Deck 5: The Economic Determinants of Democracy and Dictatorship

Question 1

A great deal of empirical evidence indicates that there is a strong association between income and democracy. This is what would be predicted by

A) modernization theory.
B) the survival story.
C) both modernization theory and the survival story.
D) neither; this evidence disproves implications from both theories.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Modernization theory predicts that the likelihood of a transition to democracy increases with income, whereas the survival story predicts that the likelihood of becoming a democracy is unrelated to income.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Modernization theory predicts that the likelihood of a transition to democracy decreases with income, whereas the survival story predicts that transitions to dictatorship become more likely with income.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

When testing the implications of modernization theory and the survival story, it is most appropriate to look at which of the following?

A) The absolute number of transitions to democracy and dictatorship at different levels of wealth.
B) The probability of a transition to democracy or dictatorship at different levels of wealth.

Question 5

According to the variant of modernization theory presented in Chapter 6, why did England develop a limited form of government in early modern Europe, whereas France developed an absolutist and autocratic form of government?

A) England did not have a revolution, whereas France did.
B) The English king relied on his citizens more for revenue than the French king did.
C) The French king was involved in more wars than the English king.
D) The English king had to negotiate with a new type of economic elite (who possessed mobile assets), and the French king did not.

Question 6

Classic modernization theory relies on an empirical association between income and democracy. The variant of modernization theory examined in Chapter 6 states that it is not income per se that encourages democracy but, rather, changes in the socioeconomic structure of a country that accompany development. The advantage of this variant of modernization theory is that it explicitly provides a causal mechanism linking economic development and democracy. Scholars testing this variant often continue to use a measure of income (such as gross domestic product (GDP) per capita) to represent the level of development. Why?

A) because a country's GDP per capita exactly measures the level of development of its socioeconomic structure
B) because a country's level of GDP is generally a reasonable proxy (substitute) for the level of development of a country's socioeconomic structure (To capture other features, scholars often include measures of natural resource abundance, such as oil, as well.)

Question 7

According to the implications of the Exit, Voice, and Loyalty game in Chapter 6, giving foreign aid to dictatorships is likely to:

A) improve the welfare of the average citizen in these countries and destabilize dictatorial rule.
B) reduce the welfare of the average citizen in these countries and stabilize dictatorial rule.
C) have no effect on the regime's stability.

Question 8

The effects of foreign aid on economic development depend on:

A) cultural factors.
B) geographic region.
C) institutional structure.
D) leader personality.

Question 9

Foreign aid will have a detrimental effect on the recipient country's economic development no matter what the size of the dictator's winning coalition is:

Question 10

Ansell and Samuels (2010) argue that the effect of inequality on democratization is dependent on the type of inequality: ______ inequality is positively associated with democratization, while ______ inequality is negatively associated with democratization.

A) Income; land
B) Land; income
C) Political; land
D) Income; political

Question 11

Based on the implications of the Exit, Voice, and Loyalty game, what should we expect the relationship to be between oil wealth and the prospects for democratization?

A) Oil wealth should be positively correlated with democratization.
B) Oil wealth should be negatively correlated with democratization.
C) There is no correlation between oil wealth and democratization.

Question 12

If oil wealth is negatively correlated with the prospects for democratization, then we should expect the following country to have the greatest potential for democratization:

A) Qatar
B) Kuwait
C) Tunisia
D) Oman

Question 13

Which of the following is not a reason why natural resources tend to help dictators stay in power?

A) Oil revenue helps keep taxes down.
B) Dictators can hide information about the country's finances.
C) Oil revenue helps buy the loyalty of the military.
D) Oil revenue increases demands for accountability and representation.

Question 14

States with high oil revenues tend to keep dictators in power because since dictators control national oil companies, they can effectively hide the country's finances from the people.

Question 15

Which of the following explains why Muammar al-Qaddafi was able to hold on to power longer in Libya facing crisis than Hosni Mubarak in Egypt?

