Deck 9: Political and Economic Power

Question 1

When people possess authority, they have a recognized and established right to give orders and act as leaders.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Through legal-rational authority, power is legitimized by the sanctity of age-old customs.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Charismatic authority is power that is legitimated by superhuman or supernatural qualities people attribute to a leader.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Power based on the use of force alone is a permanent condition.

Question 5

Power tends to be distributed randomly, somewhat arbitrarily, and in a noninstitutionalized manner.

Question 6

Bureaucratic organization has become more a part of our lives as the role of the state has expanded.

Question 7

Authoritarianism is a type of government in which the government tolerates considerable opposition to its rule but allows almost no debate on issues of public policy.

Question 8

Totalitarianism is a type of government in which the state tries to control all parts of the society and all aspects of social life.

Question 9

Thomas Hobbes argued that private property was the root of all evil. By taking this position, he became a forerunner of modern conflict theory.

Question 10

Conflict theorists contend that the state exists to give power to some groups over others.

Question 11

Americans tend to accept the use of power by government because they think that policies and orders are developed according to the rules in which they believe.

Question 12

A powerful state rarely can reach outside itself and dominate people in other regions and societies.

Question 13

Max Weber would have looked upon people like John F. Kennedy or Elvis Presley as having charismatic leadership characteristics.

Question 14

Functionalists tend to view the state as a nonessential social institution that would do well to retreat in favor of individual interests.

Question 15

Conflict theorists observed that the state came into being as a consequence of the production of more goods and services than were necessary for human survival.

Question 16

Ultimately the state depends on force--power whose basis is the threat or application of punishment.

Question 17

When totalitarian and authoritarian systems of government fail, democratic ones always rise up in their place.

Question 18

Power is a part of all aspects of social life.

Question 19

protection against other societies.

Question 20

Two major prototypes of totalitarianism are Nazi Germany under Hitler and communist Russia under Stalin.

Question 21

The annual income from sales of the largest multinational corporations exceeds the gross national product of most countries in which they do business.

Question 22

A strong civil society is not conducive to democratic life.

Question 23

Decorations for the Fourth of July are most likely to be made in

A) the United States.
B) England.
C) China.
D) Canada.

Question 24

Sagging employee morale is a major roadblock that stands in the way of profit growth from downsizing.

Question 25

One factor identified as promoting a climate favorable to a stable democracy is the existence of conflict associated with a competitive struggle over positions of power.

Question 26

The government is an important participant in the U.S. economy, but private business plays the primary productive role.

Question 27

Contrary to the pluralistic image often portrayed by many descriptions of democratic forms of government, such conflict theorists as C. Wright Mills argue that a power elite carries out predetermined policies.

Question 28

A strong organization of groups, networks, and institutions that sustain public life outside the worlds of the state and economy is conducive to democratic life.

Question 29

Democracy is an arrangement that permits the citizenry a significant voice in decision making and relatively equal citizenship; it also protects against state actions that are arbitrary.

Question 30

Core regions are areas that provide raw materials to the periphery and are exploited by the periphery.

Question 31

Voters whose candidate is elected are more likely to vote again in the future.

Question 32

Christ, Hitler, and Joan of Arc are good examples of individuals who exercised charismatic authority.

Question 33

Relatively stable economic and social conditions seem unrelated to democratic order.

Question 34

Often, the media's main role in politics is that of "agenda setting."

Question 35

In 2005, the typical chief executive officer (CEO) in a modest-sized U.S. firm received about $2 million in total compensation - nearly 40 times the average U.S. worker's pay.

Question 36

In a command economy, economic transactions between consumers and producers decide what will be produced, how much will be produced, and the products' costs.

Question 37

Voter turnout for presidential elections is typically much higher in the United States than in other nations.

Question 38

As soon as the right to vote was extended to women, they began voting in numbers about equal to men.

Question 39

Politics and economics are mutually exclusive.

