature democratic states.

Question 10

Accountability

Answer 10

The ability to punish or reward leaders for the decisions they make, as when frequent, fair elections enable voters to hold elected officials responsible for their actions by granting or withholding access to political office.

Question 11

Selectorate

Answer 11

set of individuals and groups whose support is necessary for a leader to retain office

Question 12

Limitations to Democratic Peace Theory

Answer 12

• Reversals in democratization
• Violent transitions
• Democracies with violent public interests

Question 13

Nationalism

Answer 13

Identification with and devotion to the interests of one’s nation. It usually involves a large group of people who share a national identity and often a language, culture, or ancestry.

Question 14

Marxism

Answer 14

is a branch of socialism, a theory that holds that the more powerful classes oppress and exploit the less powerful by denying them their fair share of the surplus they create.

Question 15

Proletariat

Answer 15

Workers or working-class people, regarded collectiely