Deck 12: Economics and Politics

Question 1

Capitalism is more economically productive than socialism, and capitalism also creates greater economic inequality.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Compared to agricultural work, industrial jobs involve less specialization.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Socialism is correctly described as a "laissez-faire" economic system.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Although there are many privately-owned companies in the United States, most of the U.S.economy is owned and operated by the government.

Question 5

Socialist economies create greater economic equality than capitalist economies, but with a lower overall living standard.

Question 6

The Information Revolution requires workers to gain literacy skills in contrast to the mechanical skills that were important during the Industrial Revolution.

Question 7

The economy organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Question 8

Taken together, local, state, and federal governments are the U.S.'s largest single employer.

Question 9

The operation of the global economy pays little regard to national borders.

Question 10

The concept "state capitalism" refers all productive enterprises in a country being owned by the government.

Question 11

In the United States, the share of workers who are members of labor unions is higher today than ever before.

Question 12

Combining a market-based economy with an extensive social welfare program yields what is called "welfare capitalism."

Question 13

The concepts "primary sector," "secondary sector," and "tertiary sector" refer only to how productive a sector is in terms of economic value.

Question 14

The economy did not emerge as a distinct social institution until the Industrial Revolution.

Question 15

One key to industrialization was creating new sources of energy.

Question 16

Agricultural production is part of the primary sector of the economy.

Question 17

Socialism has spread around the world to the point that, today, a majority of the world's nations have a socialist economic system.

Question 18

The invention of the corporation is correctly understood as the point at which a postindustrial society emerged.

Question 19

Less than 2 percent of today's U.S.labor force works in agriculture.

Question 20

Adam Smith's idea was that, in a capitalist system, government tells businesses what to produce and consumers what to buy.

Question 21

Monopoly refers to a corporation that operates within a single sector of the economy.

Question 22

The concept "paraprofessional" refers to work that requires skills, but typically lacks a broad theoretical knowledge of a field.

Question 23

A recent trend in the United States is a steady rise in the share of small businesses owned by women.

Question 24

Most self-employed persons are professionals.

Question 25

Rational-legal authority is also called "bureaucratic authority" because it is legitimized by legally enacted rules and regulations.

Question 26

The concept of "government" refers to the formal organization that directs the political life of a society.

Question 27

Large corporations dominate many markets in the global economy.

Question 28

Oligopoly refers to any company that operates in more than one country.

Question 29

Conglomerates are giant corporations composed of many smaller corporations.

Question 30

Over time, the share of the U.S.workforce made up of people who are "white" has increased, even as immigration rates have increased.

Question 31

One effect of computer technology is giving workers greater power over their employers.

Question 32

Traditional authority gains importance as a society becomes industrialized.

Question 33

The use of computers by workers tends to limit workplace interaction.

Question 34

Charismatic authority is based on extraordinary personal abilities.

Question 35

A corporation is an organization with a legal existence apart from that of its members.

Question 36

Weber's idea of the "routinization of charisma" is the claim that charisma does not exist in the modern world.

Question 37

In recent years, the lowest unemployment rates in the United States have been among teenagers.

Question 38

In absolute monarchies, hereditary rulers claim a virtual monopoly of power based on divine right.

Question 39

The self-employed are more likely to have blue-collar jobs than white-collar jobs.

Question 40

According to Max Weber, authority is just another word for power.

Question 41

In the United States, African Americans are much more likely than Hispanic Americans to vote in national elections.

Question 42

Most people in the United States strongly identify with one or the other major political party.

Question 43

The Marxist political-economy model suggests that capitalist societies are democratic, giving some political voice to everyone.

Question 44

In the 2012 presidential election, rural people tended to support the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama.

Question 45

Authoritarian governments give people little voice in politics.

Question 46

Just as the economy is becoming more and more global, so is the world developing a single global political system.

Question 47

Political revolutions tend to occur when and where living standards are the lowest.

Question 48

Gay rights is one example of a social issue.

Question 49

Democracy and rational-legal authority are linked, just as monarchy and traditional authority are linked.

Question 50

African Americans tend to be more politically liberal than whites.

