Deck 13: Politics and Media

Question 1

What kind of government requires an educated citizenry and free press?

A) Top-down democracy
B) Homogeneous democracy
C) Representative democracy
D) Laissez-faire democracy

Answer 1

C

Question 2

If your professor tells you to write a paper or take a quiz, s/he is using which of Weber's types of authority?

A) Coercive
B) Legal
C) Traditional
D) Dictatorial

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Participatory democracy works best in what kind of population or group?

A) Small, heterogeneous
B) Large, heterogeneous
C) Large, homogeneous
D) Small, homogeneous

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Almost all political systems can be classified as

A) Socialist or authoritarian
B) Utopian or totalitarian
C) Democratic or socialist
D) Authoritarian or democratic

Question 5

In a proportional representation system

A) Minorities are likely to be over represented
B) Each race, ethnicity, and sex is represented according to its proportion in the population
C) Each party receives a proportion of the legislative seats
D) Each candidate is elected in proportion to the votes received

Question 6

Universal suffrage refers to

A) A system of welfare capitalism
B) Voting rights for all adults
C) A Laissez-faire economy
D) Equal sharing of problems as well as benefits

Question 7

According to Karl Marx, power was purely a characteristic of ________.

A) Politics
B) Intelligence
C) Education
D) Social class

Question 8

In the U.S., which of these are generally more likely to vote Democratic than Republican?

A) Blue collar, higher educated, minority, and/or female
B) Blue collar, lower educated, minority, and/or male
C) White collar, higher educated, white, and/or female
D) White collar, lower educated, white, and/or male

Question 9

The most common form of authority in contemporary societies, commonly exercised by modern governments, is

A) Coercive
B) Charismatic
C) Traditional
D) Legal-rational

Question 10

Most of the world's nations are

A) Monarchies
B) Dictatorships
C) Authoritarian
D) Democracies

Question 11

The concept of democracy originated in

A) France
B) Ancient Greece
C) Great Britain
D) The Roman Empire

Question 12

Max Weber argued that leaders exercise three types of authority

A) Coercive authority, dictatorial authority, and legal authority
B) Traditional authority, charismatic authority, and legal-rational authority
C) Fiscal authority, traditional authority, and rational authority
D) Coercive authority, charismatic authority, and rational authority

Question 13

Global mass media has contributed to an association between democracy and ________.

A) Better legislators
B) Intelligence
C) Wealth, privilege, and power
D) Significant leisure time

Question 14

The most common means of exercising power is __________, which is power that is perceived as legitimate, by both the holder of power and those subject to it.

A) Authority
B) Coercion
C) Trickery
D) The law

Question 15

Compared to other democratic countries, the United States

A) has fewer major political parties
B) has somewhat more major political parties
C) has considerably more major political parties
D) has many more minor, but not major, political parties

Question 16

The proportion of women in U.S. State Legislatures is about 25%, thus

A) Women are overrepresented by a factor of 25%
B) Women are equally represented
C) Women are slightly underrepresented
D) Women are underrepresented by about ½

Question 17

Corruption is more characteristic

A) of democratic countries
B) of western countries
C) of poor countries
D) of rich countries

Question 18

What kind of authority was exemplified by Jesus, Hitler, Ghandi, Kennedy, and Mandela?

A) Coercive
B) Charismatic
C) Traditional
D) Dictatorial

Question 19

According to your text, William Domhoff's studies of interconnections between the wealthy and the powerful showed that

A) Formal mechanisms for political influence, such as PACS or lobbying committees, were the most important factor in decision making
B) Corruption among these influential people was a significant problem.
C) These elites were linked educationally and socially, and influence was exerted informally.
D) Corruption among these influential people was NOT a significant problem.

Question 20

In what kind of government is political authority extended over all aspects of social life, including culture, the arts, and social relations, with no organized opposition permitted and political information censored?

A) Monarchy
B) Communism
C) Totalitarianism
D) Socialism

Question 21

Newspaper circulation is higher in

A) Rich nations
B) Poor nations
C) Nations with no internet
D) Nations with lower literacy rates

Question 22

Which of the following has increased in number in the last few years?

A) Hispanic newspapers
B) Traditional newspapers such as the NY Times
C) Most print newspapers
D) English-language newspapers

Question 23

In the U.S., which of these are generally more likely to vote Republican than Democratic?

A) Blue collar, higher educated, minority, and/or female
B) Blue collar, lower educated, minority, and/or male
C) White collar, higher educated, white, and/or female
D) White collar, lower educated, white, and/or male

Question 24

Reading shifted from a privilege of upper-class males to a much wider population with what invention?

