STUDY SESSION ONE: THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

1. Which of the following define politics?

(a) Struggle for power
(b) Struggle for leadership
(c) Struggle for money
(d) Community defence
2. True/False: Generally speaking, it is difficult to define politics because there are many
definitions.
(a) True
(b) False
(c) None
(d) All of the above
3. ________________ stated that politics is the process of making and execution of
government decision of polices.
(a) Chikadi (1962:1)
(b) David de Bakas (1965:2)
(c) Ernest Baker (1962:1)
(d) None
4. Who are the two people that define politics as authoritative allocation of values or who gets
what and how?
(a) Harold Lasswell and Abraham Kaplan (1950)
(b) Cilinal James and Dotun Edith (1962)
(c) James Peter and James Simon (1932)
(d) Peter Piti and Calver Keliven (1932)
5. How true is this explanation by: Austine Ranany (1975:35-38) that: maintains that politics is
a process of resolution of conflict in society.
(a) True
(b) False
(c) None
(d) All of the above
6. Complete this statement according to Max Weber (1947:145-154) that politics is the
_________________ and_________________.
(a) Class and status
(b) Wealth and power
(c) State and its institutions
(d) None
7. Politics for him means the sharing power of influence the distribution of power among
individuals and groups within a state.
Who is make this suggestion according to him?
(a) David Welber
(b) Max Duwell
(c) Max Weber
(d) Moses Olatunji
8. Who is suggesting this: politics is essentially the struggle for positions of power and
influence by which those who succeed in monopolizing such position in society
(a) Lasswell
(b) Maxwell
(c) David
(d) Williams
9. For our purpose, politics can simply be define in three ways expect:
(a) It attempts to discover the general principles, formation and functioning of government.
(b) It is concerned with people and the way in which they make decisions and the way those
decisions are reached.
(c) It attempts is to formulate and occupy the post for self interest
(d) Politics is that part of the social sciences which treats the foundations of the state and the
principle of government.
10. Politics was derived from one of the following.
(a) Community
(b) Polis
(c) Tribe
(d) Commune
11. ________________ goes beyond the activity of government the political parties and the
politicians.
(a) Politics
(b) Policy
(c) Position
(d) Post
12. Politics can be played at a national level or internationally
(a) Yes
(b) No
(c) None
(d) All of the above
13. At what national year level did the failure of the Nigerian political elite was?
(a) 1962-66
(b) 1963-67
(c) 1975-63
(d) 1965-69
14. In what year did history repeated itself in the political elite again and failed to settle their
differences?
(a) 1996
(b) 1994
(c) 1983
(d) 1973
15. Nigeria people swept the political elite off the political stage and ruled until what year?
(a) 1999
(b) 1996
(c) 1997
(d) 1998
16. Relative peace has how returned to Liberia after how many years of fighting?
(a) 14 years
(b) 10 years
(c) 15years
(d) 11 years
17. _______________ as established a board definition of politics.
(a) Greek
(b) Libera
(c) Japan
(d) Nigeria
18. However, between the____________ and ____________ century, European political
philosophers established a narrower definition of politics.
(a) Thirteen and early fifteenth
(b) Twelve and early thirteen
(c) Sixteenth and early twentieth
(d) None
19. For example, ________________ (1430-1596), a French political philosopher, who first used
the term “Political Science” (science politique) was a lawyer.
(a) Jean Bodin
(b) Bolder James
(c) Kelvin John
(d) Kate Kemi
20. Which of the following is not as assumption of science?
(a) Constancy
(b) Inter-subjectivity
(c) Verifiability
(d) A prior reasoning
21. Politics goes beyond the activity of government.
(a) True
(b) False
(c) None
(d) B and A
22. Politics is a ________________ phenomenon.
(a) Society
(b) Group
(c) Universal
(d) None
23. Yes/No: Another French philosopher Montesquieu (1689-1755) argued that the functions
of government could be encompassed within the categories of legislation, execution, and
the adjudication of law.
(a) Yes
(b) No
(c) Not really
(d) Non
24. In the mid-nineteenth century, __________________________ theory of evolution and
natural section began to exert a powerful influence upon political science.
(a) Darwin’s
(b) Drawnina’s
(c) Dropenair’s
(d) Dudetatorinair’s
25. The traditional approach to the study of politics are basically :
(a) Empirical
(b) Valuefree
(c) Prescriptive
(d) Scientific
26. Pure science is concerned with obtaining accurate knowledge about the structure and
behavior of the ________________________.
(a) Physical universal
(b) Global universe
(c) Entire universe
(d) Broadly universe
27. It deals with universe and with _____________________of knows facts.
(a) Rational analysis
(b) Logical analysis
(c) None of the above
(d) All of the above
28. Science has been described as an ___________________________________.
(a) Adventure of the human spirit
(b) Power of the human spirit
(c) Focus of the human spirit
(d) Ability, capacity of the human spirit
29. What this means is that politics is not just about _________________
and__________________.
(a) Government and logical thinking
(b) Society and power
(c) Government and politicians
(d) Power and wealth
30. True /False: a complex process involving everybody in a given society, attitudes to issues,
interest groups
(a) None
(b) Flase
(c) True
(d) All of the above
31. The behavioral approach is designed to :
(a) Formulate laws of political behavior
(b) Develop high level theory
(c) Eliminate value for political analysis
(d) Predict human behavior (b)(c)(d)
32. True/False: To evaluate the findings of their own studies and of others, scientists employ a
number of knowledge, to be scientific it must be characterized by verifiability; it must be
systematic and must have general applicability.
