Chapter 1: Social Science and Its Methods

Discussion Questions

  1. What is scientific knowledge? How does it differ from knowledge acquired “unconsciously”?
  2. What is the relationship between phronesis and scientific knowledge?
  3. What is the impartial spectator tool, and why is it important for social scientists?
  4. What distinguishes argumentation for the sake of heaven from other types of argumentation?
  5. Name the principal social sciences and define the field with which each deals.
  6. Why would it have been difficult to carry on scientific investigation in primitive societies or even in the Middle Ages?
  7. Why is social science policy more difficult than natural science policy?
  8. Are there any advantages to having competing research programs?
  9. Why is it difficult to formulate precise laws in the field of social science?
  10. In what sense is social science scientific?
  11. Why is it often impossible to study social problems by means of the experimental method?
  12. Explain the ways in which the problems of social science differ from those of the exact natural sciences.
  13. What are the advantages of the interdisciplinary approach to the study of many social problems?
  14. Social science has been broken down into specialties. Why is it a problem to put them back together through a unified theory?
  15. What new social science fields do you think will be important ten years from now? Why do you think so?

Internet Questions

  1. In his Ted Talk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLbEKpL-5Z0), Brian Epstein argues that there are two types of questions that scientists ask: “what is it” questions and “how does it work” questions. Which type does he believe that social scientists are not asking?
  2. The website https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/engineering-design-process/engineering-design-compare-scientific-method distinguishes the scientific method from the engineering method. How do the methods differ?
  3. Go to the society portal of Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Social_sciences) and choose the branches of geography category. How many different types of geography are listed?
  4. Take the survey about alcohol use at www.alcoholscreening.org. After taking the survey, look at the feedback you are given based on your answers. What can the results of this survey be used for?
  5. In Steven Levitt’s defense of his abortion study, what was one of the alternative suggestions for the increase in crime? (http://freakonomics.com/2005/05/15/abortion-and-crime-who-should-you-believe/) What was the alternative argument that critics used to explain why the crime rate has decreased? Did Levitt agree with the alternative argument?

Chapter 2: Human Origins

Discussion Questions

  1. Why do we say the human being is a social creature?
  2. Why are humans, apes, and monkeys all placed in the biological order of primates?
  3. Explain Darwin’s theory of evolution.
  4. How do epigenetics and multilevel group selection modify Darwin’s theory of how evolution works?
  5. Can scientists create life? What possibilities can you see in genetic engineering?
  6. How does sociobiology explain the development of human behavior?
  7. What is the theory of punctuated equilibrium, and why is it important?
  8. Should scientific creationism be taught in schools? Why or why not?
  9. How long ago do you think humanlike creatures appeared on earth? Why is it so hard to determine the date, and why do you think we keep trying?
  10. Who are some of the earliest precursors of human beings? What makes them like us? What makes them unlike us?
  11. What three abilities gave humans advantages over all other creatures? Are humans unique?

Internet Questions

  1. Read the short article at https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Theory-still-rocks-scientists-equilibrium-2817468.php. What are some of the examples given as evidence for punctuated equilibrium? Is one mechanism of evolution singled out for these cases?
  2. Pick one of the articles about a recent discovery in paleoanthropology listed on http://www.sci-news.com/news/othersciences/anthropology/paleoanthropology. What was found? Where was it found? Why is this discovery important?
  3. Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp4Vsq4jRFY and watch the video. What are vestigial structures? What are homologous structures? What are analogous structures?
  4. According to the information at http://discovermagazine.com/2006/apr/chimp-genome (accessed June 25, 2009), even though humans and chimps share 98.7 percent of their genes, what makes them so different?
  5. Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5UsRpd0IPc and watch the trailer to Ben Stein’s documentary, “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” on Darwinism and what he considers the suppression of intelligence design. Is it an alternative to the theory of evolution, and how does the scientific community explain their dislike of this theory?

Chapter 3: Origins of Western Society

Discussion Questions

  1. What are some of the developments that changed human beings from roving hunters to people living in fixed communities? What responsibilities and functions did the towns grow to provide?
  2. What are some of the legal systems that have existed in Western society? Do you think any of their provisions have relevance today?
  3. What conditions enabled certain classes of society to grow wealthy? Do you think concentrations of wealth were a positive or a negative factor for the nature of society?
  4. Name some human characteristics that have persisted over time in the development of Western society.
  5. In thinking about your life today, can you identify any ideas that may have come from the Greeks? From the Romans? From the Middle Ages? If so, what are they? (If you prefer, choose some of the other periods discussed, such as the Reformation and the Industrial Revolution.)
  6. How did the Arab world influence the development of Western society in the Middle Ages? Do you see any parallels with the situation in the Middle East today?
  7. What did the peasant get from the feudal lord, and what did the feudal lord get in return? Do you think it was a fair exchange?
  8. How did the church affect life in the Middle Ages? Did its influence change in the Renaissance?
  9. How did trade and commerce develop? What do you think your life would be like today if the only things you could buy were those that were grown or manufactured within ten miles of your house?
  10. What was revolutionized by the Industrial Revolution?
  11. Name some of the wars that altered the course of Western society. Why do you think they led to change?
  12. Identify some of the institutions that have grown up in Western society. How are they changing society today?
  13. What is the most important problem facing Western society today? What solutions can you think of?
  14. Throughout the chapter, the influence of the Muslim world has been brought into the discussion. How do you think this influence will play out during the next fifty years?

