Deck 4: France

Question 1

Which of the following statements about the French governmental bureaucracy is accurate?

A) Links between the bureaucracy and elected office are strong and considered normal.
B) The French people hold a very low opinion of the efficacy of the bureaucracy.
C) There are relatively low educational barriers to entry for the bureaucracy.
D) The bureaucracy is one of the few French institutions with high minority representation.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The French legal system is based on

A) precedent.
B) codes.
C) religious law.
D) common law.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following statements best describes the upper house (Sénat) of the French Parlement?

A) It is more powerful than the lower house.
B) It is weaker than the lower house.
C) It is directly elected.
D) It is directly appointed by the president.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

What group wields a disproportionate amount of power in French politics,in spite of its overall decline in numbers?

A) farmers
B) the aristocracy
C) conservatives
D) Muslims

Question 5

Which of the following events may foreshadow the development of a political center in France and the party system's realignment?

A) The National Front losing seats in the 2017 parliamentary election.
B) Corbyn's growing popularity on the left.
C) The electoral success of Emmanuel Macron's REM party in both the presidential and parliamentary 2017 elections.
D) Sarkozy's growing popularity on the right.

Question 6

Which of the following statements about France's legislative system is accurate?

A) The legislature can only block a motion of confidence from becoming a law by passing a motion of censure against the government.
B) The legislature can sometimes govern directly through the use of ordinances.
C) Only about half of all legislation originates within the legislature itself; the executive proposes the other half.
D) Most legislative power rests with committees,which operate under loose,self-imposed rules because they are not regulated by the constitution.

Question 7

How has the General Confederation of Labor differed from the French Democratic Labor Confederation?

A) It has remained much stronger and possesses far more members.
B) It has demonstrated a greater affinity for communist ideology.
C) It has been more accepting of government reform efforts.
D) It has been more welcoming of alliances with smaller,more independent unions.

Question 8

Which term best describes the legislative-executive relations in France?

A) parliamentary
B) presidential
C) constitutional monarchy
D) semi-presidential

Question 9

What has led to conflicts over laïcité?

A) homeschooling
B) creationism
C) the head scarf
D) refusal by some students to sing the national anthem at school

Question 10

The National Front in France is

A) the largest left-wing party in the legislature.
B) the party created to support Sarkozy's campaign for president.
C) the main body that directs policies that affect labor and industry.
D) an increasingly influential far-right,anti-EU party with xenophobic roots.

Question 11

Charles de Gaulle's political legitimacy rested in part on his

A) having descended from Napoleon's family.
B) role in bringing the Reign of Terror to an end.
C) role in the resistance movement during World War II.
D) religious credentials.

Question 12

In France,cohabitation refers to when

A) the two houses of the French legislature are controlled by different parties.
B) there is a coalition government made up of several parties.
C) the president and the prime minister come from different parties.
D) local governments are able to overturn legislation by means of referenda.

Question 13

Which of the following statements about the use of referenda in French politics is accurate?

A) They are used only for electoral reform.
B) They have served to increase the power of local government.
C) A failed referendum to reform the upper house in 1969 led to de Gaulle's resignation.
D) They are never used for changes regarding the European Union.

Question 14

Which of the following accomplishments can be credited to de Gaulle's time as president?

A) promotion of European integration
B) passage of constitutional reforms in 1969
C) banning of nuclear weapons and nuclear power on French soil
D) encouragement of the student protests of 1968

Question 15

Which of the following statements about the French party system is accurate?

A) The two-round voting system has been a big contributor to a two-bloc system.
B) The Communist Party has failed to gain enough traction in French history to participate in coalition governments.
C) The left-leaning political bloc has been composed of the Rally for the Republic and the French Socialist Party.
D) The French system has been dominated by two main political parties since the 1980s.

Question 16

A strong centralized French state can be attributed in part to which facet of its geography?

A) significant obstacles to transportation
B) unprotected borders to the north and northeast,making it vulnerable to invasion
C) lack of mineral resources or productive farmland
D) relatively small size compared to other European countries

Question 17

Which of the following was a founding principle of the French Revolution and creation of the French state that was absent from the principles of the American Revolution?

A) a strong central state
B) republicanism
C) commitment to a set of individual rights
D) separation of church and state

Question 18

Which of the following statements about France's Constitutional Council is accurate?

A) Most appeals to the council come from legislators.
B) It has become less independent in recent years.
C) Members of the Constitutional Council receive lifetime appointments.
D) In addition to constitutional matters,the council serves as a court of last appeal for cases from lower courts.

Question 19

France's National Assembly is elected through

A) single-member district plurality (one round of voting).
B) single-member district majority (two rounds of voting).
C) proportional representation.
D) mixed single-member district majority and proportional representation.

Question 20

The Estates General was

A) the government installed in France after German occupation during World War II.
B) the military elite created by Napoleon.
C) an assembly of representatives from different classes that was,at times,assembled by the French monarchy.
D) the commander in chief of the armed forces.

Question 21

How has France handled the issue of assimilation versus multiculturalism in recent decades? Is laïcité the right policy? Why or why not?

Question 22

Describe the significance of the most recent French elections in terms of the two-bloc system in France.Around what issues are new and different parties emerging and why?

Question 23

How has France's relationship with the European Union evolved? What are the current challenges it faces with regard to the European Union?

Question 24

How does France's current welfare state differ from those of its social-democratic peers in Europe?

A) Most of its benefits go to the poorest French,while those of its peers mostly fund the middle class.
B) It has not undergone pension reforms or seen a reduction of the welfare bureaucracy.
C) It is less rigid,with fewer legal protections for employed workers.
D) Its broad scope has proved less popular domestically than those of its peers.

Question 25

What effect did the dirigisme system have on the French economy in the decades after World War II? How has this model fared through the economic changes of the last 20 years?

Question 26

The Common Agricultural Policy is a key part of France's membership in the

A) World Trade Organization.
B) World Bank.
C) European Union.
D) European Free Trade Agreement.

Question 27

Which of the following has resulted from the residual strength of populist ideas in France?

A) domination of the political scene by a few coherent political parties
B) preference for a weak central state
C) high levels of mistrust of political institutions and parties
D) very low nationalist sentiment

Question 28

What event immediately preceded and,in part,led to Hollande not seeking reelection in 2017?

A) the collapse of the Fifth Republic
B) his failure to pass referendums on constitutional reform
C) a scandal involving anti-Semitism
D) an unpopular reform of French labor laws

Question 29

Which of the following statements about the current French political economy is accurate?

A) The French economy is capable of reform in part because it remains very competitive among other advanced democracies,and the French people are growing to accept the need for reform.
B) President Hollande continued President Sarkozy's policy of austerity and structural reform upon taking office.
C) The French agricultural sector has withered in large part because membership in the EU has exposed it to cheap exports from eastern members.
D) France has largely abandoned the dirigiste model of state intervention in the economy in response to declining GDP per capita.

Question 30

Although France has a strong state and relatively weak civil associations,what two important elements of civil society have played a particularly active role in French politics? And,what form does this activity usually take that distinguishes it from most industrial democracies?