(a) True
(b) False
(c) None
(d) All of the above
33. _____________________ Means a proposition is said to be verified when it has been
checked or tested by many specialists in the relevant field of study and when they all agree
that other scientists and the general public can believe it to be true.
(a) Verified
(b) Verifiability
(c) Verification
(d) Variability
34. _________________ that some propositions will hold true, is so great that they can be
treated as certainties, but in the social sciences, this is not the case.
(a) The ability
(b) The probability
(c) The post
(d) The grade
35. Yes/ No: If scientific knowledge is to be verifiable, science must be empirical, that is,
scientific statements must be descriptive of the empirical world.
(a) Yes
(b) No
(c) None
(d) All of the above
36. ____________________ means Knowledge is said to be systematic when it is organized into
an intelligible pattern, or structure, with significant relationships made clear.
(a) Mindset
(b) Focus
(c) System
(d) Ability
37. Complete this statement
To achieve a system, scientists seek out ________________ and ______________putting things
together.
(a) Similarities and differences
(b) Differences and similarities
(c) Similar and differ
(d) None
38. ______________________ means that scientists want to proceed from the particular
towards the general facts, from knowledge of isolated facts towards knowledge of the
connections between facts.
(a) System communication
(b) Concern for science
(c) Science and part
(d) Concern for system
39. Complete this quoted statement
Thus, "the idea of science is to achieve a systematic _____________ of facts”.
(a) Inter-connection
(b) Inter-commination
(c) Inter- communicate
(d) Inter- community
40. _________________ the knowledge provided by a telephone directory anywhere in the
world is verifiable, and it is presented in an orderly and systematic way.
(a) Generality or Universal
(b) Generality or Universality
(c) Generality or universe
(d) Generality or university
41. Turning to the second part of our question: Is political science really scientific?
_______________ may be defined as the study of politics using some scientific tools.
(a) Political science
(b) Political study
(c) Political services
(d) Political secret
42. True/ False: Scientific knowledge on any subject, designed to facilitate explanation and
prediction can be thought of as a pyramid rising from a base of specific bits of data up
through more general facts to propositions, laws, and theories.
(a) True
(b) False
(c) All of the above
(d) None
43. Yes/No: Political science is not and cannot be an exact science in the sense of the natural
sciences like physics, chemistry, geology, etc.
(a) No
(b) Yes
(c) All of the above
(d) None
44. True/False: Political science is not an exact science like the natural sciences because the
material with which it deals is incapable of being treated exactly the same way as physics or
chemistry.
(a) True
(b) False
(c) All of the above
(d) None
45. While ____________and ______________ are natural or physical science, and deal with
matter; the social sciences which include political science, sociology, economics, etc.
(a) Geography and Maths
(b) Art and Science
(c) Physics and Chemistry
(d) Chemistry and home Environment
46. __________in society is not only unpredictable but also extremely cumbersome to observe
accurately because he is ever-changing and his environment is difficult to control.
(a) Woman
(b) Man
(c) Women
(d) Men
47. Political science like other ____________________ has a scientific character because of the
scientific method it employs in examining, phenomena.
(a) Social studies
(b) Social environment
(c) Social science
(d) Social amenities
48. True/False: Concern for system means that scientists want to proceed from the particular
towards the general facts, from knowledge of isolated facts towards knowledge of the
connections between facts.
(a) False
(b) True
(c) None
(d) All of the above
49. ____________________method of the natural science may be difficult for political scientists
to adopt but they could observe historical facts and the facts of contemporary world as the
basis for political analysis, classify, connect and compare.
(a) The laboratory
(b) The laborite
(c) The labor
(d) The elaborative
50. Political scientists do not agree on the appropriate categories for classifying the phenomena
of __________.
(a) Power
(b) Post
(c) Position
(d) Politics
51. This _________________reflects the difficulty of observing and the frequent impossibility of
quantifying the variables that political scientists identify.
(a) Disagreement
(b) Agreement
(c) Disband
(d) Statement
52. True/False: Finally, because political scientists deal with large numbers of people in an
uncontrolled setting where each individual has many behavioral options open to him, it is
near impossible to make generalization on observed facts.
(a) False
(b) True
(c) None
(d) A and C
53. The most crucial fact is how one defines, much less measure, political power and influence
the very substance of the _____________.
(a) Political power
(b) Political conduct
(c) Political process
(d) Political authority
54. Yes/No: Our assessment of political power will be highlighted when we examine power,
authority and influence in another unit.
(a) Yes
(b) No
(c) None
(d) All of the above
55. True /False: The development of Political science as a discipline shows its attempt in
enhancing its scientific status.
(a) True
(b) False
(c) None
(d) All of the above
56. Agree/ Disagree: We are however informed that political science is not and cannot be an
exact science in the sense of the natural sciences like physics, chemistry, geology, etc.
(a) Disagree
(b) Agree
(c) None
(d) All of the above
57. True/ False: The development of political science as a distinct field of study and its scientific
status.
(a) False
(b) True
(c) None of the above
(d) All of the above
58. True / False: We tried here to show you that although there is no universally acceptable
definition of the word "politics".
(a) True
(b) False
(c) None
(d) All of the above
59. _______________observed that 'man by nature is a political animal.
(a) Moses
 (b) James
(c) Faith
(d) Aristotle
60. To others, including Harold Lasswell (_______) politics has been equated with the study of
power or the study of influence and the influential.
(a) 1951
(b) 1954
(c) 1952
(d) 1953