A) The typewriter
B) The printing press
C) Paper
D) Ink

Question 25

"Wag the dog" rationale refers to ________.

A) waging a war to divert public attention away from internal problems
B) leaders infusing military campaigns with moral urgency
C) mobilizing military efforts in response to perceived threats
D) societies going to war to end foreign domination

Question 26

The invention of what expanded the European literacy rate from less than 1 percent to between 10 and 15 percent?

A) The typewriter
B) Paper
C) The printing press
D) Ink

Question 27

By making everyday decisions about whether or not to buy "green," to have or not have multi-racial friends, or to laugh or not laugh at a racist or homophobic joke, people are

A) Making political statements
B) Avoiding politics
C) Being random
D) Being asocial

Question 28

__________ is the attempt to overthrow the existing political order and replace it with a completely new one.

A) Anarchy
B) Mobilization
C) Democracy
D) Revolution

Question 29

__________ believed that revolutions were the inevitable outcome of the clash between two social classes.

A) Talcott Parsons
B) Karl Marx
C) Emile Durkheim
D) Max Weber

Question 30

Which of these had a higher probability of voting for McCain over Obama?

A) Women
B) Younger voters (18-29)
C) Whites
D) People with post-graduate degrees

Question 31

According to GSS data reported in a "What do you think" box in the text, __________ of the population have a great deal of confidence in the "people running the press".

A) Almost all
B) Around three-quarters
C) About half
D) A very small percent

Question 32

The availability of television sets to the population

A) Is similar in rich and poor countries around the world
B) Is much greater in rich than in poor countries
C) Is slightly greater in rich than in poor countries
D) Is greater in poor countries than rich countries.

Question 33

Democrats generally support

A) lower taxes and less government regulation
B) greater restrictions on moral decision-making
C) fewer restrictions on business and the economy
D) active government intervention to solve social problems

Question 34

When people seek to effect change, they often start__________, collective attempts to further a common interest or secure a common goal through action outside the sphere of established institutions.

A) Social movements
B) Revolutions
C) Terrorist actions
D) Coups d'état

Question 35

Karl Marx believed that revolutions

A) were the inevitable outcome of the clash between two social classes
B) would destroy socialism
C) were neither political nor related to economic deprivation
D) were irrational responses of people who were worked into a frenzy by outside agitators

Question 36

Why are democratic societies particularly vulnerable to terrorism?

A) They aren't
B) They have more civil liberties and less extensive police networks
C) They have less civil liberties and more extensive police networks
D) They have more civil liberties and more extensive police networks

Question 37

Newspaper readership and ad revenue have dropped considerably due to

A) A decline in literacy
B) Less news to write about
C) A paper shortage
D) The internet

Question 38

Most __________ are precipitated by these factors: perceived threats, political objectives, "wag the dog" rationale, moral objectives, and/or absence of alternatives.

A) Elections
B) Coronations
C) Wars
D) Marches

Question 39

Which of these is correct about terrorism?

A) It is not a recent phenomenon
B) It is a relatively recent phenomenon
C) It is used against, but not by, governments
D) It is used by, but not against, governments

Question 40

The most dramatic and unorthodox form of social change is

A) Social movement
B) Revolution
C) Lobbying
D) Social protest

Question 41

Sociologists have discovered that multicultural audiences for American media products ________.

A) Answer: share the same cultural truths and values
B) Often find differing interpretations of the same material
C) Have no interest in viewing foreign productions
D) Reject the cultural values depicted

Question 42

In 1972 Marshall McLuhan predicted that the worldwide rise of electronic media would bring the world closer together, in a(n)

A) Consumerist group
B) Cultural industry
C) Interpretive community
D) Global village

Question 43

The Internet has facilitated increased isolation as well as creating a new form of community where people can interact. These simultaneous yet competing characteristics illustrate

A) The either/or perspective
B) The both/and perspective
C) The functionalist interaction perspective
D) The symbolic conflict perspective

Question 44

One of the first political systems was the rule by a single individual, or a __________.

Question 45

Regarding watching TV compared to using a computer,

A) Computer use is more likely than TV viewing to be solitary
B) There is virtually no difference in how they are used
C) TVs are more likely to engage the mind
D) TVs are digital while computers are analog

Question 46

Which goal of media consumption keeps us from thinking about our problems?

A) Decision-making
B) Aesthetics
C) Identity
D) Diversion

Question 47

Concerns about Western media dominance shaping and "Westernizing" the cultures of the world, substituting American values like individualism and consumerism for local values, relate to the concept of

A) Culture industry
B) Cultural imperialism
C) Interpretive community
D) Global village

Question 48

Your text identifies several media corporations that have grown robustly in the twenty-first century, including which of these?

