Deck 4: The Politics of Cultural Pluralism and Ethnic Conflict

Question 1

Which of the following statements are true?

A) About half of the countries in the world consist of a single ethnic group.
B) In much of Africa and Asia, the "divide and rule" policies of the colonial authorities worsened the extent of subsequent ethnic conflict.
C) No Third World country has more than nine ethnic groups within its borders.
D) Latin America has the largest number of multi-ethnic countries.
E) About two-thirds of the world's ethnic groups have their own country.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following statements is most accurate?

A) The level of ethnic conflict within Third World countries has significantly increased since the early 1990s
B) The level of ethnic conflict within developing countries has decreased since the early 1990s
C) Most of the violent conflicts in the LDCs in recent years have been ethnically based conflicts between neighboring countries
D) Only about one-third of all major ethnic conflicts in the Third World since the beginning of the 1990s have had significant ethnic components
E) Conflicts based on ethnic conflict in the LDCs have increasingly been super ceded in number by violence based on class conflict

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Secession as a means of resolving ethnic conflict

A) is usually the most painless solution to the problem.
B) must be approved by the United Nations Security Council.
C) is an ultimate act of separation (like divorce).
D) requires majority approval by all major ethnic groups.
E) brings an end to major ethnic conflict.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In an enforced hierarchy of ethnic groups

A) one ethnic group dominates the other(s).
B) the relative political strength of each ethnic group is spelled out in the nation's constitution.
C) subordinate ethnic groups do not question their status.
D) United Nations' Peacekeeping troops maintain the existing social structure.
E) violence dominates ethnic relations.

Question 5

The leader of the black struggle for equality in South Africa was:

A) Nelson Mandela.
B) F. W. de Klerk.
C) Bishop Tutu.
D) Jacob Zuma.
E) Jomo Kenyatta.

Question 6

Which of the following conditions must exist if ethnic tensions are to be resolved through federalism?

A) There must be a history of federalism in the area
B) Contending ethnic groups agree beforehand where the nation's capital will be located
C) Contending ethnic groups must have roughly equal populations
D) Contending ethnic groups must be concentrated in different parts of the county
E) There must be universal suffrage for all groups

Question 7

Which country's bloody ethnic conflict calls into question the theory that if two ethnic groups have extensive friendships and cross-ethnic marriages they will not experience inter-ethnic violence?

A) Rwanda
B) Egypt
C) Argentina
D) South Korea
E) India

Question 8

What was the basis of Sri Lanka's long civil war between Tamils and Sinhalese?

A) Nationality
B) Religion
C) Race
D) Tribes
E) Religious customs

Question 9

Which of the following religiously based ethnic groups were NOT involved in Lebanon's civil war?

A) Druze
B) Shi'a
C) Sufi
D) Sunni
E) Maronite Catholics

Question 10

Outside intervention as a means of resolving bloody ethnic conflicts

A) is increasingly being used by the U.N.
B) has rarely been successful.
C) has been largely successful in most cases where it has been employed.
D) has been talked about in diplomatic circles but has never been attempted.
E) saved many lives during the massacre of Tutsi in Rwanda.

Question 11

Which type of ethnic divisions has caused the most violent conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa?

A) National conflicts
B) Religious conflicts
C) Racial conflicts
D) Ideological conflicts
E) Tribal conflicts

Question 12

Consociationalism is

A) a means of sharing political power between feuding ethnic or other groups.
B) a form of Arab socialism.
C) a way to reduce the damage caused by an ethnic group's secession.
D) a complex system of voting that reduces parliamentary representation from the nation's largest ethnic groups.
E) a means of reducing the links between political and economic power.

Question 13

Experts claim that most ethnic identities are a "social construction." What does that mean?

A) That they grow out of social contacts with an ethnic group
B) That they are identities that ethnic groups have taken on rather than one based on some inherent characteristic that was independently established
C) That they were based on networks of friendship that people established over time
D) That they are based on postmodern deconstructionism
E) That they no longer have any validity in fact

Question 14

What holds an ethnic group together?

A) Allegiance to the same country
B) A set of common religious beliefs
C) Fear of change
D) A collective identity based on an alleged common descent, shared experiences, and shared cultural traits
E) Shared racial characteristics

Question 15

What does it mean to say that a country's major ethnic groups are in "uneasy balance"?

A) One ethnic group accepts the dominance of another ethnic group in all areas of society.
B) Different ethnic groups predominate in different sectors of society.
C) The two major ethnic groups are on the verge of violent conflict.
D) Two conflicting ethnic groups have had roughly equal populations, but one has a much higher birth rate, which will give it a majority in a few years.
E) A new source of tension has ended the easy balance that long existed between two ethnic groups.

Question 16

What was a key component of the national pact (the Taif Accord)that helped bring Lebanon's long civil war to an end?