Internet Questions

  1. According to Matthew Gabriele (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/5-myths-about-the-middle-ages/2016/09/22/e56c4150-7f50-11e6-9070-5c4905bf40dc_story.html?utm_term=.3a93ddba8f6b) what are five myths about the middle ages?
  2. Go to http://industrialrevolution.sea.ca/impact.html and read about the Industrial Revolution. How did the social structure change during the Industrial Revolution?
  3. Read about the Black Plague at www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm. What were the symptoms? How did people try to avoid the disease?
  4. Go to http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/WestEurope/AgeRevs.html. What are the five major groupings in the Age of Revolutions (1763–1848)? Pick one and list the important events.
  5. Go to http://classicalwisdom.com/the-rise-the-fall-and-the-mystery-of-the-mycenaeans/. Read about the ancient Greek civilization of the Mycenae. How did this civilization fall?

Chapter 4: Society, Culture, and Cultural Change

Discussion Questions

  1. What is the definition of culture given in the text?
  2. What is cultural evolution?
  3. Do the authors see monoculturalism and multiculturalism as opposites? Why or why not?
  4. What are some examples of conventions, mores, and laws found in U.S. society?
  5. What are social institutions?
  6. What are social values? Give some examples. Do you think Americans could ever accept infanticide as a positive social value? Why or why not?
  7. Why are the cultures of primitive societies more integrated than the cultures of modern industrial societies?
  8. Explain the relationship between culture and society.
  9. What developments of the last five or six centuries do you think have been of greatest importance in speeding up the rate of social change? Explain why in each case.
  10. Distinguish between the concepts of social evolution and social change.
  11. How is the internet changing the way cultural diffusion takes place?
  12. Why does social change usually encounter strong resistance? Is this fortunate or unfortunate? Explain.
  13. What is a social problem? Why is a particular social problem often difficult to define or isolate?
  14. State the theory of cultural lag and discuss its limitations.
  15. What is cultural relativism? How does this concept relate to ethnocentrism?
  16. Of today’s major social problems, which three seem to you most critical? Defend your choices.
  17. Sometimes we are dissatisfied with aspects of our social system. Should we therefore dismantle it completely and start over? Why or why not?

Internet Questions

  1. The site www.toolpack.com/culture.html discusses cultural change at the organizational (business) level. What is organizational culture? Name the four companies used as examples of successful cultures.
  2. Look through the website for the United States Golf Association, www.usga.org. Is the USGA a social institution? Do golfers comprise a society?
  3. Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOe-x1aUP2o and watch the video about Indian boarding schools. What resulted from the interaction of Anglo-American and Native cultures? How was General Pratt’s comment, “Kill the Indian, save the man,” reflected in the actions of the U.S. government concerning the education of Native children?
  4. Go to http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/french-phrases.html and read some of the French phrases that have become commonly used in English. Do you think this is an example of cultural diffusion? Give your own example of cultural diffusion.
  5. Read the article at http://www.irespect.net/Untold Stories/Chinese/ChineseValues.htm on Chinese social values. Whose teachings largely influence these values? Are there values that Chinese and American cultures share?

Chapter 5: Geography, Demography, Ecology, and Society

Discussion Questions

  1. What are some of the questions that geography is concerned with?
  2. What is the GIS, and how might it be used in social science research?
  3. How does geography interact with sociology?
  4. How many people are there in the world?
  5. What is the world’s most populous country? Explain some of the problems that a country faces in trying to limit its population growth, including the problems it will have if it is successful.
  6. What is the Malthusian doctrine? Have the predictions of Thomas Malthus come true?
  7. Identify some of the reasons why the world population has grown in the past 200 years.
  8. What are some possible ways to limit population? Mention natural causes as well as those encouraged by government or other policies.
  9. In practice, are all policies for limitation of population growth acceptable? If not, which ones would you argue against?
  10. What are some of the costs of pollution? What are some of the gains from pollution? It is very expensive to clean up areas that have been polluted. What are some ways you can think of to pay for such cleanups?
  11. You are a government planner in the country of Growthlandia. What would you like to know about the composition of Growthlandia’s population now and how that population is likely to change in the next fifteen years?
  12. How would your life be different if gas cost $10 per gallon?

Internet Questions

  1. Go to an atlas site (for example, www.atlapedia.com) and look at a country or region. Look at its physical and political map. What borders it? Which borders are natural?
  2. Do an Internet search for kudzu. What is it? What are its benefits and what are its harms to the southeastern United States?
  3. What does the U.N. see as a significant constraint on women’s rights in its Progress of the World’s Women Report at http://progress.unwomen.org/?
  4. Go to http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/08/14/why-the-former-ussr-has-far-fewer-men-than-women/. What two countries have the highest percentage of females? Which country has the highest percentage of males?
  5. What is the ozone layer according to the EPA, https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/basic-ozone-layer-science? What is today’s UV index value for your ZIP code (www.epa.gov/sunwise/uvindex.html)?

