POLI 110 Midterm #1 Questions with
Complete Solutions 2026 updated.
Metrics of Good Governance from D&C 101 & 134 - Answer Agency to choose, no bondage
Should have rule of law
Right to control property
Life, liberty
Uphold respective gov'ts while you are protected
Metrics of Good Governance - Answer Freedom
Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness (right to property)
Standard of living: Strong economy, income, low poverty
Literacy, educated populace
Voice is heard by gov't
Provide for common defense, safety (life)
Equality (equal opportunity, administration of law (Rule of Law), outcomes)
Low imprisonment rate
Benefits of Democracy - Answer Enables the "Wisdom of Crowds"
Pressures government to enact policies that its citizens favor
Creates process for peaceful transfer of power
Provides some voice for all citizens (even those in the minority)
Wisdom of Crowds - Answer Usually as a group if everyone weighs in, it is closer to the right
answer (Although, people know weight really well, but don't know politics as well, so we're right
less with politics than we are with guessing weight)
Conflictual Nature of Politics - Answer We need conflict but we need to keep it contained by
the political process (liberty and equality can be at odds with each other)
Politics - Answer The process of making collective decisions
Science - Answer Systematics enterprise that builds and organized knowledge in the form of
testable explanations ("Theories") and predictions ("Hypothesis") about the universe
Positive Truth/Theory - Answer A proposed explanation for how it works (X causes Y).
, We become more more confident that our theory is good if many tests continue to find
evidence for it
(But, theories in social sciences is never completely true, and often there are competing
theories that scholars debate)
Normative theory - Answer Argument for how things ought to be (what's right, wrong,
desirable, etc.)
Faith and Science - Answer Science = what and how (Science is agnostic, it cannot prove the
existence of God or that He doesn't exist)
Religion = who and why
Limits of Science - Answer It is amoral and focuses more on positive truth and theory
Science (at best) can prove things are false, it doesn't prove that things are true (subject to
change and uncertainty)
Primary Attribute of Disciple-Scholar - Answer Meekness (it helps you be more receptive)
Collective Dilemma - Answer Conflict between goals of the group and individuals
(theories developed by scientists for explaining why people work together or not)
Institution - Answer They are created to solve the collective action problem
"humanly devised constraints that structure political, economic, social interaction." Douglass
North
Example of informal institutions - Answer Taboos, customs
Example of formal institutions - Answer The Constitution
Collective Action Problem/ Free-Rider Problem - Answer A situation in which some group of
people would be better off if they all cooperated; however, any individual in the group has an
incentive not to cooperate as long as others are cooperating.
Tragedy of the Commons - Answer A collective action problem where the incentive to not
cooperate as long as others are cooperating leads to the depletion of some common resource
that already exists.
Complete Solutions 2026 updated.
Metrics of Good Governance from D&C 101 & 134 - Answer Agency to choose, no bondage
Should have rule of law
Right to control property
Life, liberty
Uphold respective gov'ts while you are protected
Metrics of Good Governance - Answer Freedom
Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness (right to property)
Standard of living: Strong economy, income, low poverty
Literacy, educated populace
Voice is heard by gov't
Provide for common defense, safety (life)
Equality (equal opportunity, administration of law (Rule of Law), outcomes)
Low imprisonment rate
Benefits of Democracy - Answer Enables the "Wisdom of Crowds"
Pressures government to enact policies that its citizens favor
Creates process for peaceful transfer of power
Provides some voice for all citizens (even those in the minority)
Wisdom of Crowds - Answer Usually as a group if everyone weighs in, it is closer to the right
answer (Although, people know weight really well, but don't know politics as well, so we're right
less with politics than we are with guessing weight)
Conflictual Nature of Politics - Answer We need conflict but we need to keep it contained by
the political process (liberty and equality can be at odds with each other)
Politics - Answer The process of making collective decisions
Science - Answer Systematics enterprise that builds and organized knowledge in the form of
testable explanations ("Theories") and predictions ("Hypothesis") about the universe
Positive Truth/Theory - Answer A proposed explanation for how it works (X causes Y).
, We become more more confident that our theory is good if many tests continue to find
evidence for it
(But, theories in social sciences is never completely true, and often there are competing
theories that scholars debate)
Normative theory - Answer Argument for how things ought to be (what's right, wrong,
desirable, etc.)
Faith and Science - Answer Science = what and how (Science is agnostic, it cannot prove the
existence of God or that He doesn't exist)
Religion = who and why
Limits of Science - Answer It is amoral and focuses more on positive truth and theory
Science (at best) can prove things are false, it doesn't prove that things are true (subject to
change and uncertainty)
Primary Attribute of Disciple-Scholar - Answer Meekness (it helps you be more receptive)
Collective Dilemma - Answer Conflict between goals of the group and individuals
(theories developed by scientists for explaining why people work together or not)
Institution - Answer They are created to solve the collective action problem
"humanly devised constraints that structure political, economic, social interaction." Douglass
North
Example of informal institutions - Answer Taboos, customs
Example of formal institutions - Answer The Constitution
Collective Action Problem/ Free-Rider Problem - Answer A situation in which some group of
people would be better off if they all cooperated; however, any individual in the group has an
incentive not to cooperate as long as others are cooperating.
Tragedy of the Commons - Answer A collective action problem where the incentive to not
cooperate as long as others are cooperating leads to the depletion of some common resource
that already exists.
