01
Choose one
1 point
Two rival states increase defense spending even though neither has decided to attack. Which explanation best fits a realist analysis?
Free Practice Quiz Question List
3 Theories of International Relations Online Quiz Questions
Use this free practice quiz with 20 questions to review 3 Theories of International Relations, test your knowledge, and prepare for your next test or exam.
20 questions
02
Choose one
1 point
A group of states wants to make a trade agreement easier to negotiate and maintain. Which option best describes how neoliberal institutionalism says institutions can help?
- A
They can provide information, set shared rules, monitor commitments, and lower negotiating costs.
- B
They eliminate competition and make states cooperate regardless of their interests.
- C
They give institutions authority to guarantee every state's security.
- D
They ensure that all states receive equal gains from an agreement.
03
Choose one
1 point
A researcher studying a proposed security pact asks whose experiences and historical perspectives are excluded from its definition of security. Which approach or approaches most directly foreground that question?
- A
Realism, because it asks how the pact changes the balance of power.
- B
Liberalism, because it asks which domestic groups favor the pact.
- C
Feminist or postcolonial approaches, because they ask whose experiences and histories the definition of security includes or excludes.
- D
Neoliberal institutionalism, because it asks whether shared procedures reduce negotiating costs.
04
Choose all
1 point
Select all the ways neoliberal institutionalism says institutions can make cooperation more feasible.
- A
Providing information to states negotiating an agreement.
- B
Establishing shared rules that clarify obligations.
- C
Forcing states to cooperate even when they have no incentive to do so.
- D
Monitoring whether states meet their commitments.
- E
Reducing the costs of negotiating.
05
Choose all
1 point
Select all claims consistent with constructivism.
- A
Shared identities and norms can shape how states understand their interests.
- B
Material factors such as weapons and wealth are unreal.
- C
Anarchy does not dictate one single pattern of state behavior.
- D
State interests are necessarily fixed and cannot be reshaped through interaction.
- E
Actors' interpretations can give material factors political meaning.
06
True or false
1 point
True or false: The English School examines how states may maintain shared rules and institutions, such as diplomacy and international law, even without a world government.
- A
True
- B
False
07
True or false
1 point
True or false: Postcolonial approaches focus only on formal colonial rule and do not examine how colonial histories shape present-day relationships.
- A
True
- B
False
08
Written response
1 point
What term describes economic ties, such as trade, that can make cooperation valuable while also creating vulnerability or unequal dependence?
09
Written response
1 point
What approach to realism combines systemic pressures with domestic factors such as leaders' perceptions and state capacity?
10
Fill in the blank
1 point
Structural realism explains competition chiefly through the anarchic system and the distribution of among states.
11
Fill in the blank
1 point
Feminist IR examines how gendered roles and assumptions shape power, security, war, political representation, and whose count as internationally significant.
12
Open ended
1 point
Why might no single international relations theory fully explain a complex outcome? Use the example of neighboring states forming a security pact to explain how three different approaches could complement one another.
13
Choose one
1 point
A researcher investigates how leaders’ language defines a neighboring state as a threat and makes certain responses seem legitimate. Which approach most directly focuses on this question?
- A
How the pact changes the balance of military capabilities.
- B
Poststructuralism: how leaders’ narratives define a threat and make some policies seem legitimate.
- C
How domestic groups distribute economic gains from the pact.
- D
How shared procedures reduce the costs of negotiating the pact.
14
True or false
1 point
True or false: Because realism analyzes power politics and national interest, it automatically endorses every policy pursued in their name.
- A
True
- B
False
15
Choose one
1 point
In international relations, what does anarchy mean?
- A
A condition of constant chaos in which international rules cannot exist
- B
A system without a world government that has authority over states
- C
A system in which only powerful states are subject to international rules
- D
A condition in which states have no influence on one another
16
Choose one
1 point
Two rival states increase defense spending because each is uncertain about the other's intentions, though neither has decided to attack. Which approach most directly explains this response?
- A
Constructivism, because shared meanings alone determine whether weapons are built
- B
Liberalism, because domestic groups always determine defense spending
- C
Realism, because states may respond to uncertainty about others' intentions
- D
The English School, because diplomacy prevents military competition
17
Written response
1 point
Which major liberal approach accepts that the international system is anarchic and states pursue their interests, while emphasizing how institutions can make cooperation more feasible?
18
Choose one
1 point
Two states possess similar weapons, but each views the other's arsenal differently because of their histories and expectations. Which approach would most directly investigate why the weapons have different political meanings?
- A
Constructivism, because it investigates how identities and shared meanings shape interpretations
- B
Realism, because it assumes identical weapons always pose identical threats
- C
Liberalism, because it treats military capabilities as irrelevant to state behavior
- D
Marxist theory, because it explains arsenals only through trade agreements
19
Written response
1 point
What is the term for the dynamic in which one state's measures to improve its security can make another state feel less secure, prompting further competition?
20
Choose one
1 point
A researcher asks how diplomacy, international law, and shared practices help states maintain order despite the absence of a world government. Which approach most directly matches this focus?
- A
Structural realism, because it focuses chiefly on the distribution of capabilities
- B
Liberalism, because it focuses chiefly on domestic constituencies and economic ties
- C
Poststructuralism, because it analyzes how language defines political categories
- D
The English School, because it studies shared rules and institutions among states