Chapter 6: Technology and Society

Discussion Questions

  1. Why was Alpha Go’s win over a top human Go player so important an event?
  2. Name some technological change that took place in the past and explain how you think it has changed conditions ever since.
  3. What was the Industrial Revolution? What are some of the reasons it was successful in the United States?
  4. Why are standardization and interchangeability so important to mass production?
  5. When it became possible for machines to make products formerly made by hand, what effects did this have on the number of people employed? On the level of wages? On the profit of employers? On the quality of the products?
  6. Explain how the technology of the assembly line led to other technological and cultural changes.
  7. Does technological change reduce the number of jobs in society?
  8. Does reducing the length of patents make sense as a policy?
  9. In what way do natural resources only have meaning in relation to technology?
  10. Does the argument that the world is going to run out of natural resources make sense?
  11. What is meant by the Anthropocene Age?
  12. How does the Information Revolution differ from the Industrial Revolution?
  13. Are there any technological changes you think should not be made? What are they? If you oppose a particular technological change, what alternative solution do you have for the problem that change was meant to address?
  14. Try your hand at predicting a technological change that may occur in the future. What effects on society might that change produce?

Internet Questions

  1. Using the website http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/brooklynbridge.htm, learn about the technical problems faced in constructing the Brooklyn Bridge. How did the builders overcome these difficulties?
  2. Go to www.usbr.gov/projects and look up the Hoover Dam. How large is the structure? Where is it located, and when was it built?
  3. Go to www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19174580 and either read the article or listen to it. Who makes Blu-ray discs? What new technology may make Blu-ray discs obsolete? What earlier formatting war is mentioned in the article, and which brand came out on top then?
  4. Go to http://www.livescience.com/18801-greatest-inventions.html and take the quiz. How do you score?
  5. Go to https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/07/countries-emitting-most-greenhouse-gas/ What are some of the consequences of climate change?

Chapter 7: Psychology, Society, and Culture

Discussion Questions

  1. Does culture control people, or do people control culture? Explain the relationship between the two.
  2. How do the effects of isolation on children support the importance of socialization?
  3. Some outstanding individuals have made significant contributions to our culture. Name someone who you think has done this, and discuss that person’s contribution.
  4. Discuss some of the factors in childhood that influence an individual’s personality.
  5. Explain how, according to Skinner, operant conditioning shapes personality.
  6. What do “positive” and “negative” mean in the context of operant conditioning?
  7. Which is more important in the development of personality: environment or heredity? Explain the relationship between the two.
  8. Contrast the four approaches to the determination of behavior: cognitive, psychoanalytic, behavioralist, and humanist.
  9. According to Maslow, what are the five levels of human achievement?
  10. What are some of the characteristics of a well-adjusted individual?
  11. What does Martin Seligman suggest one must do in order to “have the good life”? Do you agree?
  12. Explain some of the contributions that Sigmund Freud made to the understanding of the human personality.
  13. Explain the IQ test and what it tries to measure.
  14. Do you think the IQ test is a comprehensive test of intelligence? Does it determine success in other areas of life?

Internet Questions

  1. Jung was a psychologist and a peer of Freud. The site www.terrapsych.com/jungdefs.html has a glossary of Jungian terms. What is an Electra complex?
  2. Go to http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED353079.pdf. According to Stough’s research, does home schooling limit socialization?
  3. Go to http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/05/health/explaining-differences-in-twins.html to answer the question: As twins grow older, do they become less similar to one another?
  4. Take a free IQ test, such as that found at www.intelligencetest.com. What aspect of intelligence do you believe the test is designed to evaluate? What other aspects of knowledge are there?
  5. Pick a child from the list on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_child#21st_century. What or who was the caregiver? Do you believe the story? For all the children listed, what was the most common caregiver? Where would the child usually be from?

Chapter 8: Deviance, Crime, and Society

Discussion Questions

  1. What are norms, and how do they differ from mores?
  2. Why do sociologists emphasize that it is society’s reaction to an act, not the act itself, that makes an action deviant?
  3. Why may an act be a crime in one society but not in another?
  4. Explain how criminal behavior could be behavior conforming to a group norm.
  5. What is the difference between a civil law and a common law tradition?
  6. What is the rule of law, and why is it important?
  7. Does social science tell you whether spanking a child to punish him or her is wrong?
  8. Does the common law or civil law tradition give more emphasis to past judgments?
  9. According to the strain theory, is crime necessary for a successful industrial society?
  10. In what way is the labeling theory similar to the illegitimate opportunity theory of criminal behavior?
  11. List three interrelated problems with the U.S. system of justice.
  12. How would you distinguish a felony from a misdemeanor?
  13. What are two different views of the purpose of the justice system?
  14. What is meant by the Broken Windows theory of policing?
  15. Is a young black man more likely to be killed by a white policeman or another black man?
  16. What are the causes of the high rates of impunity for crime in low-income black communities?
  17. How would having more police coming from the geographic areas they are policing help in achieving a fairer system of justice?

Internet Questions

  1. Visit the site https://www.thoughtco.com/folkways-mores-taboos-and-laws-3026267. What is the difference between a norm and a more?
  2. Does Ice T’s “Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It” video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzeZhCt5PVA) serve a useful social purpose? If so, what is that purpose?
  3. What is an example of a Class I felony (http://www.courtregistry.org/criminal_court_records/felonies/felony_class/)?
  4. What is an alternative to imprisonment suggested by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/alternatives-to-incarceration)?
  5. Go the Jon Stewart’s interview of Edward Conlon on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3bR_Cbngzc). At what age does Conlon say that cops stop being cool in minority areas?

