General Instructions: This exam should be completed within four days from the time it is posted. It is worth a total of 100 percentage points and has three parts:
Part I: Identification and significance (20 points) Part II: Matching (30 points) Part III: Brief essays (2 * 25 points)
Part I: Identification and significance (5 points each) Respond to all four terms below. In a few sentences (150-200 words each), define the term fully, connect it to at least one of the theorists we have studied and describe the significance of the concept for the study of political theory. Please check for spelling and grammar.
Part II: Match the quote to the author or document (5 points each)
“If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”
“The right of nature is the liberty each man hath to use his own power, as he will himself, for the preservation of his own nature, that is to say, of his own life, and consequently of doing anything which, in his own judgement and reason, he shall conceive to be the aptest means thereunto.”
“From this arises an argument: whether it is better to be loved than to be feared, or the contrary. I reply that one should like to be both one and the other; but since it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.”
“The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class.”
Part III: Brief Essays. (25 points each)
Select two topics from the list below. Write a formal essay that includes an introduction, body and conclusion. Be sure it is clear which questions you are answering. Each es- say for this section must be between 400-500 words.
What is the origin of democratic thought? How has it changed over the centuries and how does it compare with democratic thought in practice today for the United States? How can it be evaluated (compare and contrast) with other countries in the West, and in developing states? Provide specific example to help clarify your response.
Explain the concept of alienation. How does it relate to socialism, to capitalism, and to democracy? With which political thinker is the concept most closely associated, and how was it considered significant to his/her political thought?
What is anarchism and can it be rationally and morally justified? Is anarchism possible in a complex society? Is democracy effective in a complex society? Identify specific political thinkers associated with anarchism and use examples from the readings to defend your position.