Answer the following questions

a) Explain why the study of governmental structures should be ap­proached with great caution.

b) Compare the roles of monarchs in the parliamentary democracies of Western Europe and in the emerging states of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

c) Why were the most successful German, Austrian and Russian roy­al dynasties fated to lose their thrones?

d) Why are some kings of the non-Western world nowadays consid­ered to be rather monocrats than monarchs?

e) What is the main feature of oligarchic rule in pre-industrial societies?

f) Speak of the new forms of oligarchic rule in advanced industrial societies.

g) What does “democracy” imply? What forms of democracy have been known by humanity?

h) What is the essence of constitutionalism?

i) Speak of the main functions of political parties in a constitutional democracy.

j) What are the two major types of constitutional democracy in the modem world?

k) What is the difference between the American and the British con­stitutional democracies?

3. Decide whether the following statements are true or false:

a) The fact that two states have similar constitutions with similar in­stitutional provision means that they represent the same type of po­litical system.

b) Ancient traditional classification of political systems is very descriptive of political life today.

c) The role of the king in some emerging states of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia has much in common with that of dictators in autocratic regimes.

d) Many dynasties which continued to rule as well as to reign at the beginning of the 20th century were successful enough to survive to modern times in Europe.

e) The status of monarchy in the parliamentary democracies of modern Europe has been reduced to the status of a dignified insti­tutional facade entirely lacking in power.

f) The kings who in modern times maintain their position by the claim of legitimate blood descent are called monocrats.

g) According to Aristotelian classification of government, oligarchy is a debased form of aristocracy.

h) The simple forms of oligarchic rule based on recruiting elites from a ruling class are still persisting unchanged in advanced industrial societies.

i) Oligarchy is the phenomenon of irresponsible rule by small groups of people.

j) Constitutional government in England has always been associated with forms of mass participation in politics.

k) The key point of modern constitutional democracies is the will of the majority of the people expressed in free elections.

l) The British parliamentary system provides for the separation of legislature and executive.