Chapter 9: The Family

Discussion Questions

  1. Why is the family often regarded as the most important of all social units?
  2. State some important considerations in choosing a mate.
  3. What are some methods of family control?
  4. Why is it easier to trace your descent under a unilateral system than a bilateral system?
  5. In today’s circumstances, is the institution of the family really necessary for the propagation of the species? Defend your answer.
  6. Monogamy is the most widespread form of marriage. Give some reasons for this.
  7. What changes have the economic functions of the family undergone? Are they less important than formerly? Why or why not?
  8. What changes has the physical-care function of the family undergone in the last few generations? Is it still important?
  9. Describe the custom of dating as practiced in the United States, and explain the purpose it serves.
  10. Describe some types of families other than the husband-wife-children household.
  11. Does marrying for love eliminate consideration of compatibility and economic and social factors?
  12. Can you think of some major adjustments that a newly married couple must make in their way of life? What further adjustments would be required by the arrival of children?
  13. What are some of the problems a married couple must meet after the children have left home?
  14. What are some of the factors that have contributed to high divorce rates?
  15. What is no-fault divorce?
  16. What implications does the increase in single-parent homes have for society?
  17. How can family disorganization be reduced? By better marriage laws? By making divorce more difficult? Or by other methods?
  18. Is the family likely to retain its present importance as a social institution? Why or why not? Could a satisfactory substitute be devised?

Internet Questions

  1. Go to the site http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/family-tech/tech-effects-on-family/5-ways-technology-has-negatively-affected-families.htm. What are the top five ways that technology has affected families today?
  2. Go to the website https://billofrightsinstitute.org/educate/educator-resources/lessons-plans/landmark-supreme-court-cases-elessons/loving-v-virginia-1967/. What does miscegenation mean? When did the Supreme Court decide Loving v. Virginia?
  3. Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ5QuSoVJlU and watch the video on genealogy and DNA. How can DNA be used by genealogists or people interested in their own ancestry? Can DNA be used to identify specific ancestors like Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan?
  4. Go to http://gaymarriage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=006193. What was the vote on the Obergefell v. Hodges case? Which justices supported which position?
  5. From http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/17/1-the-american-family-today/, what percentage of children lived with a single parent in 2014?

Chapter 10: Religion

Discussion Questions

  1. Why has religion had a strong appeal to human beings from earliest times?
  2. To Westerners, Hinduism seems a strange faith. Why?
  3. How did Prince Shakyamuni Gautama found Buddhism?
  4. What are the unique characteristics of Judaism?
  5. Why is our knowledge of Jesus’ teachings indirect?
  6. List as many as you can of the more important teachings of Jesus.
  7. How did Islam begin? What was the origin of the Qur’an?
  8. What are the Five Pillars of Islam?
  9. What potential problems does fundamentalist Islam pose?
  10. Explain how Islam spread from Arabia to other parts of the world from the seventh to the eighteenth century.
  11. State some of the similarities of Islam to Judaism or Christianity; also state some of the more important differences.
  12. Why are religious beliefs likely to strengthen the moral and ethical principles of a society? How are they likely to create dissension and war?
  13. On balance, has religion been an integrative or divisive factor in today’s society? Defend your answer.
  14. Why did Rousseau believe that governments needed to create a civil religion?

Internet Questions

  1. Go to www.tibet.com. What is a Dalai Lama? Who is the current Dalai Lama?
  2. Using information found at https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/introduction, explain what the Dead Sea Scrolls are. Why do you think this discovery is important?
  3. Who were the Knights Templar, according to www.knightstemplar.org? What was their original purpose?
  4. Go to www.pbs.org/mormons/etc/genealogy.html. Why are Mormons so interested in genealogy?
  5. Go to https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/sj14-soc-religmap/world-religions-map/#.Wr0KMIhuZyw and launch the World Religions Map. In which countries is indigenous faith more popular than other faiths?     

Chapter 11: Education

Discussion Questions

  1. Explain the difference between education and socialization.
  2. How does free public education contribute to the development of U.S. democracy?
  3. Discuss the development of U.S. education since colonial times.
  4. What factors have contributed to increasing enrollments at the primary and secondary levels?
  5. How does the structure of the educational system in the United States differ from that of Europe?
  6. Discuss the history of community colleges.
  7. Discuss the changes that have taken place in school curricula over the past hundred years.
  8. What differences in educational opportunities exist?
  9. How can multiculturalism and collaborative learning improve the effectiveness of schools?
  10. Discuss some types of schools that are alternatives to public schools.
  11. What conclusions can be drawn concerning the progress made in U.S. education over the past hundred years? What still remains to be done?
  12. Give an example of a political issue influencing an educational issue.

Internet Questions

  1. According to www.ericdigests.org/1995-1/multicultural.htm, what are the three basic types of multicultural education programs, and what is the focus of each?
  2. Go to www.amshq.org. What is the Montessori approach to education?
  3. Go to http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/28/5-facts-about-latinos-and-education/. What has happened to Hispanic and black dropout rates in recent years?             
  4. Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dAujuqCo7s and watch the video or just listen to the song. What current education policy is being criticized? Name three criticisms of this policy.
  5. Go to www.edreform.com. According to the Center for Educational Reform, what are charter schools?