A) BET and Telemundo
B) PBS and ABC
C) BET and PBS
D) ABC and Telemundo

Question 49

According to GSS data discussed in a "What do you think" box in the text, over the last 30 years, _________ of the population have a great deal of confidence in the "people running the press."

A) A steadily decreasing percentage
B) a fairly stable percentage
C) a slowly increasing percentage
D) a rapidly increasing percentage

Question 50

We may consume mass media within __________, groups that help convey the preferred meaning of mass media texts, offering subtle or not-so-subtle rewards or punishments for "correct" or "incorrect" meanings.

A) Consumerist groups
B) Cultural industries
C) Interpretive communities
D) Global village

Question 51

One of the main differences between a blog and traditional online news media is that

A) Traditional news media must meet established standards
B) Bloggers are paid
C) Bloggers must be scrupulous and diligent in research and reporting
D) Only traditional online media have advertising

Question 52

__________ is one of the most popular media sites in the world, with specialized channels devoted to sports, music, and children's programs, dedicated to presenting alternatives to official policies of the Arab world.

A) Al Jazeera
B) PBS
C) Israeli Media
D) Turkish Broadcasting System

Question 53

Jesus, Hitler, Ghandi, and Mandela all exercised __________ authority.

Question 54

Modern advertising

A) Typically is confined to discussing the qualities of the product
B) Generally reflects social reality, for example by showing multiracial couples
C) Usually tries to associate the product with a desirable quality or activity
D) Has become less necessary for survival and profitability of most media

Question 55

In the United States, Internet use

A) Is not related to income
B) Increases with income
C) Decreases with income
D) Is highest for those with the lowest income levels

Question 56

Today, Internet access ________.

A) Is universal
B) Is available in about half of all nations worldwide
C) Has been accused of facilitating increased isolation
D) Is available equally to the wealthy and the poor

Question 57

Which of these phenomena is created by the mass media?

A) News
B) Music
C) Drama
D) Celebrity

Question 58

An online personal journal or diary is known as a(n)

A) Op-ed
B) NetScription
C) Blog
D) Chat room

Question 59

A doctor who tells you to take a prescription medicine and call back in a week is exercising Weber's __________ authority.

Question 60

__________ is power that is perceived as legitimate by both power holders and those who are subjected to it.

Question 61

In 1972 Marshall McLuhan predicted that the rise of worldwide electronic media would bring the world closer together, in what he called a(n) __________ __________.

Question 62

The _________ __________ refer to ways of communicating with vast numbers of people at the same time, usually over a great distance.

Question 63

__________ democracy, with every person getting one vote and the majority ruling, can work only in very small, homogeneous units, like classrooms, families, clubs, or small towns.

Question 64

Many newspapers are losing circulation and are in financial trouble; one of the few bright spots is __________ newspapers, where total circulation grew between 2005 and 2008. The number of these weekly newspapers in the United States increased to over 400 in 2008.

Question 65

Your text asserts that the phenomenon of __________ is(are) created by the mass media.

Question 66

Power is authority that is perceived as legitimate.

Question 67

Corruption is more a characteristic of rich countries than poor countries.

Question 68

When people seek to effect change, most commonly they start __________ __________, collective attempts to further a common interest or secure a common goal.

Question 69

In the contemporary U.S., according to conventional thinking, the __________ run "against" government, claiming that government's job should be to get out of the way of individuals and off the back of the average taxpayer.

Question 70

__________ are groups that band together to petition for political changes and to support candidates to elected office.

Question 71

In the U.S., Republicans and Democrats tend to have different opinions; __________ tend to believe that active government intervention can solve social problems like poverty or discrimination.

Question 72

The invention of the __________ __________, in eighth century China and fifteenth century Europe, expanded the European literacy rate from less than 1 percent to between 10 and 15 percent.

Question 73

The cultural control of one country by another is known as __________ __________.

Question 74

We may consume mass media within __________ communities, groups that help convey the preferred meaning of mass media texts, offering subtle or not-so-subtle rewards or punishments for "correct" or "incorrect" meanings.

Question 75

A police officer who stops you for speeding is exercising legal-rational authority.

Question 76

The U.S. political party affiliation of poor, working-class, lower-middle- class, and blue-collar trade unionists is most likely __________.

Question 77

Political scientist Ted Robert Gurr (1971) coined the term "__________ __________" to describe how misery is socially experienced by constantly comparing yourself to others.

Question 78

The most dramatic and unorthodox form of political change is a(n) __________.

Question 79

In a type of political system called "__________," political authority is extended over all aspects of social life, including culture, the arts, and social relations; no organized opposition is permitted, and political information is censored.

Question 80

The United States is characterized by universal suffrage.