PV Test 1 Questions with Correct Answers Latest Update 2025/2026
Most basic requirements of political Violence - Answers 1. two or more distinct sides
2. incompatibility
In What everyone should know about war (2003) states: - Answers In previous 3,400 Years only
268 had no war (8% of time)
- Estimates of total war casualties throughout history range from 150 million to 1 billion
Target of Violence - Answers State perp, state target
state perp, non-state target
non-state perp, state target
non state perp, non state target
Interstate war - Answers war between 2+ countries
civil war - Answers war between government and rebels
intercommunal conflict - Answers fighting between 2+ non-state actors within a country
State repression - Answers Government harms citizens, not necessarily in war (e.g. torture,
political imprisonment, extrajudicial killing, forced disappearance)
Genocide - Answers Mass killing of people based on race, religion, or ethnicity (related to
politicized, which involves mass killing based on political affiliation)
Ethnic cleansing - Answers Forcibly removing members of an ethnic group from a territory
Military coup - Answers Military institutes regime change by forcibly displacing government
leadership
Mass Protest/Rebellion - Answers Large-scale collective action, often escalating to low-intensity
violence (participants sometimes demand regime change)
Organized Crime/Cartel violence - Answers Criminal groups sometimes produce large-scale
violence often for economic reasons, but possibly in political settings (e.g greater organized
crime violence often follows civil war or regime change)
Political Assassination - Answers murder of public figures for political reasons
Terrorism - Answers using violence to cause fear, not just harm direct victims
Observations offered by Kalyvas - Answers Asymmetric interactions - tend to involve greater
diversity of violence
,Violence often escalates
All forms of political violence are distinct and can occur by themselves or with other forms of
violence
Violent actors often target civilians who might sympathize w/other side
Rogue Actors sometimes instigate violence between two sides
Preemption is common - many violent actors strike in anticipation of others violence
Violence from one side often triggers retaliatory violence from the other side
4 Logics of Violence - Answers hierarchical logic escalation logic, instrumental logic,
substitution logic
hierarchical logic - Answers high level violence may trigger lower level violence
Escalation Logic - Answers Violence may grow in scale or intensity
Instrumental Logic - Answers One form of violence used to implement another
Substitution Logic - Answers One form of violence used in place of another
Spillover effects - Answers Sometimes the violence spills into another country, issues with
refugee flows
Various forms of conflict-related suffering - Answers Homelessness - Conflicts displace people
internally or as refugees
Human rights abuse - Gov'ts and rebels often both harm civilians
Shortages of good and safe drinking water
Sexual assault and looting are common in war zones
"Development in reverse" - Conflicts shrink economies, lower living standards
, 4: torture, extrajudicial killing, political imprisonment, forced disappearance
Disease outbreaks often occur while healthcare, public services are disrupted
PTSD combo amongst both civilians and combatants
- territory
Armed Conflict by region: - Answers most conflicted Is Africa
Asia
Middle East
Europe
Americas
Political Instability Task force - Answers CIA Sponsored research groups comprised of
academic researchers, govt, experts and contractors
Massive resources for data analysis
Founded in 1990s to study increased levels of intrastate conflict
What does the Political instability task force study? - Answers state failure
Civil war (revolutionary or ethnic)
Adverse regime change
Genocide/politicide
Some key findings: political instability task force - Answers infant mortality (a proxy for state
capacity) is best predictor of state failure
Anocracies (countries neither fully democratic nor autocratic) are most unstable
Trade and democracy are pacifying on the substate level
PITF: Combination of 4 factors predict more than 80% of the cases - Answers Regime typ
Infant mortality rate
Conflict in neighboring states
Most basic requirements of political Violence - Answers 1. two or more distinct sides
2. incompatibility
In What everyone should know about war (2003) states: - Answers In previous 3,400 Years only
268 had no war (8% of time)
- Estimates of total war casualties throughout history range from 150 million to 1 billion
Target of Violence - Answers State perp, state target
state perp, non-state target
non-state perp, state target
non state perp, non state target
Interstate war - Answers war between 2+ countries
civil war - Answers war between government and rebels
intercommunal conflict - Answers fighting between 2+ non-state actors within a country
State repression - Answers Government harms citizens, not necessarily in war (e.g. torture,
political imprisonment, extrajudicial killing, forced disappearance)
Genocide - Answers Mass killing of people based on race, religion, or ethnicity (related to
politicized, which involves mass killing based on political affiliation)
Ethnic cleansing - Answers Forcibly removing members of an ethnic group from a territory
Military coup - Answers Military institutes regime change by forcibly displacing government
leadership
Mass Protest/Rebellion - Answers Large-scale collective action, often escalating to low-intensity
violence (participants sometimes demand regime change)
Organized Crime/Cartel violence - Answers Criminal groups sometimes produce large-scale
violence often for economic reasons, but possibly in political settings (e.g greater organized
crime violence often follows civil war or regime change)
Political Assassination - Answers murder of public figures for political reasons
Terrorism - Answers using violence to cause fear, not just harm direct victims
Observations offered by Kalyvas - Answers Asymmetric interactions - tend to involve greater
diversity of violence
,Violence often escalates
All forms of political violence are distinct and can occur by themselves or with other forms of
violence
Violent actors often target civilians who might sympathize w/other side
Rogue Actors sometimes instigate violence between two sides
Preemption is common - many violent actors strike in anticipation of others violence
Violence from one side often triggers retaliatory violence from the other side
4 Logics of Violence - Answers hierarchical logic escalation logic, instrumental logic,
substitution logic
hierarchical logic - Answers high level violence may trigger lower level violence
Escalation Logic - Answers Violence may grow in scale or intensity
Instrumental Logic - Answers One form of violence used to implement another
Substitution Logic - Answers One form of violence used in place of another
Spillover effects - Answers Sometimes the violence spills into another country, issues with
refugee flows
Various forms of conflict-related suffering - Answers Homelessness - Conflicts displace people
internally or as refugees
Human rights abuse - Gov'ts and rebels often both harm civilians
Shortages of good and safe drinking water
Sexual assault and looting are common in war zones
"Development in reverse" - Conflicts shrink economies, lower living standards
, 4: torture, extrajudicial killing, political imprisonment, forced disappearance
Disease outbreaks often occur while healthcare, public services are disrupted
PTSD combo amongst both civilians and combatants
- territory
Armed Conflict by region: - Answers most conflicted Is Africa
Asia
Middle East
Europe
Americas
Political Instability Task force - Answers CIA Sponsored research groups comprised of
academic researchers, govt, experts and contractors
Massive resources for data analysis
Founded in 1990s to study increased levels of intrastate conflict
What does the Political instability task force study? - Answers state failure
Civil war (revolutionary or ethnic)
Adverse regime change
Genocide/politicide
Some key findings: political instability task force - Answers infant mortality (a proxy for state
capacity) is best predictor of state failure
Anocracies (countries neither fully democratic nor autocratic) are most unstable
Trade and democracy are pacifying on the substate level
PITF: Combination of 4 factors predict more than 80% of the cases - Answers Regime typ
Infant mortality rate
Conflict in neighboring states