Chapter 12: Social and Economic Stratification

Discussion Questions

  1. Name the three principal types of social stratification, and briefly describe the nature of each.
  2. How has the position of blacks in our society resembled, and how has it differed from, the position of a low Hindu caste?
  3. Societies can be stratified in a variety of ways. What is the major form of stratification in modern industrial societies?
  4. Why has the kind of class conflict Karl Marx predicted never developed anywhere?
  5. Why are Americans not highly class conscious?
  6. What difficulties are encountered when we attempt to divide the people of an industrial society into clear-cut social classes?
  7. Why is social class a family matter rather than an individual matter?
  8. What are some of the principal factors that may contribute to class mobility?
  9. Why is upward social mobility necessarily limited in any society?
  10. What factors have been operating in the United States in recent years to reduce class distinctions? Can you name any factors that, in your opinion, have had the opposite effect?
  11. Characterize the U.S. class system from the standpoint of (a) the sharpness of class distinctions, (b) the degree of class consciousness, and (c) the amount of social mobility.
  12. Is U.S. society becoming more stratified? Defend your point of view.

Internet Questions

  1. Using http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_caste.asp explain how the Vaisyas differ from the Chandalas.
  2. Looking at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ poverty guidelines, http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/index.shtml, what is the most recent poverty threshold for a family of six? In Alaska?
  3. Go to http://elips.doi.gov/elips/0/doc/3744/Page1.aspx, the site of the Department of the Interior, Upward Mobility Program. What is the purpose of this program?
  4. Go to www.salary.com and use the Salary Wizard. In your area, what is the income range for the middle 50 percent of teachers’ aides? What is the range for associate professors of economics?
  5. Using https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/cb18-41-population-projections.html, in what year is US population expected to exceed 400,000,000? 

Chapter 13: Stratification, Minorities, and Discrimination

Discussion Questions

  1. Why are racial and ethnic differences largely independent of each other?
  2. Has it been proved that some ethnic groups are superior to others in their capacity for mental development? Has it been proved that all ethnic groups are alike in their inborn capacities for mental and emotional development? Explain.
  3. How would you explain the existence and the extent of ethnic prejudice in the world?
  4. What is the relationship of prejudice to discrimination?
  5. Why is the position of the black minority different from that of any other minority group in the United States?
  6. What effect did the Supreme Court cases of Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education have on legal segregation?
  7. What are the obstacles to the elimination of de facto school segregation?
  8. How does the economic position of blacks compare with that of whites? List the major factors that have brought economic gains to blacks.
  9. What advances have been made in protecting the civil and political rights of black Americans? Which do you think have been most significant? Discuss what still needs to be accomplished.
  10. Are blacks continuing to improve their social, political, and economic position? Defend your point of view.
  11. What does Gunnar Myrdal mean when he says that no social problem as complex as the U.S. race problem is ever solved in an “absolute” sense?
  12. Why are friendly relations between ethnic groups important to both the dominant and the minority groups?
  13. Discuss the history of Asian migration to the United States.
  14. How do you account for the existence of anti-Semitism in both Europe and the United States?
  15. Is discrimination against Muslims acceptable because of national security needs?
  16. What might be some of the reasons the average earnings for a woman are lower than the average earnings for a man? Does this necessarily imply discrimination by individuals or firms?
  17. What determined your career aspirations? Do those aspirations reflect institutional discrimination?
  18. How is the growth in the proportion of people over age 65 in the population likely to affect our society?
  19. What differentiates age discrimination from other types of discrimination?
  20. If a store prefers to hire younger salespeople, should it be allowed to do so? Why or why not?

Internet Questions

  1. What is the National LGBT Bar Association (www.lgbtbar.org)?
  2. Go to www.eeoc.gov, the website of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What is their latest news announcement?
  3. Go to http://www.newsweek.com/minorities-women-highly-satisfied-military-work-90615 and read the article. What group is the most satisfied in the military? How does this compare to civilian occupations? What is the likely reason for these results?
  4. The Arab American Institute (www.aaiusa.org) identifies some famous Americans of Arab descent. List the names familiar to you, perhaps through sports or entertainment.
  5. Based on www.hrw.org/news, what does the Human Rights Watch organization list as one of the current issues involving the United States and human rights?

Chapter 14: The Functions and Forms of Government

Discussion Questions

  1. What are some of the functions of government that make it such a powerful institution?
  2. Distinguish between anarchists and libertarians.
  3. What three different attitudes toward government are predominant in the United States?
  4. What are some of the reasons people disagree over the role government ought to play?
  5. What does equality mean to you?
  6. How do you think a government can administer the ideal of individual freedom without infringing on the freedom of other individuals?
  7. Some forms of government advocate individual liberty; some others advocate individual control. Name one or two ideologies on each side and describe what you think each would mean for a citizen under such a government.
  8. What are some of the differences between an authoritarian autocracy and a totalitarian autocracy? Name a state governed under each of these systems, and give reasons for your choices.
  9. In what ways can communism be said to advocate liberty? In what ways can democracy be said to lead to repression?
  10. What kind of government provides open elections but with only one candidate on the ballot? What kind might give voters a choice of candidates but have soldiers stationed at the polling place?

