POL SC HELP

MA Entrance Series

50 Most Important MCQ

Political Concepts
Liberty, Justice, Equality, Rights
Useful For DUET, JNUEE, UGC-NET,
Other Entrance Tests & Competitions
 Who explained liberty as triadic relation between agent, constraints, and purpose, that is,
X is constrained by Y to do or be Z
(A) Ernest Barker
(B) Harold Laski
(C) Gerald Meccallum
(D) Robert Nozick C (Correct Answer)

Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ?

Author Theory of Justice
(A) Plato Distributive and Rectificatory justice
(B) Robert Nozick Entitlement Theory of Justice
(C) John Rawl Justice as fairness ( distributive justice)
(D) Amartya Sen Justice by practical reasoning; justice as fair
procedure (Niti) vs justice realized (Nyaya)
A(Correct Answer);

Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ?

Author Books
(A) Isaiah Berlin Four Essays on Liberty
(B) Robert Nozick Anarchy, State, and Utopia
(C) John Rawl A theory of Justice
(D) Amartya Sen Justice as Fairness
D(Correct Answer); Amartya Sen –The idea of justice
According to Isaiah Berlin which one is Not correct about Positive Liberty?
(A) “What, or who, is the source of control that can determine someone to do, or be, this rather than
that?”
(B) It denotes Self-mastery, self-control, self-direction, self-realization
(C) Linked to the conception of divided self- higher vs lower self
(D) It indicate preference of Rights of Individual against Common Good
D (Correct Answer)
Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ?

Thinkers How they defined Freedom

Rousseau Freedom obeying laws reflecting general will of the
political community.
T.H.Green it is a positive power of doing or enjoying something
worth doing or enjoying – moral freedom
John Locke A free man, is he, that in those things, which by his
strength and wit he is able to, is not hindered to do what
he has a will to
Hayek freedom is state in which man is not subject to coercion by
arbitrary will of others
C(Correct Answer); Man is free to act without subject to arbitrary will of
another within allowance of moral law- Locke
Which one is Not correct about Difference between Negative and Positive Liberty?

(A) Negative freedom constrains State to act whereas positive freedom allows much wider role to state
(B) Negative liberty- Freedom from constraints ; positive Liberty : Freedom to form choices and act
(C) Negative Liberty based on Exercise concept ; positive Liberty based on Opportunity concept
(D) Negative Liberty provide answer to “over what domain/area am I free?”; positive liberty “who
controls what I be or do?

C (Correct Answer): just reverse

Which According to Isaiah Berlin is most dangerous aspect of conception of positive

Liberty?

(A) Dividing the individual self into higher and lower self
(B) It treats individuals as part of society/community, which is treated as ‘Organic Whole’;
(C) It treats individual as means to achieve societal goal/end.
(D) To fulfil the interests of the ‘whole’, that is the society/community, the individuals may be,
rightfully, forced to act in a certain way; This may lead to totalitarianism- state interfering in all
matters of individual’s life.

D(Correct Answer);
Which of these are criticism of Negative Liberty by Isaiah Berlin?
(A)It is meaningless for people lacking basic necessities of life
(B) No equality of liberty : a small minority, the ‘Haves’ who enjoy this at the cost of vast
majority of ‘Have nots’
(C) Both the above
(D) It may lead to dirigisme.

C(Correct Answer);

Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ?

Books Author
Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Will Kymlicka
Minority Rights
Rethinking Multiculturalism: Bhikhu Parekh
Cultural Diversity and Political Theory
Culture & Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Brain Barry
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism and the politics of recognition Michael Sandel

D(Correct Answer);
Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ?

Thinkers How they defined Freedom

Plato Justice as harmony of the soul
J.S.Mill Justice as perfect obligation
John Rawl Justice as fairness
Aristotle Justice as just constitution and Government.
D(Correct Answer); Aristotle: justice as proportional equality

Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ?

Thinkers How they defined Freedom

John Rawl End-state theory of Justice
Robert Nozick Procedural Theory of Justice
Plato Ideal state theory of Justice
Aristotle Constitutional theory of Justice
D(Correct Answer); Aristotle: Distributive theory of Justice based on
proportionate equality
Which one is Not correct about Difference between Procedural Justice vs Distributive Justice?
(A) Procedural Justice- Fair play ; Distributive Justice- Fair share
(B) Procedural Justice denotes formal justice ; Distributive Justice- Substantive Justice
(C) Procedural Justice is closer to communitarian and socialist ideology; Distributive Justice- liberal
ideology
(D) Procedural Justice denotes just rules, Institutional fairness ; Distributive Justice- Justice realized
C (Correct Answer): just reverse
Which book by John Rawl provided different models of global justice than his theory of
justice as fairness?
(A)Perpetual Peace
(B) Idea of global justice
(C) Theory of global justice
(D) Law of People.
D(Correct Answer);

Whose theory of justice reflect this principle "From each as they choose, to each as they are
chosen"?
(A)John Rawl
(B) Robert Nozick
(C) Amartya Sen
(D) Martha Nussbaum. B(Correct Answer);
 Which one is not among the Eight Principles governing ‘Law of Peoples’ by John Rawl?

