Answer two (2 only) questions from this section. 1. Anthony…
Answer two (2 only) questions from this section. 1. Anthony Downs’s An Econometric Theory of Democracy remains a key work forunderstanding how political parties compete—especially through the Median VoterTheorem that Downs introduced. What is the Median Voter Theorem and how does itexplain parties’ spatial competition, even today? What are the theorem’s limitations? Inyour answer, identify at least three assumptions of this theorem and analyze how they door do not explain the real political world, referencing both past and more recent research. 2. What institutions are best for accommodating ethnic minorities in multiethnic societies?In your essay, discuss the major theoretical arguments and identify their shortcomings.Make sure you draw on examples to support your argument. 3. You have a choice for this question: answer only 3a) or 3b). Do not answer bothquestions:a. Do election campaigns matter? That is, do they impact what voters do onElection Day? Does this vary across countries? If so, what explains the variationwe observe?ORb. Do issues and policies matter to voters on election day? If so, how? If not, whynot? 4. In comparative politics, courts have often been treated as either completely endogenous(i.e., judges just do whatever the executive wants) or completely exogenous (i.e., courtswill save democracy from attacks). Under what conditions does it make sense to treatcourts as exogenous, if ever? Illustrate your answer with at least one instance in whichcourts change the political dynamics of a country or episode, and one instance of courtsfailing to do so. Although you may explore alternative explanations, be sure to identifyand explain your preferred explanation. 5. Do institutions matter? What does it mean to ask this question? And how, if at all, cansocial scientists answer it? In your answer, be sure to reference real world examples. 5. In what ways has the rise of populism challenged theories of redistribution and the role ofthe welfare state? In what ways is the rise of populism consistent with previous theories,including those that reference individual demand for redistribution and those thatunderscore the link between globalization and the welfare state? How, moreover, mightpopulism challenge the conventional wisdom generated by these theories? 6. You have a choice for this question: answer only 6a) or 6b). Do not answer bothquestions: a) Over most of the modern era, the greatest threats to democracy have come fromrevolutions, military coups, and foreign intervention. More recently, the greatestthreat seems to be from incumbents. Assess this claim and, if true, potentialexplanations. Illustrate your answer with references to specific examples.ORb) Are high-income democracies still as durable as theories of development and“endogenous democratization” assert? In addition to referencing both relevant priorliterature and empirical examples, your answer should address one of the followingtwo subsidiary questions: 1) if democracies are as durable as ever, what have theforecasts of democratic collapse in the United States and other OECD countriesmissed?; 2) if they are no longer durable, explain why prior theories are inadequateand what new or revised theories ought to replace them. 7. How does political culture vary across countries? What explains this variation? In youranswer, address competing analytical frameworks as well as empirical examples. 8. Do you regard domestic or international factors as more important for explainingsocioeconomic development in the Global North and the Global South? Explain yourchoice and illustrate them with real world examples.