Internet Questions

  1. Go to the Frontiers of Freedom website, www.ff.org.What is their mission statement?
  2. Go to https://www.aclu.org/about-aclu. Would the American Civil Liberties Union defend entities such as the Ku Klux Klan? Are they correct in doing so?
  3. Looking at the Homeland Security threat and protection information at www.dhs.gov, what was the content of the most recent National Terrorism Advisor bulletin or alert?
  4. Who was Idi Amin? Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCSpABIwY8s and watch the video.
  5. Take the “World’s Smallest Political Quiz” on the Libertarian Party website, www.theadvocates.org/quizp/index.html. How do you score?

Chapter 15: Governments of the World

Discussion Questions

  1. What is the relationship between the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the French constitution?
  2. How can the French prime minister be removed from office?
  3. What is an important way in which Chinese governmental history differs from European governmental history?
  4. When did China become a Communist-ruled state?
  5. What is meant by democratic centralism?
  6. What is meant by “freedom of discussion, unity of action”?
  7. Why is it harder for Nigeria to maintain political stability than it is for many other countries?
  8. What is the official language of Nigeria? Why was it chosen?
  9. How does the discovery of oil in a country make it harder to govern that country?
  10. How does the new Russian Federation differ from the former Soviet Republic?
  11. President Putin enjoys widespread support in Russia and was elected in a vote that was seen as fair. Given this fact, why do many Western observers call Russia an authoritarian democracy?
  12. Does the Saudi autocratic government have unlimited power?
  13. Why do the Saudi people tolerate the Saudi autocracy?
  14. State four lessons about government that can be derived from this chapter.
  15. What do you believe would be the ideal system of government?

Internet Questions

  1. Using http://www.gouvernement.fr/en/composition-of-the-government, list four of the 16 minister posts under the French Prime Minister. 
  2. Go to http://www.nigeriaembassyusa.org/index.php?page=test-sub. In terms of population, how does Nigeria rank compared to other African countries? How does it rank in terms of physical size?
  3. .
  4. According to www.saudia-online.com/saudi_arabia.htm, what does the legislative branch of Saudi Arabia’s government consist of?
  5. Go to www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/ and watch TIME’s interview with Vladimir Putin. According to the reporter, why was Putin chosen as the 2007 TIME Person of the Year? According to Putin, what is a country’s sovereign right?
  6. Using the CIA World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/, what are the administrative divisions of Mexico?

Chapter 16: Democratic Government in the United States

Discussion Questions

  1. Is the United States a democratic society? Explain your answer.
  2. In what way does President Trump’s victory in the 2016 election capture what is good and bad about U.S. democracy?
  3. What important decisions were made by the Constitutional Convention?
  4. What major compromises were made at the Philadelphia convention?
  5. Compare federal government with unitary government.
  6. What are the three levels of government in the United States, and how are they related to one another?
  7. What are the three branches of our national government, and what is the function of each?
  8. What are the four basic characteristics of the U.S. system of government?
  9. Compare presidential government with parliamentary government.
  10. In what ways does the Constitution distribute power?
  11. How does the principle of checks and balances modify that of separation of powers?
  12. What is the meaning and significance of judicial review?
  13. How is the “living constitution” related to the written one, and how does it keep pace with changing conditions and new problems?
  14. What role do political parties play in a democratic system?
  15. What are the primary reasons people do not vote?
  16. What is the “fourth estate”? How does it influence our government?
  17. What is the military-industrial complex? How does it influence our government?
  18. What role do PACs play in shaping legislation? Is it a positive or negative role?

Internet Questions

  1. Go to the Federal Election Commission website, www.fec.gov/pages/elecvote.htm. Which states have more than twenty electoral votes? Which states have fewer votes now than in 1988?
  2. Who are your present senators, and in what year were they first elected? Check https://www.govtrack.us.
  3. Use www.supremecourthistory.org to find out: Who are the justices on the Supreme Court today?
  4. What is the Preamble to the United States Constitution? See www.usconstitution.net/const.html.
  5. Using www.whitehouse.gov, who is in the president’s advisory cabinet?

Chapter 17: The Organization of Economic Activities

Discussion Questions

  1. Economics studies the social organization through which people satisfy their wants for scarce goods, including services. Give some examples of economic wants.
  2. What four important functions must every economy perform?
  3. What are economic goods? What are economic needs? What are economic wants?
  4. What three factors of production are necessary to produce economic goods?
  5. What is the great economic problem facing every society?
  6. What does the author mean by "the other economic problem?
  7. How did the Industrial Revolution contribute to economic growth?           
  8. In 1776, Adam Smith published the book The Wealth of Nations. How did he believe a nation could become wealthy?
  9. In a planned or socialist economy, who is responsible for building the factories and distributing the goods?
  10. In an unplanned or market economy, who raises the money and builds the factories? Who gets the profits or suffers the losses?
  11. If the government controls the means of production, what is produced, and how the goods are distributed, what are the advantages? What are the disadvantages?
  12. In a planned economy, if weather and plant disease caused an agricultural disaster, would farms go out of production? Why or why not?
  13. What are some of the reasons why consumer goods are scarce and of poor quality in a socialist economy?
  14. If the price of Coca-Cola went up to $5 a can, what would you expect to happen to the quantity of Coca-Cola demanded?
  15. Do you believe that everyone has a right to a job? If so, whose responsibility is it to provide that many jobs?
  16. Give an example of how a socialist idea has been adopted in a capitalist economy.
  17. Give an example of how a capitalist idea has been adopted in a socialist economy.
  18. In market economies, such as the United States and Sweden, taxes are quite high. How does this blur the distinction between capitalist and socialist?
  19. Why is the distinction between a planned and an unplanned economy less relevant today?