A) It allowed Sufi Muslims to regain dominance of the court systems
B) It made Sunni Islam Lebanon's official religion
C) It made Shi'a Islam Lebanon's official religion
D) It raised the Muslims' percentage of seats in the parliament (to 50 percent) so that it would more accurately reflect the percentage of Muslims in the Lebanese population
E) It nearly eliminated all Christian seats in the parliament

Question 17

Which is the most politically powerful ethnic group in Iraq today?

A) The Druze
B) The Kurds
C) The Shi'a
D) The Sunni
E) The Malachites

Question 18

What Third World region has the highest percentage of its population in "minorities at risk" of repression?

A) Asia
B) The Middle East
C) South Asia
D) South America
E) Africa

Question 19

Multi-ethnic societies

A) have so far never created democratic government.
B) only have become democratic after outside intervention.
C) have ethnic conflicts that usually deteriorate into civil war.
D) only have established democracies with the help of substantial foreign aid.
E) are less likely to establish stable democracies than are ethnically homogeneous societies.

Question 20

What is the major characteristic that distinguishes nationality from other categories of ethnic groups?

A) Nations feel a common sense of history.
B) National identities have declined sharply.
C) Nations claim sovereignty over a specific geographic area.
D) Religious leaders specifically reject nationality as the basis for ethnic identity.
E) Nationality is a 20th century form of identity.

Question 21

Years of civil war in Sudan pitted Arabs from the country's north against blacks from the south.

Question 22

Which of the following statements is NOT true about the Kurds?

A) They are mostly Sunnis
B) A Kurdish rebellion against Saddam Hussein failed after the CIA withdrew support
C) Their largest populations are in Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon
D) They have their own language
E) They have long aspired to have a state (country) of their own

Question 23

The myth of the Bangala illustrates that certain groups have accepted an ethnic label imposed upon them by outsiders,when,in fact,they hadn't previously shared a common ethnic identity.

Question 24

Which of the following culturally plural countries has enjoyed minimal ethnic conflict?

A) Nigeria
B) Lebanon
C) Sudan
D) India
E) Brazil

Question 25

About half of the world's ethnic groups occupy their own nation-states.

Question 26

The spread of higher education in the developing world has often intensified,rather than moderated,ethnic conflict.

Question 27

Many scholars object to the name "tribe" that is commonly assigned to African ethnicities.

Question 28

Africa's internal ethnic wars were not intensified by external intervention during the Cold War.

Question 29

During white minority rule in South Africa and the apartheid system,blacks had lower status than whites,but they suffered less racial discrimination than coloreds.

Question 30

The level of ethnic conflicts and protests in the world is currently at an all-time high.

Question 31

In most nationality-based ethnic clashes,including Sri Lanka,language issues were at the heart of the conflict.

Question 32

One of the few Middle Eastern countries in which Muslims and Christians still live in harmony is Lebanon.

Question 33

For migrants to Third World cities,ethnic identities

A) are usually new forms of identity absent in the countryside.
B) are usually gradually shed.
C) usually offer practical help and reduce fears and anxieties.
D) usually are based on religion.
E) are usually roadblocks that make integration in urban life more difficult.

Question 34

Under British rule,the regions now called India and Pakistan were united in a single colony.

Question 35

In recent years in Latin American countries such as Bolivia,Ecuador,and Mexico,indigenous people (Latin American Indians)have mobilized and demanded their rights.

Question 36

Consociational democracy

A) is based on informal agreements between ethnic groups.
B) affords religious minorities little protection.
C) rejects strict majority rule.
D) is one of the negative legacies of colonial rule.
E) has been challenged in the U.N. Security Council.

Question 37

To date,no multi-ethnic country in the developing world has established lasting democracy.

Question 38

According to the "contact hypothesis," the more that people of different ethnic groups came in contact with each other,the more mutual understanding there would be and the lower the level of prejudice would be.

Question 39

Ethnic conflict in Iraq has been based primarily on

A) nationality.
B) race.
C) language.
D) religion.
E) Iranian intervention.

Question 40

To help settle the Sri Lankan government's long struggle with Tamil rebels,the government invited thousands of Pakistani troops to the country.

Question 41

Discuss the relationship between ethnic pluralism and democracy in Third World countries? Where have there been multi-ethnic societies that have achieved consolidated democracy and what actions and values are necessary for such success?

Question 42

Both Iraq and Lebanon have suffered from intense ethnic violence in recent years.Discuss the nature of ethnic violence in each country,making sure to discuss the major parties to each conflict,their relative strength,and the current conditions of ethnic tensions in each country.

Question 43

What are the major arguments for and against outside intervention-by individual nations or international organizations such as the U.N.or the African Union-as a means of resolving or simply reducing ethnically based violence? Give 1-2 examples of successful foreign intervention and 1-2 of interventions that failed or made things worse.

Question 44

What are the major types of ethnic identifications that have often caused conflict in developing countries? Include in your Answer: discussion of a specific case of violent conflict for each type of ethnic identification (i.e.,for each type of ethnic identification,what is a good example of where such identifications have led to violent conflict).

Question 45

What effects has substantial migration from the countryside to urban areas had on ethnic relations in the Third World?