A) Oil revenue helps keep taxes down.
B) Dictators can hide information about the country's finances.
C) Oil revenue helps buy the loyalty of the military.

Question 16

According to the implications of the Exit, Voice, and Loyalty game in Chapter 6, we should expect that countries in which the state controls high levels of natural resources are more likely to be democratic than countries in which the state does not control high levels of natural resources.

Question 17

The predictions of modernization theory are best described by which statement?

A) Countries are less likely to survive as democracies as income increases.
B) Countries are more likely to become dictatorships as modernization increases.
C) Countries are more likely to become and remain democratic as income increases.
D) Countries are more likely to become but less likely to remain democratic as income increases.

Question 18

Country X is characterized by the following features: it is wealthy, it has an abundance of natural resources, and its population is poorly educated. Country Y is characterized by the following features: it is wealthy, its economy is dominated by the financial service sector, and its population is well educated. Based on the variant of modernization theory that we examined, which country is most likely to be democratic?

A) Country X
B) Country Y

Question 19

According to the implications from the Exit, Voice, and Loyalty game in Chapter 6, states with unlimited governments (what we might think of as dictatorships) should exhibit variation in economic growth. When will dictatorships perform well (that is, have a growing economy)?

A) When the Parliamentarians have a credible exit threat and the Crown is dependent.
B) When the Parliamentarians have a credible exit threat and the Crown is autonomous.
C) When the Parliamentarians do not have a credible exit threat.

Question 20

Look at Figure 1, below.

-Is Figure 1(a) or Figure 1(b) most consistent with classical modernization theory?

A) Figure 1(a)
B) Figure 1(b)
C) neither

Question 21

Look at Figure 1, below.

-Is Figure 1(a) or Figure 1(b) most consistent with the survival story?

A) Figure 1(a)
B) Figure 1(b)
C) neither

Question 22

According to the implications of the Exit, Voice, and Loyalty game in Chapter 6, states with unlimited governments (what we might think of as dictatorships) should exhibit variation in economic growth. When will dictatorships perform poorly (i.e., have a stagnant economy)?

A) When the Parliamentarians have a credible exit threat and the Crown is dependent.
B) When the Parliamentarians have a credible exit threat and the Crown is autonomous.
C) When the Parliamentarians do not have a credible exit threat.

Question 23

"Economic growth increases government stability." What is the dependent variable?

A) economic growth
B) government stability
C) wealth

Question 24

"Democracies are more likely to survive if they are parliamentary than if they are presidential." What is the dependent variable?

A) democratic survival
B) parliamentarism
C) presidentialism

Question 25

Consider Table 6.4 in your textbook. What is the dependent variable?

A) The dependent variable is the probability of democratic stability (survival).
B) The dependent variable is the probability of a democratic transition.

Question 26

Consider Table 6.5 in your textbook. What is the dependent variable?

A) The dependent variable is the probability of democratic stability (survival).
B) The dependent variable is the probability of a democratic transition.

Question 27

"Economic inequality is bad for democratic stability." What is the independent variable?

A) economic inequality
B) democratic stability
C) wealth

Question 28

"If citizens have mobile assets, then the government will not predate on them." What is the independent variable?

A) mobile assets
B) government predation
C) loyalty

Question 29

"In permissive systems, increasing the level of social heterogeneity has a positive effect on the number of parties in the party system." What is the independent variable?

A) permissiveness of electoral system
B) democratic stability
C) number of parties
D) social heterogeneity

Question 30

Consider the last column of results shown in Table 6.5 in your textbook. What effect does being an oil producer have on the probability that a democracy will be stable?

A) Being an oil producer increases the chances of democratic survival.
B) Being an oil producer decreases the chances of democratic survival.
C) Being an oil producer has no significant effect on the chances of democratic survival.

Question 31

Consider the last column of results shown in Table 6.5 in your textbook. What effect does an increase in wealth (measured by gross domestic product per capita) have on the probability that a democracy will be stable?

A) Increasing wealth increases the chances of democratic survival.
B) Increasing wealth decreases the chances of democratic survival.
C) Increasing wealth has no effect on the chances of democratic survival.

