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Concepts: questions and answers To exit this page click on the X in the top right corner. by Gilbert Pleuger (Editor of new perspective) Article titles are in red. Scroll down until you reach the relevant title
Q1. What were the two influences that prompted the growth of socialism? A1. (a) Liberalism and capitalism supported political and economic freedom which defended the subordination of the working class. (b) The French Revolution had released the ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity which could not be attained under other ideologies. Q2. What did socialist hold could not be left to individual initiative after the development of industrialisation? A2. The integration and control of the economy and society. Q3. What did Robert Owen and Saint-Simon claim socialism could eradicate? A3. Endemic (that is, deep-set) poverty, exploitation and crime by planning and by co-operation within factories, Q4. When did socialist ideas spread in London and Paris? A4. In the 1840s Q5. What did reformist socialism become when it started to be more threatening to capitalism? A5. Revolutionary socialism. Q6. What did latter-day, extreme, socialism claim capitalism had done to the working class during the creation of great wealth? A6. Impoverished and brutalised industrial workers (the proletariat) Q7. What did Karl Marx claim formed working-class views of politics, morals and so on? A7. Working-class views were a reflection of their economic and social position. Q8. What did Marx predict for the capitalist system? A8. Its collapse, because of internal contradictions, and the triumph of the working class. Q9. What was Marx’s legacy to socialism? A9. Increased vigour to socialist thought, greater theoretical depth and support to a wide range of socialist programmes. Q10. What did all socialists share in common? A10.
A rejection of a narrowly political view of freedom. Q1. Which is the ideology from which modern communism is seen as an off shoot? A1. Socialism. Q2. What is the two-part essence of communism? A2. (a) abolition of private property and (b) dependence of individuals on the community. Q3.
While communism is often thought to be the offshoot of socialism, Q1. What is (a) the original and (b) the modern (from the nineteenth century) meaning of élite? A1. (a) a person chosen, either elected or selected; (b) a ruling group in society. Q2. What ideas are élites and élitism opposed to? A2. Equality and pluralist ideas power Q3. What do élites claim? A3. Superiority of proven ability, skill, character, birth or education. Q4. Can there be élites in any social or cultural group? A4. Yes. Q5. Which sort of élite particularly interest historians? A5. Political élites. Q6. What are the characteristics of élites? A6. Organisation, mutual support, exclusiveness, anti-democratic and anti-socialist convictions, belief in superiority of own qualities and abilities. Q7. What are the two key questions about an élite from a political point of view? A7. How the élite is selected and how open the élite is to new talent. Q8. Does non recognition of élites and élitism support non recognition of superiority? A8.
No. Q1. What initial definition does the author, in his discussion, give to fact? A1. Either a true proposition (that is, statement) or a real state of affairs that correspond to a proposition. Q2. What is the complication brought out by the example of the execution of Charles I? A2. Facts are irrespective of time and place. Q3. Name two ways the word fact is used. A3. (a) to give emphasis (b) as equivalent to a true proposition. Q4. What are the two aspects of fact? A4. The world aspect and the word aspect. Q5. What does the historian need to use as he works to establish ‘facts’? A5.
Judgement must be used which, because historians study the past, is
dependant on evidence. Q1. What is a concise definition of imperialism? A1. ‘The exercise of power by one state or one people over another.’ Q2. Name some other types of imperialism, other than that of governance? A2. Economic, cultural imperialism. Q3. What is the key characteristic to note when referring to any type of imperialism? A3. Effective domination. Q4. When was the ‘classic’ age of imperialism? A4. The later years of the nineteenth and earlier years of the twentieth centuries. Q5. What was (a) key and (b) what was not fundamental in this process? A5. (a) attitudes (b) quantities of people or territories incorporated into an empire. Q6. What benefits for the imperial power did supporters of imperialism claim? A6. Wealth from trade, power from the control of territory, moral improvement of ‘natives’ by the spread of culture. Q7. How did Marxists view imperialism? A7. The reflection of the needs of business and financial interests to gain more outlets for trade supported by political influence leading to domination. Q8. Identify (a) a general and (b) a particular meaning of imperialism. A8.
(a) domination over others - relates to any period of history. (b)
particular to the later nineteenth century, the practice of domination
and/or attitudes and political programmes and, sometimes, developments
within economies in the home country. Q1.