(A) Peoples (as organized by their governments) are free and independent, and their freedom and
independence is to be respected by other peoples.
(B) Peoples have the right of self-defense but no right to war.
(C) Peoples are to observe certain specified restrictions on the conduct of war (assumed to be in self-
defense).
(D) Peoples have a duty to assist other peoples living under unfavorable conditions that prevent their
having a just or decent political and social regime.
C (Correct Answer): just reverse
(E) All are correct

Other principles:
Peoples are equal and parties to their own agreements.
Peoples are to observe a duty of nonintervention.
Peoples are to observe treaties and undertakings
Peoples are to honour human rights

Which is not a category of people given by John Rawl in his Laws of People?
(A) Liberal
(B) outlaws and burdened people
(C) decent non-liberal
(D) Conservative Non-Liberal People D(Correct Answer);
Which one is not correct about theory of Global Justice by John Rawl?

(A) ‘People’(Politically organized society having sufficient commonality of culture, tradition, history)
Unit of social interaction at global level
(B) Based on core liberal principles of tolerance.
(C) prosperity of people are due to local factors- culture, values, character, and industriousness of the
people
(D) Obligation of limited assistance: no global difference principle as in his theory of Justice for a
nation/society.
E (Correct Answer): just reverse
(E) All are correct

Who gave alternate theory of global justice in response to John Rawl’s Laws of people?
(A) Amartya Sen.
(B) Martha Nussbaum.
(C) Both the above
(D) T.H.Green

A(Correct Answer); contained in

his book ‘Idea of Justice’
Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ?
Books Author
Rights of Man Thomas Paine
Universal Human Rights Jack Donnelly
in Theory and Practice
Disposable People William Easterly
Development as Amartya Sen
Freedom
C( Correct): Disposable People by Kevin
Who is not supporter of theory of natural Rights ? Bales
(A) Jeremy Bentham
(B) John Locke
(C) Rousseau A(Correct Answer);
(D) Thomas Paine

Who attacked natural Rights calling it simple nonsense: rhetorical nonsense, nonsense upon
stilt ?
(A) Jeremy Bentham
(B) Edmund Burke
(C) Karl Marx
(D) Friedrich Nietzsche A(Correct Answer);
A person has a right to X when for him/her X is sufficiently important for others to have duty
to provide or allow him/her X ; this is basis of which theory of Rights?
(A) Legal based theory of Rights
(B) Claim based theory of Rights
(C) Interest based theory of Rights
(D) Need based theory of Rights C (Correct Answer):

Which one is a proponent of Interest based theory of Rights?

(A) Jeremy Waldron

(B) Joseph Raz
(C) Both the above C(Correct Answer);
(D) Jeremy Bentham

A person has a right to X when if and only if others have moral obligation to provide or allow
him/her X ; this is basis of which theory of Rights?
(A) Kantian Approach to theory of Rights
(B) Obligation abased theory of Rights
(C) Duty based theory of Rights
(D) Justice based theory of Rights
A(Correct Answer);
As per Kantian approach, our obligations or duty of justice, which confers Rights to others, are
derived from a supreme moral principle; what name Kant gave to this?
(A) Justified Obligation
(B) Perfect obligation
(C) categorical obligation
(D) categorical imperative D(Correct Answer):

Which one is not correct about civil & political Rights ?

(A) They may be called 1st generations of Rights.

(B) They are in nature of negative Rights.
(C) Equality is the cornerstone of these Rights. C(Correct Answer);
(D) They emanate from the normative value of ‘Liberty’

Which one is not correct about Socio-economic Rights ?

(A) They may be called 2nd generations of Rights.

(B) They are in nature of positive Rights.
(C) Equality is the cornerstone of these Rights.
(D) Its chief proponents are : Locke, Mills, Rousseau
D(Correct Answer);
 Notion of cultural relativism challenge the notion of

(A) Ethnocentrism
(B) Universal Human Rights
(C) Multiculturism D(Correct Answer):
(D) All the Above

Which one is not correct about Cultural Rights ?

(A) They may be called 3rd generations of Rights.

(B) They are in nature of group Rights.
(C) Universalism and unity of culture are the cornerstone of these Rights.
(D) Closely linked with environmental movements and rising awareness of multiculturism and pluralism

C(Correct Answer);
 which of these rights are not included in the list of Rights to national minorities
recommended by Will Kymlicka ?
(A) rights of self‐government (involving the delegation of powers of government, often within a
federal structure)
(B) polyethnic rights (involving financial support and legal protection for certain practices
associated with particular ethnic or religious groups)
(C) special representation rights (guaranteeing representation of minority groups within the
central institutions of the larger state)
(D) Right of national self-determination.
D(Correct Answer);

Central argument of Charles Taylor in his book ‘Multiculturalism and the politics of recognition’
Is?
(A) Minorities should get right to equal status and recognition
(B) For developing self respect, dignity, and autonomy, one require a stable cultural structure or
framework
(C) To have positive relation to themselves Individual require other’s recognition– other’s positive
attitude/admiration towards one’s cultural identity
(D) State must treat each citizen with equal respect and dignity
C(Correct Answer):
Which one of the following is an incorrect pair ?

