Questions and Answers for Political Science
Political Science
Who has more power in the British government, the Queen or the Prime Minister?
In the Constitutional system as it has evolved over the centuries, the monarch has come to have no actual "power." The Queen now (or King when there is one in future) is the head of state, but this...
Political Science
What are some of the similarities and differences between a parliamentary and presidential democracy?
There are substantial differences within as well as between the systems of parliamentary democracy and presidential democracy. To take two specific examples as patterns, some of the differences and...
Political Science
Characteristics Of A State
People have tried to define a state going at least as far back as the days of Plato. In 1933, representatives from a number of countries gathered in Uruguay to define what makes a state, in what...
Political Science
How are interest groups and political parties similar or different?
The similarities between interest groups and political parties are broad. Both interest groups and political parties try to shape political policies. Both try to protect and promote the causes they...
Political Science
Similarities Between House And Senate
The House has a reputation of being much more contentious and impulsive when it comes to legislation. By comparison, it is fairly easy to be elected to the House, which means you have won a...
Political Science
What are some positive and negative aspects of interest groups?
Interest groups play an important role as the “voice” of the people to advocate for their rights and push forward their agenda. Thus, without some interest groups or pressure groups, the voice and...
Political Science
What is the nature and scope of political science?
Political science, by nature, is a social science that deals with humans and their interactions. As a branch of sociology, it essentially deals with the large-scale actions of humans, and group...
Political Science
What are the advantages and disadvantages of having so many levels of subnational governments in the United States?...
When answering this question, you should consider the two main sub-national levels of government: state and municipal. (There are also county and township levels of government, but these tend to be...
Political Science
What is a political cue?
The term "political cue" is one that has a different meaning for political professionals than members of the voting public. To the former, it refers to any signal that reveals to a legislator what...
Political Science
What are the characteristics of a social movement?
Social movements are varied, but they do have a few shared characteristics. Generally speaking, social movements are geared toward creating, perpetuating, or stopping social or political change....
Political Science
What is the different between Horizontal and Vertical Policy Making?
Vertical versus horizontal policy-making is a product of the nature of the organization involved in the process. Horizontal policy-making exists when departments or individuals within an...
Political Science
What are the differences and similarities between descriptive representation and substantive representation?
There are similarities and differences between descriptive representation and substantive representation. Descriptive representation is when an elected official represents people based on some...
Political Science
Why is it necessary for a bill to go through so many steps to become a law?
There are, in theory, ten potential steps a bill can go through before it becomes law. Although a president, a member of cabinet or head of a federal agency may propose a bill, only a member of...
Political Science
Why Is Government Necessary
Government is necessary because human beings aren't angels. Almost everyone is a mixture of good and bad, and, one could argue, it's the bad side of human nature that needs to be restrained by the...
Political Science
Difference Between Politics And Political Science
The term "political science" derives from the Greek word "polis" (plural: "poleis") which means "city state". In Greek philosophy, human affairs and the science of understanding them are divided...
Political Science
What are some of the criticisms of interest groups?
Interest groups are often criticized for being "single issue." This means they will support whichever political candidate promises to champion their one issue. The political candidate could have a...
Political Science
Why does a bill has to pass both houses of Congress to reach the president's desk?
A bill has to pass through both houses of Congress to make it to the president because the Framers of the Constitution wanted to make sure that it was hard for the government to oppress us and...
Political Science
How do political parties influence policy making?
Political parties influence public policy precisely because that is why they exist: to influence public policy. Political parties are large groupings of like-minded individuals who collectively...
Political Science
What is an example of casework?
Having worked on many cases on behalf of the constituents of the members of Congress for whom I worked on Capitol Hill, I can provide many examples of casework. My first two employers served on...
Political Science
What is considered a political process?
Anything can be considered as part of the political process if it is a process through which governmental institutions interact with the people. To understand what this means, look at Greenberg...
Political Science
Why Did The Framers Created A Bicameral Legislature
After seven weeks of hard work during the summer of 1787, the Constitutional Conventional was in serious jeopardy of concluding without a document that would replace the ineffective Articles of...
Political Science
What are the advantages and disadvantages of opinion polls relating to political elections?
I think that one obvious advantage to the polling process would be that it provides a solid read to candidates or elected leaders on the pulse of the public on specific issues. Polling enables the...
Political Science
How does a multinational state differ from a nation-state?
The difference between a multinational-state and a nation-state is pretty basic and hinges on simple definitions of sometimes complex concepts. Let's start with the definition of "nation" for...
Political Science
What is implied by the saying "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty?"
Although there are several variants of the phrase scattered among different authors, perhaps the best known within the context of the United States is from a speech by Wendell Phillips (1811–1888),...
Political Science
What are the similarities and differences between a democracy and a monarchy?
Government The major similarity between monarchy and democracy is that they are both forms of government. Government is dedicated to establishing hierarchy of authority, rule of law, social order...
Political Science
What is a voting cue?