What did hegemony originally mean and what does it mean today? Q1. By which date was revolution used to describe the complete overthrow of a government? A1. 1600. Q2. What had revolution described before this date? A2. (a) astronomical movement and (b) a great change in circumstances. Q3. When did writers begin to use revolution to describe social and economic events? A3. In the late nineteenth century. Q4. What characteristics must a revolution have to distinguish it from a mere change? A4. It must have either great speed and/or great extent of change or a great number of people affected or a great degree to which people and their lives are affected. Q5. How many types of revolution are there, according to Leiden and Schmitt? A5. 5. Q6. How many stages are there in any political revolution, according to Leiden and Schmitt? A6. 3. Q7. What role does a concept, such as revolution, play in a history writer’s account? A7.
A series of events is labelled and used as a short hand to facilitate a
description and analysis of the past. Q1. What is a synonym for power? A1. Influence. Q2. Is power, that is a power relationship, absent from any area of life? A2. No, as long are there is more than one person present. Q3. How may expressions of power are described by the author? A3. 5. Q4. How is political power defined? A4. Activity which has any bearing on the making or implementation of decisions (for the protection, ordering or well-being of society). Q5. Why is a stylised depiction of government insufficient for a sure understanding of government? A5. It is insufficient because the real working of government is far more complicated and subtle than a diagram can portray. Q6. What is social power? A6. It is any influence which changes the characteristics of a group or its relations with other groups. Q7. What is economic power? A7.
Economic power is influence by a person or group of people on the
production and distribution of goods and services. Q1. When did nationalism become a political force A1. After the French Revolution. Q2.What do nationalists in any society on? A 2. The identity of the nation confers value on the state.Q3. Why can it be claimed that nationalism is the most effective modern ideology? A3. Because of its capacity to mobilise populations. Q4. What are the roots of nationalism? A4. The roots of nationalism are cultural, a fostering of local culture, especially language, in opposition to the influence of local culture(s). Q5. What stimulated the growth of politics ??? A5. The return of dynastic politics in 1815. Q6. What was the range of the political dominance of nationalism? A6. It ranged from direct democracy to extreme forms of authoritarian rule. Q7. What was the consequence of this range? A7. It increased the appeal of nationalism. Q8. Why would nationalism appeal to rulers? A8. Through their identification with the state as a symbol of the nation, a sense of political participation could be attained without any real real extension of popular involvement in government. Q9. What became more likely after the identification of the interests of the State with the needs of the nation? A9.
The change from the probability of a world of diverse nations living in
harmony to a world I which a nation is justified in asserting it self
against other nations. Q1. What can society refer to? A1. Society can refer to either all the citizens of a state or to a group within a state who are identified by a common characteristic or interest or by the relation of that group to other groups within the state. Q2. What types of criteria have been used to identify a subdivision of the citizens of a state? A2. Wealth/income, type of employment, education, leisure activities, political affiliation. Q3. What interests historians about a social group? A3. The distinguishing characteristics, behaviour and views of the group and relationships with other groups. Q4. What helps a more secure categorisation of society? A4. Statistical information helps toward a more secure categorisation of society. Q5. Why is an understanding of society helpful to political history? A5.
It helps to explain why political events happen. Society and the economy
are the slower moving substrata which form the foundation on which
politics are conducted. Q1. Who identified key features of dictatorship in the fourth century BC? A1. Aristotle in The Politics and Plato in The Republic. Q2.
What was dictatorship in the Roman Empire and when and how was it
established?
A5. Q1.
What is macroeconomic theory and policy? Q1.
What did Macaulay claim in The History of England from the Accession of
James II? Q1. How did Palmerston explain the rationale of the idea of the balance of power? A1. ‘… it was in the interests of the community of nations that no nation shall acquire such a preponderance as to endanger the security of the rest.’ Q2.To which time have historians traced the use of the term to? A2. To Guicciadini’s History of Italy published in 1561. Q3. What event led to the questioning of the idea that the interest of the individual states and the state system as a whole was always irreconcilable? A3. The partition of Poland in the eighteenth century. Q4. In which nineteenth-century congress was the balance of power the guide to decisions? A4. The Congress of Vienna in 1815, which met after the defeat of Napoleon. Q5. What development in the middle of the nineteenth century led to the adjustment of inter-state relations? A5. German and Italian nation state building Q6. What was the League of Nations created to do? A6. To provide an alternative to power politics. Q7. After which date did a balance of power in Europe become part of a global balance of power? A7.