Question 51

The pluralist model states that the United States is far less democratic than most people would like to think.

Question 52

In a totalitarian political system, one political organization claims total control of society.

Question 53

Extensive civil liberties make democratic societies more vulnerable to terrorism.

Question 54

The concept "military-industrial complex" refers to the close association among the federal government, the military, and defense industries.

Question 55

An examination of socialist and capitalist systems suggests that political liberty and economic equality almost always go together.

Question 56

The sociologist closely associated with the power-elite model is C.Wright Mills.

Question 57

Terrorism is considered to be a new form of asymmetrical warfare.

Question 58

In terms of expenditures per person, federal budget is about the same size today as it was when this nation was founded more than two centuries ago.

Question 59

In almost all of the states, people serving sentences in prison cannot vote.

Question 60

More than 90 percent of the world's people live in nations that are considered to be politically free.

Question 61

Capitalism is an economic system in which there is

A) government control of production.
B) private ownership of property.
C) pursuit of collective goals.
D) All of these responses are correct.

Question 62

The economy first became a distinct social institution during which historical stage of technological development?

A) hunting and gathering societies
B) agrarian societies
C) industrial societies
D) postindustrial societies

Question 63

Over the course of human history, revolutionary changes in which of the following have brought great transformation to the economy?

A) production technology
B) family structure
C) population size
D) natural resources

Question 64

The postindustrial economy is defined by

A) the spread of factories.
B) mass production of goods and services.
C) manufacturing of raw materials.
D) service work largely based on computer technology.

Question 65

The development of agriculture was set in motion by

A) changes in the church.
B) using animals to pull the plow.
C) the discovery of writing.
D) the discovery of oil.

Question 66

In the United States, about what percentage of the labor force performs tertiary sector work?

A) 15 percent
B) 35 percent
C) 55 percent
D) 85 percent

Question 67

Which of the following new sources of energy launched the Industrial Revolution?

A) the gasoline engine
B) the steam engine
C) wind power
D) electricity

Question 68

Which of the following concepts refers to an economy based on computer technology?

A) postindustrial economy
B) industrial economy
C) technological economy
D) agrarian economy

Question 69

The Industrial Revolution was based on

A) the spread of cottage industry.
B) people beginning to work in their homes.
C) a decrease in productive specialization.
D) new sources of energy.

Question 70

Which social institution do most sociologists claim has the greatest effect on society as a whole?

A) the family
B) the economy
C) the political system
D) religion

Question 71

Turning metals into automobiles is work that falls within the

A) primary sector.
B) secondary sector.
C) tertiary sector.
D) All of these responses are correct.

Question 72

Which of the following statements about the Information Revolution is NOT correct?

A) There was a shift from making tangible products to generating ideas.
B) There was a shift from mechanical skills to literacy skills.
C) There was a shift from farming to turning raw materials into finished products.
D) There was a shift from working in factories to working almost anywhere.

Question 73

The expansion of office work marks the growth of the economy's

A) primary sector.
B) secondary sector.
C) tertiary sector.
D) None of the other responses is correct.

Question 74

As a social institution, the economy

A) produces goods and services.
B) guides the consumption of goods and services.
C) distributes goods and services.
D) All of these responses are correct.

Question 75

In 2013, the United States military banned women from engaging in any combat operations.

Question 76

Which sector of the economy generates raw materials directly from the natural environment?

A) primary sector
B) secondary sector
C) tertiary sector
D) None of the other responses is correct.

Question 77

Nuclear proliferation is the process by which the two superpowers engage in an arms race.

Question 78

Globalization of the economy means that

A) world regions specialize in one sector of economic activity.
B) more and more products pass through several nations.
C) a small number of businesses represent a huge share of global economic output.
D) All of these responses are correct.

Question 79

The concept of "global economy" refers to

A) economic activity that moves across national borders.
B) the fact that only a few countries now contribute to the global economy.
C) the fact that economic output is under the control of global political leadership.
D) All of these responses are correct.

Question 80

The text describes three technological revolutions that transformed all of social life.Which of the following is NOT one of them?

A) the Agricultural Revolution
B) the Industrial Revolution
C) the Immigration Revolution
D) the Information Revolution