Question 40

At least 50 percent of the population uses the Internet in every country around the world.

Question 41

Modern, complex societies are characterized by a preponderance of secondary relationships, and as a result, they tend to rely

A) heavily on informal sanctions to obtain conformity to norms.
B) on the state to assure law, order, and enforcement of the norms.
C) on such sanctions as scathing ridicule and ostracism to enforce the norms.
D) more on folkways than mores to obtain conformity to norms.

Question 42

From the functionalist perspective, ___________ is NOT a primary function of the state.

A) enforcement of norms
B) protection of the elite
C) arbitration of conflicting interests
D) planning and direction of social change

Question 43

Throughout history, societies have engaged in warfare. The function of war for a society has been to

A) protect its members and interests against outside groups.
B) give its young men something to remember in old age.
C) destabilize the economy, thus making the society more vulnerable to outside groups.
D) make its citizens recognize the value of politics.

Question 44

The statement "The state has its origin in the desire of ruling elites to give permanence to social arrangements that benefit themselves" reflects the views of

A) conflict theorists.
B) functionalists.
C) social-contract theorists.
D) nominalists.

Question 45

Power

A) is institutionalized in a patterned, recurrent manner.
B) is distributed randomly and arbitrarily.
C) that flows from the individual to organizations and institutions makes the most difference in our lives.
D) is not a part of stable social arrangements.

Question 46

The state's ultimate basis rests on

A) communication.
B) a government of laws.
C) force.
D) compromise.

Question 47

The 17^th century philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, argued that the naturally perverse and destructive nature of human beings led to

A) a social agreement that gave power to a central authority as a way to rid society of rampant brutality, violence, and chaos.
B) the fall of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, and the beginning of the French Revolution.
C) the creation of the American Constitution.
D) the Marxian doctrine of dialectical materialism, the surplus value thesis, and the concept of worker alienation.

Question 48

Eighteenth-century philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau contended that

A) private property was the root of human evil.
B) the function of the state was to give citizens authority to define and defend their own property rights.
C) the state needed to protect the weak and disabled from social predators.
D) humans needed central authority to rid themselves of rampant brutality, violence, and chaos.

Question 49

An effective monopoly in the use of physical coercion in a given geographical area is known as

A) the community.
B) totalitarianism.
C) the state.
D) the society.

Question 50

From the functionalist perspective, the state

A) enforces norms, plans and directs change, and protects against other societies.
B) does its best to prevent change.
C) is a global force that seeks to make peace among all nations.
D) has no power to enforce anything.

Question 51

In terms of all of human history, the state

A) has lost influence in Western societies over time.
B) is a relatively recent institution.
C) goes back to antiquity.
D) has lost most of its bureaucratic nature in modern nations.

Question 52

_____________ argue that the state sometimes pursues policies that are not always in the interests of the capitalist classes.

A) Instrumental theorists.
B) Structural theorists.
C) Neofunctionalists.
D) Neofascists.

Question 53

Conflict theorists depict the state as an instrument of

A) modernization.
B) education.
C) oppression and violence.
D) arbitration.

Question 54

According to conflict theorists, the production of social surplus benefits the

A) masses.
B) elite.
C) state.
D) poor.

Question 55

The rise of the state had a number of social consequences, including

A) the development of relationships between dominant groups and minority groups.
B) the end of the social surplus.
C) the disintegration of heterogeneous societies.
D) norms and mores became irrelevant.

Question 56

Functionalists and conflict theorists see _________________ as the foundation of sovereignty of the state.

A) money
B) consensus
C) force
D) norms

Question 57

One of the major shifts in U.S. welfare state policies was

A) the managing and financing of medical benefits and benefits for the elderly through the private market beginning in the 1970s.
B) a significant increase in welfare expenditures during the 1970s.
C) a radical reduction in benefits for older adults.
D) a dramatic increase in private expenditures for school-age children.