After 1945. Q1. What are the two key parts of the concept of the Cold War? A1. Intense mutual hostility and opposed ideology Q2. What key words define each of the four characteristics of Cold War as described by Anders Stephenson? A2. A rivalry between two great blocs superimposed on the whole world B all means, short of war itself C denial of the others right to exist D suppression of internal dissidence Q3. By which date were the two opposing ideologies of the Cold War in place? A3.B y 1918. Q4. What created the political context for the Cold War? A4. The defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 Q5. What were, in the view of some historians, the main phases of the Cold War? A5. 1 1947-53 2 1953-8 3 1958-63 4 1963 to the late 1970s
5 The late 1970s to 1989/90 Q1. What is the essence of autarchy? A1. Self sufficiency Q2. When did the idea of economic autarchy originate in Germany? A2. After the 1918 defeat. Q3. What does Wehrwirtshaft mean? A3. A defence-led economy. Q4. When did secret rearmament begin in Germany? A4.
After 1924 with the establishment in the German Army of an Economics Staff Q1. To what do totalitarian political systems aspire? A1. The control of hearts and minds and blurring the difference between truth and falsehood so that the people can be fully manipulated by the government. Q2. What is the literal translation of gleichschaltung? A2. Literally, ‘switching onto the same track or wavelength’ or, more generally, alignment and co-ordination. Q3. What was the use of the term gleichschaltung meant to achieve? A3. To gloss over the use of terror and violence. Q4. What was the focus in the early months of the Nazi regime? A4.
What was good for the Volk: the Fuhrer was the judge of this. Q1. What is a constitution? A1. The structure of government, usually defined in a document. Q2. When did several governments begin to change from absolutism to representative government? A2. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Q3. Which group of people used the call for constitutions to further their ambitions? A3. Wealthier men who sort a share in the government process. Q4. Why are constitutions, while formal definitions of power, insufficient to describe the operation of a system of government? A4.
Informal influence will effect a system of government. The 1936 USSR
constitution and Bismarck’s Second Empire constitution, 1871, are
examples. Keynesianism versus Monetarism Q1. What was Keynes’ book called and when was it published? A1. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published in 1935 Q2. What is macroeconomic theory and policy? A2. The theory of the overall working of the economy and of the policy policy maesures to maintain economic stability. Q3. What did Keynes deny? A3. He denied that capitalist economies corrected themselves to maintain stability without government intervention. Q4. What, according to Keynes, was the reason for the failure to maintain full employment? A4. A lack of total spending, mainly due to a shortfall in investment and that this could be corrected by the government. Q5. When was the period of Keynes’ greatest influence? A5. From 1945 until the latter 1960s. Q6. What is the monetarist’s central claim? A6. Money is the key to the level of prices. Q7. What, according to monetarists, would influence output and the standard of living? A7.
Supply side economics. Q1. What is a synonym for welfare? A1. Well being Q2. Which party introduced the Welfare State? A2. The Labour administrations of 1945-51. Q3. What was the blueprint for fr the Welfare State? A3. The 1942 Beveridge Report Q4. What were the five aims of the Welfare State? A4. The abolition of want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness. Q5. Which two parties were to co-operate in the Welfare State? A5. The State and the individual. Q6. Which was the key measure for the Welfare State? A6. The National Insurance Act, 1946 Q7. What were payments by the state made for? A7. Unemployment, sickness, maternity and funerals. Q8. What was the name of the act, passed in 1948, that was complementary and key to the working of the Welfare State? A8. The National Health Act Q9. When was the Welfare State inaugurated, by whom and in which manner? A9. On 5 July 1948, by the Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, in a radio broadcast. Q10. What was the key, earlier, act related to the Welfare State which was a foundation for later developments? A10.
The National Insurance Act, 1911, passed by the Liberal administration. Q1.
When did the term totalitarianism gain wider currency? Q1.
In relation to economics, what policies were Thatcher’s Chancellors often
more enthusiastic to follow than she herself? Q1. Pending A1.
Pending Q1.
How do citizens have (personal) security under the rule of war? Q1.
Why does propaganda work?
Q1.
From which century was the concept of culture used with increased
frequency?
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