Question 32

Consider the last column of results shown in Table 6.5 in your textbook. What effect does an increase in economic growth (measured by Growth in gross domestic product per capita) have on the probability that a democracy will be stable?

A) Increasing economic growth increases the chances of democratic survival.
B) Increasing economic growth decreases the chances of democratic survival.
C) Increasing economic growth has no effect on the chances of democratic survival.

Question 33

Obtain a copy of Michael L. Ross's article, "Does Oil Hinder Democracy?" from the journal World Politics 53, no. 2 (April 2001): 325-361 using your library resources. Skim the article. What is Ross's dependent variable?

A) level of democracy
B) whether a country is a democracy or not
C) level of freedom

Question 34

How is Ross's dependent variable measured?

A) using Freedom House
B) using Polity IV
C) using PACL

Question 35

What is the main hypothesis of the article?

A) Islamic countries have lower levels of democracy.
B) Wealthy countries have higher levels of democracy.
C) More oil reliant states have higher levels of democracy.
D) More oil reliant states have lower levels of democracy.

Question 36

Which of the following observations would falsify the main hypothesis of this article?

A) Oil reliance is unrelated to a country's level of democracy.
B) Oil reliance decreases a country's level of democracy.
C) Islamic countries have a higher level of democracy.
D) Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries have a lower level of democracy.

Question 37

What sign (positive or negative) does Ross predict for the coefficient on his primary explanatory variable (oil)?

A) positive
B) negative
C) neither positive nor negative

Question 38

What sign does Ross find for the coefficient on his primary explanatory variable (oil)? See Table 3, column 1, on page 341 of the article.

A) positive
B) negative
C) neither positive nor negative

Question 39

Does Ross find that being an oil producer hinders the development of democracy only in the Middle East?

A) He finds that oil hinders democracy only in the Middle East (but not elsewhere).
B) He finds that oil does not hinder democracy in the Middle East.
C) He finds that oil hinders democracy in the Middle East and elsewhere.
D) He finds that oil hinders democracy everywhere except the Middle East.

Question 40

Look at Table 1, below.

-What is the dependent variable?

A) democratic survival
B) democratic transition
C) gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (wealth)
D) growth in GDP per capita
E) whether a country is an oil producer

Question 41

Look at Table 1, below.

-Which of the following statements is consistent with the inferences you could draw from the results shown in Table 1?

A) Increasing wealth increases the likelihood of a transition to democracy.
B) Increasing wealth increases the likelihood of democratic survival.
C) Oil-producing countries are more likely to transition to democracy.
D) Economic growth increases the likelihood of democratic emergence.
E) Oil production has no effect on transitions to democracy.

Question 42

Credible commitment problems are characterized by a temporal dimension (someone makes a promise today that she does not have an interest in keeping tomorrow) and by the fact that the person making the promise is not the one to benefit from the promise being kept. What are some mechanisms for dealing with credible commitment problems?

A) enforceable contracts
B) repeated interactions
C) institutions that alter the distribution of power
D) all of these

Question 43

Which of the following is (are) an example(s) of credible commitment problems in political settings?

A) Iraq's Shia-dominated government promising Sunnis that if they disarm, the government will promise not to repress them and it will share power.
B) The British government in Northern Ireland promising to negotiate a political settlement with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) if the IRA will first turn in its arms.
C) The African National Congress (the mainly Black political party) in South Africa promising not to redistribute wealth away from the white minority if it transfers political power and ends the apartheid era.
D) all of these

Question 44

Many scholars have observed that rich countries tend to be democratic and democratic countries tend to rich. Identify and discuss two theoretical perspectives that have been offered to explain this phenomenon.
Explain the theoretical perspectives behind these competing explanations then discuss as many of the observable implications of these explanations as you can think of. Next, say which of these observable implications seem to be consistent with available evidence and which ones seem to be contradicted by available evidence. In sum, which explanation do you find most convincing? Why?