Final Exam

Final Exam Questions for PS321 Democratization
Fall 2006

DIRECTIONS: This final exam is take-home. Students are allowed to consult their notes and textbooks, but no other sources may be consulted. These are independent papers. Each student is expected to do their own work and may not consult with other students during the writing of the exam. Students should take care to cite evidence from the textbooks and their class notes. All responses are to be typed, double-spaced, with 12 point, normal font. Complete, concise, and coherent answers are expected.

NOTE: Final exams are due by Tuesday, December 12^th, at 11:30am in Prof. Gibler’s mailbox on the political science floor.

Part I: Three questions (60 total points)

1.) What effects does asset specificity have on the likelihood of democratic transitions? Does it affect the type of transition? In your answer, be sure to trace through the process of democratization as it relates to asset specificity. Be precise in your answer.

2.) What regional forces have had an effect on democratization over the past 50+ years? Incorporate the discussions of specific countries from the group projects in your answers. Also, contrast these forces with the theory and analyses presented in Enteriline and Greig. (Both the group presentations and the paper by Enterline and Greig are available on the class blog.)

3.) What effects does external, territorial threat have on the likelihood of democratic transitions? In your answer, be sure to trace through the process of democratization as it relates to external, territorial threat. Be as specific as possible on how threat affects domestic politics and institutions. Students might also think about how to incorporate Boix’s work in their explanation.

Part II: One question (40 points)

Differentiate between Gleditsch’s (2002) integration theory of democratization and the theory of transitions based on territorial threat. Summarize Gleditsch’s argument and analyses, and then contrast that summary to the arguments given in Part I, Question #3 above. Who is right? What evidence do you have to come to this conclusion?