Internet Questions

  1. Read about the experiences of laborers in early coalmines at http://www.saburchill.com/history/chapters/IR/039.html. How do working conditions then compare to those now? Are these working conditions an unavoidable result of laissez-faire capitalism?
  2. Using information found at www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/index.html, what is the definition of a black market?
  3. Go to www.res.org.uk/society/mediabriefings/pdfs/ 1996/november/agell.asp and read about the welfare state. What lesson can be learned from Sweden’s experience?
  4. Using http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/ 2002/10/1002_021002_indiabirds.html, what are the seven practices determined to be reasons for the large black market in exotic birds in India?
  5. Go to www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_ id=13743310. What does the article mean by the visible hand, and how does it relate to a pragmatic market economy?

Chapter 18: The Economy, Government, and Economic Challenges Facing the United States

Discussion Questions

  1. About how much does the federal government spend each year to finance its activities? As a result, does it run a deficit or a surplus?
  2. What has the U.S. government done so far in response to the issue of global warming, and why does this issue require an international solution?
  3. While spending more money on manufacturing goods is looked upon favorably, why do people feel uneasy about additional spending in health care and education?
  4. On what major category do state governments spend the most money per year?
  5. What is fiscal policy, and what entity conducts it?
  6. What is monetary policy, and what entity conducts it?
  7. What problems is the government likely to face in paying Social Security benefits in the future?
  8. What is the Keynesian view?
  9. Should the federal government allow an unlicensed lawyer to practice law? Why or why not?
  10. What problem will most likely arise when tariffs are imposed?
  11. What two measures did the U.S. government take to stop the 2008–2009 financial crisis? What effect will they have in the long run?
  12. Will outsourcing ultimately lead to a shift of all U.S. manufacturing to lower-wage countries?
  13. Give two examples of how government laws can indirectly influence the distribution of income.
  14. What are the implications of the “no free lunch” principle for debt?
  15. What is the law of one price, and what does it mean for the wages of U.S. workers?
  16. How is the Information Revolution changing the politics of income distribution?
  17. How does a winner-take-all industry increase income inequality?           
  18. What do the authors mean when they say that solutions to global warming are beyond our current international institutional structure?

Internet Questions

  1. Go to www.taxadmin.org, the website of the Federation of Tax Administrators. Does your state have an income tax? Using the latest figures, what is the lowest and highest income tax rate for your state? Is it a progressive tax system? Explain.
  2. Go to https://www.cbo.gov/publication/51580, the site of the Congressional Budget Office. What percentage of the GDP is spent on social security in 2016? How will that percentage change by 2046?
  3. Go to www.publicdebt.treas.gov, the site of the Bureau of the Public Debt. What is the current amount of the national debt? What is the interest rate for the latest month? For the same month in the previous year?
  4. Using a quick calculator, www.ssa.gov/planners/calculators.htm, estimate your Social Security benefits with the information you have now. Do you think social security payments are worth the expense?
  5. According to the Federal Reserve, www.federalreserve.gov/faqs.htm, what are its responsibilities?

Chapter 19: International Political Relations

Discussion Questions

  1. In what sense do the nation-states of the world form a community?
  2. List the more important differences between nations and states.
  3. Historically, how did nation-states develop?
  4. Would the European Union have been a state if the Treaty of Nice had been ratified? Why or why not?
  5. The effectiveness of a nation’s military power in supporting its foreign policies depends on what factors, in addition to the size, training, and equipment of its armed forces?
  6. Why are democratic governments more restricted in their actions by public opinion than are totalitarian governments?
  7. What is a hegemon?
  8. What factors make up a nation’s economic power?
  9. What are three possible approaches to the problem of achieving some degree of national security? Explain each.
  10. Explain how the theory of complex interdependence is becoming a substitute for the balance of power in maintaining the peace in today’s world.
  11. How may foreign policies be influenced by (a) geography and (b) an ideology?
  12. What powers does the president of the United States have in foreign affairs? What powers are held by Congress? Point out the advantages and disadvantages of this division of responsibility.
  13. Do you believe that the president of the United States should have more power or less power to determine and carry out foreign policies? Defend your answer.
  14. Was the 1991 Persian Gulf War justified? Was the 2003 Iraq War justified? Why or why not?
  15. What is the U.S. policy of preemption, and is it justified?
  16. How might Trump's American First Policy be seen as a useful negotiating strategy?  Is it a useful one?

Internet Questions

  1. Pick a country to which you have never traveled. Using http://projectvisa.com/, find what type of travel visa you can get to enter the country and how to do so.
  2. Go to http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters.html. What does Article II, Section 2, clauses 1 and 2 of the United States Constitution state?
  3. Watch the youtube video at http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/03/26/starr.china.military.cnn?iref=videosearch. What references to geopolitics can be found in the video? Do you think this video demonstrates a return to a balance of power? Defend your answer.
  4. Using the website of the American Foreign Policy Council, www.afpc.org, describe one of their latest news stories.
  5. Using the NATO site, www.nato.int, what is the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, and how many members are there?

