The text suggests politics exists in part because people differ about two things: Who governs? and
To what ends?
Politics exists because people differ about two things:
Who governs? and To what ends?
The relationship between the two central questions addressed by your text "Who governs?" and "To what ends?" can best be described in what way?
They are two distinct questions, but each must be considered with the other in mind.
Today, the U.S. federal income tax takes an average of what percent of taxpayers' income?
21
The fact that the rich are taxed more heavily than the poor and amendments which gave voting rights to minorities were passed by large majorities suggests that:
government does not always adopt policies that are to the narrow advantage of those who hold political offices.
The text argues that political power is inextricably bound with
political purposes.
Individuals have power when they are able to
get others to do what they want them to do.
The text notes a tendency for issues that once were ________ to become ________.
private, public
Compared with the 1950s, government's involvement in the everyday lives of Americans in the 1990s is
considerably greater.
The text suggests that, in the 1950s, the federal government would have taken very little interest in
All of the above. (a factory closing its doors, a profession not accrediting a member, a university refusing an applicant.)
Formal authority refers to a right to exercise power that is derived from a(n)
governmental office.
The primary source of legitimate political authority in the United States is the
U.S. Constitution.
The text suggests that, in the United States, no government at any level would be considered legitimate if it were not in some sense
democratic
The author cites the early presidential administrations, the Civil War, and the New Deal as examples of struggles over
what constitutes legitimate authority.
At the time of the Constitutional Convention, the view that a democratic government was desirable was
far from unanimous.
Which delegate to the Constitutional Convention was worried that the new government that he helped to create might be too democratic?
Alexander Hamilton
The Greek city-state, or polis extended the right to vote to everyone except
All of the above. (slaves, women, minors, those without property)
The term democracy was originally associated with
Aristotle.
The term participatory democracy applies most accurately to which of the following societies?
Greece in the fourth century B.C.
In recent times, Aristotle's ideal of democracy has been most closely approximated by
the New England town meeting.
Representative democracy allows individuals to gain political power through
competitive elections.
Democracy was defined as the competitive struggle for people's votes by
Joseph Schumpeter.
The Framers' concerns about direct democracy are well illustrated by the fact that the Constitution
does not feature the word "democracy" at all.
Democracy in the United States is distinguished from many European democracies by the fact that, in the United States,
many more offices are elective.
Which statement best reflects the views of the Framers of the Constitution?
The government should mediate, not mirror, popular views.
Variants of direct democracy include programs of citizen participation and
community control.
Critics of representative democracy have pointed out all of the following except
it does not adequately protect basic liberties.
A city council representative faces an important vote on how much, if any, money to spend on a new school. The representative relies on a poll of her constituents to make a decision. This is in keeping with the form of politics known as
majoritarian politics.
Under what circumstances would majoritarian politics normally not be effective?
When an issue is too complicated or technical for most citizens to understand
Those who possess a disproportionate share of political power are defined as
a political elite.
Elite theory is based upon all of the following premises except:
Despite their small numbers, those who are active participants in politics generally reflect the types of people in the general population and the viewpoints of most citizens.
C. Wright Mills, Karl Marx, and Max Weber are cited in the text as theorists who attempted to explain the
behavior of political elites.
Which of the following was not an important source of theories explaining political elites?
Sigmund Freud
Marxists claim that, in modern society, the two major classes contending for power are the
capitalists and workers.
Marx's view of government would dispose one to view an administration's proposal of a large military budget as a(n)
service to defense corporations.
Marxists refer to those who own the means of production as
the bourgeoisie.
In Marxist ideology, the term bourgeoisie refers to
capitalists.
Those who believe that government is little more than a front for major corporate interests would most likely be attracted to the thinking of
Karl Marx.
C. Wright Mills was concerned that a coalition of three groups dominated politics and government. He labeled the members of this coalition "the
power elite.
Which theorist suggested a coalition of three groups dominate politics and government?
C. Wright Mills
C. Wright Mills suggested the most important policies are set by
All of the above. (corporate leaders, top military officials, a handful of key political leaders)
Which elite theorist(s) might suggest that the idea of an all powerful coalition of elites is not particularly useful to an understanding of power because top military officials and elected officials are simply tools of corporate leaders?
Marx
That a comparatively tiny group of individuals holds the greatest political power could be agreed on by both
C. Wright Mills and Karl Marx.
In essence, Max Weber's approach to the study of power suggests, if anything, we should be careful not to place too great an emphasis on
elected representatives.
Max Weber might remind an individual who is upset at the prospect of radical change in law and policy following a presidential election that
there are thousands of governmental employees who remain in their jobs before, during and after such elections and they have a considerable amount of power and discretion.
Which statement best summarizes the viewpoint of Max Weber?
Government bureaucrats effectively make public policies.
According to the text, the pluralist view has many followers in
political science and journalism.
The pluralist view of political reality emphasizes the ________ of political resources.
decentralization
The pluralist view holds all of the following except
Political elites do not respond to the interests of their followers.
Max Weber and the pluralists would be most likely to agree that
no extra-governmental elite controls politics.
Which of the following conceptualizes the widest distribution of political power?or places it in the largest number of hands?
Max Weber
Which of the following conceptualizes the narrowest distribution of political power?or places it in the smallest number of hands?
Karl Marx
According to Tocqueville, Americans are fond of explaining their actions in terms of
self-interest.
Regarding the role of self-interest in the positions that people take on important issues, it is safest to say that
economic self-interest may be important but is usually not the only guide to people's actions.
The text cites the AFL-CIO's civil rights position in the 1960s as an example of
an organization as a whole acting politically out of considerations broader than its members' individual interests.
In the 1920s, it was expected that the federal government would play a small role in our lives. The fact that there was a dramatic change in expectations from the 1930s to the 1970s suggests
no simple theory of politics is likely to explain both sets of expectations.
Which of the following statements is incorrect?
None of the above (In the 1920s it was widely assumed that the federal government would play a small role in our lives, From the 1930s to the 1970s it was generally believed that the federal government should try to solve social and economic problems, Rea
The text presents the historical involvement of the United States in foreign affairs as
alternating between outward and inward movements.
Which of the following statements about political power "who governs" is most accurate?
Most power derives from psychological and social factors such as friendship, loyalty, and prestige.
The text insists that, if we wish to understand power, we must also understand
preferences.
The trouble with trying to infer the distribution of political power from examining the laws on the books is that
laws may be enacted in a great variety of circumstances.