Deck 1: Introducing Government in America

Question 1

The ways in which people get involved in politics make up their political __________.

A) ideals
B) participation
C) party
D) opinions

Answer 1

B

Question 2

What are the institutions that make public policy decisions for a society collectively known as?

A) political culture
B) the courts
C) government
D) Congress

Answer 2

C

Question 3

A law passed by Congress and the adoption of a regulation by an agency are examples of which of the following?

A) interest groups
B) red tape
C) public policies
D) public opinion

Answer 3

C

Question 4

A set of values widely shared within a society is referred to as which of the following?

A) government
B) politics
C) public policy
D) political culture

Question 5

The withdrawal of American troops from Iraq resulted from which of the following?

A) a regulation
B) a budgetary choice
C) a congressional statute
D) a presidential action

Question 6

Which theory argues that special interest groups have essentially become sovereign,and the government is merely their servant?

A) pluralism
B) hyperpluralism
C) balance of power
D) bureaucratism

Question 7

What determines whom we select as our governmental leaders and what policies these leaders pursue?

A) the media
B) public opinion
C) politics
D) public policy

Question 8

How does government usually protect its national sovereignty?

A) by maintaining armed forces
B) by maintaining schools, libraries, hospitals, and highways
C) by collecting taxes
D) by politically socializing the young

Question 9

What most closely exemplifies equality in voting?

A) adequate and equal resources for expressing preferences
B) freedom of speech and of the press
C) one person, one vote
D) universal citizenship

Question 10

Which theory contends that American society is divided along class lines?

A) pluralism
B) hyperpluralism
C) balance of power
D) elitism

Question 11

What are policy impacts?

A) issues that attract serious attention of public officials
B) government institutions that are charged with taking action on political issues
C) the effects that a policy has on people and on society's problems
D) systems of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public's preferences

Question 12

How does our government respond to the priorities of its people?

A) through public opinion polls
B) through political science
C) through political tolerance
D) through a policymaking system

Question 13

What best describes a linkage institution?

A) a channel through which people's concerns become part of the political agenda
B) a location to express a political opinion
C) the formation of a special interest group
D) an environment where one learns about the political process

Question 14

What is the theory that argues that group competition results in a rough approximation of the public interest in public policy?

A) pluralism
B) hyperpluralism
C) balance-of-power theory
D) elite-and-class theory

Question 15

The __________ principle is that,in a democracy,policies should reflect the will of more than half of the voters.

A) enlightened rule
B) pluralism
C) representation
D) majority rule

Question 16

The U.S.preference for __________ economic policies helps to explain why we have a smaller and more limited government than do most other advanced industrialized countries.

A) laissez-faire
B) populist
C) pluralist
D) egalitarian

Question 17

What is democracy?

A) a system that ensures freedom, justice, and peace to all citizens
B) a system that perpetuates the status quo and upholds the values of the party in power
C) a system that selects policymakers and organizes government so that policy represents and responds to the public's preferences
D) a system that grants a status of privilege to the most active and informed voters

Question 18

What condition occurs when interests conflict and no coalition is strong enough to form a majority and establish policy,yet each may be strong enough to thwart the will of the others?

A) divided government
B) hyperpluralism
C) policy gridlock
D) separation of powers

Question 19

What makes up the government's policy agenda?

A) all of the issues that candidates talk about on the campaign trail
B) the issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other political actors
C) the issues that are asked about on public opinion polls
D) the issues that concern single-issue interest groups

Question 20

What is an example of a collective good?

A) clean air
B) medical care
C) a college education
D) food stamps

Question 21

Some are concerned that the United States has become too __________,which means that our political divisions have intensified in recent years.

Question 22

During the Cold War,a common bumper sticker was "Better Dead Than Red," reflecting many Americans' view that they would prefer to fight to the bitter end than submit to the oppression of communist rule.

Question 23

Free speech and a free press are essential to which principle of traditional democratic theory?

A) inclusion
B) effective participation
C) enlightened understanding
D) equality in voting

Question 24

Elections investigate social problems and inform people about them.

Question 25

Hyperpluralism maintains that who holds office in Washington is of marginal consequence; the corporate giants always have the power.

Question 26

What is public policy?

A) all government decisions
B) the root causes of political culture
C) the public's policy preferences
D) only legislation enacted by Congress

Question 27

__________ opposed the 2009 stimulus bill,arguing that such increases in the scope of the federal government would result in less freedom and prosperity.

Question 28

What kind of public policy involves the legislative enactment of taxes and expenditures?

A) budgetary choice
B) regulation
C) court decision
D) presidential action

Question 29

__________ can best be defined as a political philosophy supporting the rights of average citizens in their struggle against privileged elites.

Question 30

Which principle of traditional democracy theory is violated in circumstances in which the wealthy have influence over the government's policy agenda that far exceeds what would be expected based on their numbers?

A) citizen control of the agenda
B) effective participation
C) enlightened understanding
D) equality in voting

Question 31

According to James Q.Wilson,__________ is an "intense commitment to a candidate,a culture,or an ideology that sets people in one group definitively apart from people in another,rival group."

A) laissez-faire economics
B) liberalism
C) polarization
D) socialization

Question 32

It is a physical impossibility for government to be "by the people" in a nation of over 300 million people.

Question 33

Governments instill in children knowledge of and pride in the nation and its political system and values.

Question 34

Groups that have a narrow interest on which their members tend to take an uncompromising stance are known as __________ groups.

Question 35

The national debt is currently about $17 billion.

Question 36

The media usually focus on the substance of politics and government.

Question 37

Those who are inclined to support a(n)__________ role for government argue that government intervention is sometimes the only means of achieving important goals in American society.

Question 38

Congress,the presidency,and the courts are all policymaking institutions.

Question 39

Who is at the center of all theories of elitism?

A) big business
B) Congress
C) ordinary citizens
D) interest groups

Question 40

In the United States,pluralism suggests which of the following?

A) Because most citizens fail to pay attention to serious issues, government has become an elite institution.
B) Congress is stronger and more influential than the presidency.
C) Many groups vie for power with no one group dominating politics.
D) Too many influential groups cripple government's ability to govern.

Question 41

Compare and contrast majority rule and minority rights.How does democracy provide for both?

Question 42

What is a single-issue group? Give an example of a single-issue group.

Question 43

According to Figure 1.4,The Policymaking System,how does government policy come into being and become part of a policy agenda?

Question 44

Those who are inclined to support an active role for government argue that its intervention is sometimes the only means of achieving important goals in American society; others argue that such increases in the scope of the federal government result in less freedom and prosperity.In the case of the 2009 economic stimulus package,which argument do you agree with? Why?

Question 45

What is Harold Lasswell's definition of politics?

Question 46

What are the five major functions provided by all governments? Give one example each of how these functions are performed in the United States.

Question 47

Compare and contrast the role of wealth in pluralist and elite theories.Which do you find most convincingly portrays the reality of contemporary U.S.politics,and why?

Question 48

Describe the five principles of traditional democratic theory as understood by Robert Dahl.To what extent does the United States fit this theory?

Question 49

What are the five elements of the American creed? Where and in what ways are each of the five elements embedded in contemporary American politics? Provide examples.

Question 50

What is political culture? Is America experiencing a "culture war"? How do you know?