Books/concept Author/Thinker
Sovereign Virtue: the theory and practice of Equality Ronald Dworkin
Discourse on origin of inequality Rousseau
Spheres of Justice Michael Walzer
Complex Equality Michael Sandel
D(Correct Answer);Complex
Equality was given by Michael
Walzer
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these
are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” These declarations relates to?

A) French Revolution
B) Glorious Revolution in England
C) UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
D) American Declaration of Freedom
D(Correct Answer);
 People shouldn’t be worse off than others because of brute luck, such as, disease, accidents, disabilities, disasters;
this theme is the basis of ?

A) Liberal egalitarians
B) Socialist egalitarians
C) Chance egalitarians D(Correct Answer);
D) Luck egalitarians

Which is Not true about formal Equality of Opportunity?

A) Remove the constraints of natural bad luck

B) Accept inequality of outcome due to inequality of natural talent, individual choice and preferences
C) Ensuring a level playing field, equality of access to rewards of life, equal treatment, equal chance
D) Remove constraints of social bad luck
A(Correct Answer);

Which is Not true about Equality of Opportunity and equality of Outcome?

A) Equality of Opportunity denotes liberal or soft egalitarianism
B) Equality of Outcome denotes socialist or hard egalitarianism
C) Both of them can be placed on a continuum from Formal Equality of opportunity to radical Equality of
opportunity
D) Both of them Remove constraints of natural bad luck
D(Correct Answer);
 Which is not Correct about Equality of Resources by Ronald Dworkin?

A) It construct an Imaginary market procedure for distribution of resources in a society

B) equal auction in Initial position : All ‘equal’ participate in fair bidding for resources of
their choice
C) Positive discrimination and affirmative action by the State/Government
D) Fair Insurance market: Risk pooling or luck sharing for brute bad luck and option luck
C(Correct Answer);

Which is not Correct about Complex Equality by Michael Walzer ?

A) All cultural communities/societies have distinct spheres of distribution

B) Distribution of social goods in separate distributive spheres on the basis of different
principles, procedure and criteria
C) Monopoly over one social good within a distributive sphere is not allowed to dominate
the distribution of a good in other sphere – conversion of one good for other blocked
D) Possession of one social good and related status/standing is not undermined by non-
possession of other social good in other sphere
E) None of the above E(Correct Answer);
 Which one is not the feature of Complex Equality?

A) Social goods are distributed by different rules, reasons in different distributive sphere
B) Conversion and exchange of goods across boundary of spheres are blocked
C) Generally individualistic account of equality
D) Equality is assessed on multiple criteria and sum total of overall standings in different social
spheres
C(Correct Answer);

Which one is not one of the communitarian critique of Rawl’s theory of justice?

A) Rawl’s idea of unencumbered, abstracted Self is wrong; idea of Situated Self: Individual is
embedded or situated and partially constituted and defined by social roles and community
attachments
B) It contend Rawl’s assertion that Justice is the 1st virtue of social system and it is universal
C) It challenge Rawl’s assertion of Individual conception of Good Life.
D) It place equality above justice in social arrangements.

D(Correct Answer);
 Who among the following can be considered as an exponent
of procedural theory of justice?
A. Robert Nozick
B. John Rawl
C. Amartya Sen
D. Martha Nussbaum
D(Correct Answer)

Who among the following can be justifiably called the first modern propounder of the
idea of negative liberty?
1. Thomas Hobbes
2. John Locke
3. Machiavelli A(Correct Answer)
4. J.S. Mill

Rawls introduces the ‘veil of ignorance” because:-

1. Any contract must always start from a blank slate
2. All of these
3. It is closest to how people were in the state of nature
4. It is a device to eliminate bias in reasoning /
D(Correct Answer)
Rawlsian concept of justice is based on
(A) Distributive principle C(Correct Answer)
(B) Agreement principle
(C) Difference principle
(D) Joint method principle

Who considered ‘negative liberty is superior

to positive liberty’ ? B(Correct Answer)
(A) J.S. Mill
(B) Isaiah Berlin
(C) T.H. Green
(D) Ernest Barker

Who considered ‘positive liberty leading to slippery slope

which may ultimately lead to totalitarian states’ ?
(A) J.S. Mill
(B) Isaiah Berlin
B(Correct Answer)
(C) T.H. Green
(D) Ernest Barker
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