Ch. 1 MC – History – Flashcards
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What do the authors define as "the ability of one person to get another person to act in accordance with the first person's intentions"? a. authority b. power c. influence d. legitimacy e. legislation
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b.
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Which of the following statements concerning power is correct? a. Its exercise can sometimes be obvious. b. It can be exercised in subtle ways. c. It involves a person getting another person to act in accordance with the first person's wishes. d. It is found in all human relationships. e. All of the above.
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e.
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Which of the following statements about authority is correct? a. It is defined as the right to use power. b. It resides in government, not in the private sector. c. It typically results from the naked use of force. d. It is the opposite of legitimacy. e. All of the above.
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a.
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A survey of 450 history and political science professors resulted in ___________ being listed as the most significant achievement of government since 1950. a. devolution b. female suffrage c. social security d. the reduction of the federal deficit e. the rebuilding of Europe
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e.
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Americans seem to agree that the exercise of political power at any level is legitimate only if, in some sense, it is a. systematic. b. democratic. c. bipartisan. d. partisan. e. traditional.
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b.
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In Aristotle's view, democracy would consist of a. the effective representation of the interests of the whole population. b. political representation by all individuals in a society, regardless of race, age, or gender. c. participation by all or most citizens in either holding office or making policy. d. an elite group of policy makers elected by the will of the people. e. a nocturnal council that made decisions without regard to public opinion.
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c.
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Aristotle's notion of democracy is also referred to as a. New York Democracy. b. direct democracy. c. commoner democracy. d. participatory democracy. e. b and d.
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e.
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In the ancient Greek city-state, the right to vote was not extended to a. those who did not own property. b. women. c. minors. d. slaves. e. All of the above.
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e.
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Which of the following is a basic tenet of representative democracy? a. Individuals should acquire power through competition for the people's vote. b. It is unreasonable to expect people to choose among competing leadership groups. c. Government officials should represent the true interests of their clients. d. The middle class gains representation at the expense of the poor and minorities. e. Public elections should be held on every issue directly affecting the lives of voters.
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a.
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If you fear that people often decide big issues on the basis of fleeting passions and in response to demagogues, you are likely to agree with a. recall elections. b. the New England town meeting. c. the referendum. d. participatory democracy. e. many of the Framers of the Constitution.
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e.
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The text suggests representative democracy is justified by all of the following concerns except that a. the people have limited information and expertise. b. direct democracy is impractical. c. the people may decide large issues on the basis of fleeting passions. d. the people cannot choose among competing leadership groups. e. the people may respond to popular demagogues.
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d.
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In sharp contrast to the United States, very few offices in some European democracies are a. elective. b. appointive. c. full-time. d. constitutional. e. structured.
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a.
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The text suggests the Founders thought the government should ____ popular views. a. reflect b. enlarge c. minimize d. mediate e. be guided by
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d.
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The Founders granted that representative democracy would a. prevent factions from having any influence on government. b. prevent sweeping changes in policy. c. result in highly controversial elections. d. often proceed slowly. e. B and D.
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e.
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The Founders might agree that ______ ought to hinge on popular vote. a. the right to a fair trial b. freedom of speech c. freedom of press d. freedom of religion e. none of the above
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e.
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Issues can be handled in a majoritarian fashion if a. they are important enough to command the attention of most citizens. b. they are sufficiently clear to elicit an informed opinion from citizens. c. they are sufficiently feasible to address so that what citizens want can in fact be done. d. all of the above. e. none of the above.
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d.
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In the Marxist view government is a reflection of underlying ________ forces. a. economic b. political c. ideological d. social e. teleological
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a.
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Marx concluded "modern" societies generally feature a clash of power between a. farmers and industrialists. b. capitalists and workers. c. slaveowners and the landed aristocracy. d. monarchists and anarchists. e. intellectuals and spiritualists.
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b.
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The power elite theory of politics suggests politics and government are dominated by a. the tyranny of the majority b. pork-barrel legislation c. a nocturnal council d. neo-Marxist policy e. corporate leaders, military officials, media elites, and labor officials
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e.
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Max Weber felt that the dominant social and political reality of modern times was that a. "the Establishment" was dominated by Wall Street lawyers. b. all institutions have fallen under the control of large bureaucracies. c. capitalism is essential to modern-day forms of government. d. conflict increased between the government and the press. e. a dialectical process made communism inevitable.
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b.
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Weber's theory suggests it would be wise for scholars who want to study power to focus on a. the President. b. mid-term elections. c. appointed officials and career government workers. d. members of Congress. e. critical national elections.
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c.
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The view that money, expertise, prestige, and so forth are widely scattered throughout our society in the hands of a variety of groups is known as the a. pluralist view of American society. b. economic theory of democracy. c. elitist view of American society. d. dispersed power theory of American politics. e. monetary displacement theory of American politics.
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a.
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A pluralist might agree with all of the following statements except a. political resources are not equally divided. b. mass opinion and the interests of citizens are irrelevant to policymaking. c. political resources are divided among different kinds of elites. d. elites are not a united front. e. policies are the outcome of complex patterns of haggling, compromises and shifting alliances.
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b.
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The text suggests _________ theory "does the most to reassure one that America has been, and continues to be, a democracy in more than name." a. Marxist b. bureaucratic c. pluralist d. power elite e. Weberian
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c.
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Ronald Reagan's policy initiatives on social and economic problems sought to a. return citizens' assumptions to what they had been during World War II. b. make the government more efficient and capable of addressing social problems. c. broaden government's social net for the truly needy. d. move the United States into the front rank of nations involved in forward social planning. e. return citizens' assumptions to what they had been before the 1930s.
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e.
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American foreign policy, according to the text, tends to alternate between a. cold wars and hot wars. b. idealism and realism. c. bipolarism and multilateralism. d. interventions and isolationism. e. realism and existentialism
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d.
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The fact that people have been willing to die over competing views of the public interest suggests that a. such views are more than mere window dressing. b. politics concerns who gets what, when, where, and how. c. delusions are central to the political process. d. human nature is fundamentally inconsistent. e. political issues are rarely understood.
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a.
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The kinds of answers that political scientists usually give to the fundamental political questions tend to be a. highly abstract and speculative. b. clear, concrete, and consistent. c. partial, contingent, and controversial. d. qualified to the point of unintelligibility. e. empirical and void of theory.
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c.
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According to the text, before making judgments about institutions and interests, we must first observe them a. from a disinterested vantage point. b. as manifestations of underlying economic relationships. c. firsthand. d. on a variety of different issues. e. through the lenses of bureaucrats.
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d.
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The logical place to begin the study of how power is distributed in U.S. politics is a. the Constitutional Convention and events leading up to it. b. your local town hall or courthouse. c. the day-to-day lives of Americans. d. the pages of this morning's newspaper. e. the Civil War.
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a.
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All of the following are true about Locke EXCEPT a. he believed in the idea that government can only rule with the consent of its citizens b. he believed that a separation of powers was necessary to avoid the tyranny of the majority c. he believed that to prevent civil war, a supreme leader was needed. d. he believed that human desire for self-preservation led to the creation of the first governments. e. he was tremendously important influence on the Founding Fathers.
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c.
