Political Science

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Political Science 111 H5S Summer 2021 Canada in Comparative Perspective

August Take Home Open Book Final Exam

Answers due: August 19 by 3 PM (EST) on the course Quercus site

Instructions  Your first page should be your title page. This page should include your

name & student number & the date of submission. Your exam answers

should be submitted as a single document.

 Answer all FIVE (5) questions below on page three. All answers are worth exactly the same.

 Correctly number your answers. If you incorrectly number your answers, you run the risk of getting a bad mark because the marker will not correctly

identify which question you are actually answering.

 Answer in complete sentences. Do not use drawings, graphs or tables as a substitute.

 Submit your exam answers to the Quercus site for this course. The site appears under the “Assignments” tab. Please submit your answers in Word,

not PDF. However, you will not be penalized if you do not use Word.

 Do not submit more than one exam, using the same or different e-mail addresses. If you do, we will only mark the first exam you submit.

 The text of each of your answers can be no longer than 400 words. This is a MANDATORY limit. We will stop reading your answer after 400 words.

 The 400-word ceiling for each answer does not apply to your citations/foot- or endnotes; or to your title page; or to your bibliography/works cited page.

The 400-word ceilings do apply to your own text and any quotes you use

incorporated into your text.

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Instructions continued  Do NOT include extra text in footnotes or endnotes as a strategy to evade

the 400-word limit for answers. We will not read supplementary or

additional text to your answers, that are contained in footnotes or endnotes.

 You must use one of standard academic citation systems for your answers. This means you must cite your sources & include a bibliography/works cited

page at the end of your answers. There are three citation systems commonly

used in the social sciences: APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian. Choose one.

Sources explaining these systems are listed in the August essay-assignment

(p. 3).

 University policy on plagiarism applies to your exam answers. Plagiarism is explained in the course outline and in the August essay-assignment, as well

as in Class #2 (pp. 18-24) and Class #4 (p. 11). You are advised to review

the policy on plagiarism before answering the questions.

 The purpose of the exam is to assess your knowledge of the material covered in the course. You are advised to review the class discussions of how your

exams will be assessed: see Class #2 (pp. 25, 27-28), and Class #4 (pp. 8-

10). As discussed, your primary source materials should be 1) the lectures

and 2) class readings.

 You are advised to NOT simply string together quotes from the lecture slides & readings. This was discussed in class: see Class #4 (p. 10).

Students will be evaluated on their ability to answer the questions in their

own words. Just stringing together quotes or crude paraphrasing of quotes

will not get you a good mark. Quoting the professor’s words back to him

will not impress the marker. If students cannot express themselves in their

own words, they are failing to demonstrate their mastery of course materials.

 Don’t try to emphasize words or phrases in your answers with the creative use of bolding, underlining or italics: all this does is distract the marker. The

marker, not you, decides which of your words are most relevant and

important to your answer.

 Students are advised to review the warning in Class #4 about the dangers and pitfalls of using the Internet as a research source (p. 9). I am not

interested in your deep knowledge of Wikipedia, Canadian Encyclopedia,

the CBC, other news outlets, or similar non-academic websites. What I am

interested in, is your mastery of the materials covered in 1) the lectures and

2) the class readings.

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Instructions completed  Students are advised to remember this is an exam, not the opportunity to

submit five short research essays. If you devote your exam to writing about

topics not covered in the course materials, or rely on sources never assigned

or recommended in this course, or discuss points of view on our topics not

covered in this course, your mark will suffer.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER Answer all five (5) questions below. All questions are of equal value. Answer each

Question in 400 words or less

QUESTION ONE

In your opinion, are there any effective checks on the powers of the

Canadian Prime Minister?

QUESTION TWO

How does federalism affect the operation of Canadian government and politics?

QUESTION THREE

What is the difference between the division of powers, and the

separation of powers, as discussed in this course? Be sure to give

examples in your answer.

QUESTION FOUR

Why is Canada’s original written constitution, the British North America

Act, 1867, an incomplete guide to how democracy actually works in

Canada?

QUESTION FIVE

What is “confidence” in the parliamentary system of government, and why is it important?

5 X 20=100 Marks