Chapter 20: International Economic Relations

Discussion Questions

  1. What is meant by the foreign exchange market?
  2. Why were foreign exchange rates stable under the gold standard?
  3. What is the purpose of the International Monetary Fund?
  4. Why will the value of the U.S. dollar likely fall in the future, and what will that fall do to the relative standard of living in the United States and developing countries such as China and India?
  5. What are the three main advantages of international trade? What are some disadvantages?
  6. Exports depend on imports, and vice versa. Why is this true?
  7. Is it more desirable for a country to build up its visible or its invisible trade? Explain.  
  8. Is a favorable balance of trade possible? Is it desirable? Explain.
  9. Do most economists support President Trump's trade policy that uses tariffs to protect American jobs? Why or why not?
  10. The use of quotas to limit imports has been spreading recently. Are import quotas less damaging to consumers than tariffs? Why or why not?
  11. In what ways can a country meet an excess of foreign payments over foreign receipts? Can it meet such an excess indefinitely? Explain.

Internet Questions

  1. Look up the exchange rate at www.economagic.com/fedstl.htm for U.S. dollars to the euro for the latest date and then for a year before. How did the rate change?
  2. From U.S. census data at www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/index.html, pick a country and find the U.S. trade balance with that country now, in 2008, and in 2000.
  3. Using http://dataweb.usitc.gov/scripts/tariff.asp, the U.S. International Trade Commission’s database, find out what the tariff is per liter of beer. Why are there two different tariff rates?
  4. According to the World Bank website, http://www.worldbank.org/en/about, what are the World Bank's goals?
  5. Go to http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/ postglobal/america/2007/07/inside_an_indian_ call_center.html, read the article, and watch the video. In a typical day, how many sales does a sales representative make? Would you be willing to work for $10 per day?

Chapter 21: The Political Economics of Developing Countries

Discussion Questions

  1. What is the chief characteristic that identifies a country as developing?
  2. Name three groups of developing countries, and state briefly what distinguishes one group from another.
  3. If a developing country cannot find a way to hold itself together, what is likely to happen to it?
  4. Why might democracy not be the best choice of political system for a developing country?
  5. Are there any good things to be said for autocratic government? If so, what are some of them?
  6. What are some of the abuses a corrupt government indulges in?
  7. A poor country might solve its problems by becoming richer. How can a poor country save and invest?
  8. Aid to developing countries from the governments of developed countries has been decreasing. Give some of the reasons.
  9. Some developing countries have borrowed so much money from foreign banks that they are having great difficulty paying it back. What is likely to happen in such countries?
  10. What problems does rapid population growth present to a developing country? Are there any advantages to rapid population growth in developing countries?
  11. How can a developing country acquire the human skills, training, and valuable ideas it needs in order to compete in modern industrial society?
  12. Are there guaranteed solutions to the problems of developing countries? If so, describe some of the solutions.
  13. What were your proposals for the development of the country of Hopelandia?

Internet Questions

  1. Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTyXmtwXl_Q and watch the video. What is the Riversands Incubation Hub?
  2. Watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5kSEPuwGCQ. What are the main reasons for supporting IFAP? Can you think of any costs?
  3. Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxPA3xkSpJY and watch the video. Based on this video made by the World Bank, should Latin America be concerned about the effects of climate change?
  4. Look at the U.N. page on identifying least developed countries at https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/least-developed-country-category.html. What are the criteria for determining if a country is a LDC? Which criterion do you think is most important?
  5. Go to the International Monetary Fund page, http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/glossary/index.asp. What is the HIPC Initiative?

Chapter 22: International Institutions and the Search for Peace

Discussion Questions

  1. How do you explain the prevalence of wars throughout human history?
  2. Is the threat of war over with the end of the Cold War? Explain your position.
  3. Is President Trump’s America First policy a reasonable basis for diplomacy? Why or why not?
  4. Explain the statement that war is “merely a continuation of politics by other means.”
  5. Explain how diplomacy is used to prevent war.
  6. What are some of the reasons that international government cannot prevent all wars?
  7. What are the three most important organs through which the UN acts?
  8. What is the difference between the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council?
  9. How does the veto power of the Security Council hinder the search for peace? Are there any ways the veto power helps the search for peace?
  10. Discuss some of the accomplishments of the UN.
  11. What are some of the worst trouble spots in the world today? Can you think of ways to deal with any of these problems?
  12. Give a brief history of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
  13. What is the new world order? Do you think there is going to be more or less stability in the world under this order?
  14. What is the most significant problem the world faces?
  15. How would we know if the war on terrorism is justified?
  16. If Mexico established a policy of preemption, how would the United States likely respond?
  17. If the amount of money now spent on weapons systems could be used for something else, what do you think the money should be spent on?

Internet Questions

  1. Go to http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/operations/current.shtml. What are the current UN peacekeeping operations?
  2. What is the mission statement of the International Committee of the Red Cross? Consult its website, www.icrc.org.
  3. According to Graça Machel, the UN expert on the impact of war on children (see www.unicef.org/graca), why are children particularly vulnerable to land mines?
  4. Go to the UN website http://www.un.org/en/about-un/index.html. Who is the current Secretary-General, and when did he take office?
  5. Using the International Peace Bureau site, http://www.ipb.org/, what is the Sean MacBride Peace Prize?