A voting cue is something that helps someone know how they should vote on a particular issue. It is often used with regard to members of legislatures, but can also refer to the voting behavior of...
Political Science
Is the federal system the best way to govern the United States?
There are reasons to support and to refute the claim that the federal system is the best way to govern the United States. There are several reasons why the federal system is a good system for the...
Political Science
Benefits Of War
Wars can be beneficial in all the ways already mentioned. World War II is probably one of the few instances in which both the victors and the losers benefitted from the war -- the victors by...
Political Science
How are citizens involved in the three branches of our federal government?
Public participation is very important especially in running a democratic government and this does not stop after elections. The public is responsible for most of the actions and decisions that the...
Political Science
Does government by committee make the role of individual members of Congress less important?
The best answer to this is “it depends.” Some individuals are clearly made less important by the committee system. However, others are made more important than they otherwise would have been. In...
Political Science
What is an example of "cross-cutting cleavages" in any country, including the United States?
The other two answers define cross-cutting cleavages and provided American examples, so I thought I'd contribute a global case. In India, the north-south divide splits people economically. Southern...
Political Science
Why are boundaries or borders good for nations?
"Fences make good neighbors," as they say. And borders and boundaries, in theory, make for good relations between nations. Clearly-established boundaries should mean that there are no territorial...
Political Science
Is the United States an indirect democracy or a republic?
The answer to this question is going to depend almost completely on how your book defines a republic. As the link below tells us, there is no consensus among scholars ... as to exactly what a...
Political Science
Importance Of Freedom
The importance of freedom is that it allows us to develop our morality and our consciences. If we lack freedom, we cannot truly become mature human beings. When we are forced to do things or not...
Political Science
Why is "pork barrel" spending important?
Pork barrel spending is spending that is intended for specific projects that benefit donor or constituent groups. Pork barrel spending can make legislation easier to pass because it allows for...
Political Science
Compare and contrast three different forms of governments.
There are various forms of government, but political philosophers have often looked at monarchies, oligarchies, and democracies. Neither of the three governments are inherently good or bad. All of...
Political Science
How does the Constitution prevent tyranny? How does the Constitution prevent tyranny?
I just want to specify and add to the post above, because I believe one of the key element that, in the end, prevents tyranny, is an independent court system. When Federal judges are appointed,...
Political Science
What type of questions would a political scientist ask in order to understand unemployment?
In answering this question, we have to be careful not to ask questions that would be more properly asked by economists or by sociologists. We have to ask questions that are mainly the concern of...
Political Science
What is the largest branch of the federal government? I can't decide if it is the executive or the legislative.
By far the largest branch of the federal government is the executive branch. Practically all federal employees work for the executive branch. The legislative branch and the judicial branch are...
Political Science
What are the global forces (economic, social, political, and cultural) that have influenced your life? The goal of...
This would be a very long answer, but I would say that one of the greater influences on my life has been capitalism. While I dislike many aspects of this economic system, American capitalism...
Political Science
What role has technology played increasing the power and reach of presidents?
Technology has allowed the president to instantly reach hundreds of millions of people with a simple Tweet. It has also allowed the media, which operates across television, the radio, and the...
Political Science
Why did James Madison refer to the legislative branch as the first branch of government?
Madison answers this question most directly in Federalist No. 51, the essay where he addresses the system of checks and balances built into the Constitution. Madison tells his readers that in...
Political Science
Compare the role of the Cabinet with that of the Executive Office of the President.
Typically, in modern American presidential administrations, the Executive Office is much more important to the President than is his (or maybe someday her) cabinet. This is because the members of...
Political Science
How is political geography different from political science?
Political geography is different from political science in that it is a much more limited area of study. Political geography, like political science, is concerned with the study of politics....
Political Science
Compare and contrast the Mexican government with the United States' government.
The similarities between the nations' governments are practically all surrounding how the government is run and how it was established. The nations are both democracies, established as federations...
Political Science
Discuss the connection between devolution and balkanization.
Devolution can lead to balkanization or it can be a result of balkanization. It can also occur without balkanization. Devolution occurs when a unitary government hands increased powers to lower...
Political Science
Limitations Of Democracy
What limitations there are on a democracy depend upon what democracy is being considered. Democracy can take many forms, and so can the limitations. The democracy with which I am most familiar is...
Political Science
What is the relationship between government and the economy? What is the relationship between the guarantees a...
The economic system of a country often determines how it is governed. For example, the United States moved from the mixed economy of the mid-twentieth century, in which there was both a strong...
Political Science
What is the difference between liberalism & fascism ? Im doing an ideology essay on liberalism & fascism. We...
Liberalism is predicated on the idea of democratically elected governments, individual freedom, and religious toleration. Under liberalism, every person, at least in theory, has the equal...
Political Science
What is the most important power that Congress has?
The most important power that Congress has must surely be the power to make laws. This is the most fundamental power in any system of government. Nothing can be more important than this power....
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