Question 58

The foundations for the relatively recent development of the state were provided by the production of

A) raw materials.
B) a social surplus.
C) goods and services.
D) a two-party system.

Question 59

In nations with social democratic governments, such as Sweden, the welfare state is expected to provide

A) welfare benefits to the rich.
B) tax incentives to the poor.
C) abortions on demand.
D) a basic standard of living to their citizens.

Question 60

____________ promote the view that the state is an instrument manipulated by the capitalist classes.

A) Instrumental theorists.
B) Structural theorists.
C) Neofunctionalists.
D) Neofascists.

Question 61

In __________________ authority, power is legitimated by the sanctity of age-old customs.

A) bureaucratic
B) legal-rational
C) traditional
D) charismatic

Question 62

__________________ is a political system in which the government tolerates little or no opposition but permits nongovernmental centers of influence and allows debate on some issues of public policy.

A) Democracy
B) Authoritarianism
C) Monasticism
D) Totalitarianism

Question 63

_________ was NOT a type of authority described by Max Weber.

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

Question 64

The "divine right" of medieval kings and queens in Europe would be an example of

A) legal-rational authority.
B) traditional authority.
C) charismatic authority.
D) instrumental Marxism.

Question 65

When the state organizes and wields power, it is called

A) bureaucratic power.
B) political power.
C) totalitarian power.
D) legalistic power.

Question 66

The government that attempts to control all parts of the society and all aspects of social life is called

A) democracy.
B) authoritarianism.
C) monasticism.
D) totalitarianism.

Question 67

Legitimate power is

A) force.
B) authority.
C) subjugation.
D) oppression.

Question 68

To Max Weber, rock stars, super athletes, and highly exciting presidents would be examples of

A) bureaucratic leaders.
B) legal-rational leaders.
C) charismatic leaders.
D) people with charisma but not charismatic leaders.

Question 69

A(n) __________ is an organization designed to gain control of the government by putting its people in public office.

A) interest group
B) political party
C) lobby group
D) political committee

Question 70

Political parties

A) are basically the same thing as interest groups.
B) operate out of a philosophy of separation of the individual from the state.
C) are after control of the government as an end.
D) become dramatically different from one another over time.

Question 71

Nazi Germany and socialist Stalinist Russia were examples of

A) indirect democracy.
B) totalitarianism.
C) pluralistic states.
D) authoritarianism.

Question 72

In __________________ authority, power is legitimated by explicit rules and logical procedures that define the rights and duties of the occupants of given positions.

A) bureaucratic
B) legal-rational
C) traditional
D) charismatic

Question 73

Napoleon, Joan of Arc, and Hitler are examples of ________________ leadership.

A) bureaucratic
B) legal-rational
C) traditional
D) charismatic

Question 74

In __________________ authority, power is legitimated by the extraordinary superhuman or supernatural attributes people attach to a leader.

A) bureaucratic
B) legal-rational
C) traditional
D) charismatic

Question 75

__________ is NOT a form of government defined in the text.

A) Totalitarianism
B) Authoritarianism
C) Capitalism
D) Democracy

Question 76

Most democratic societies are actually

A) representative democracies.
B) totalitarian systems.
C) direct democracies.
D) total institutions.

Question 77

________________ entails those political processes that have to do with the authoritative formulating of rules and policies that are binding and pervasive throughout a society.

A) Religion
B) Government
C) Economics
D) Criminal justice

Question 78

Factors that promote a social climate favorable to a stable democracy include

A) the existence of conflict associated with a competitive struggle over positions of power.
B) the absence of conflict.
C) a weak civil society.
D) instability in the economy and in social conditions.

Question 79

In 2008, about __________ percent of the voting-age citizens voted in the U.S. presidential election.

A) 19
B) 41
C) 64
D) 86

Question 80

When we speak of "a government of laws, not of people," we are referring to

A) legal-rational authority.
B) traditional authority.
C) charismatic authority.
D) bureaucratic authority.