Deck 14: Politics

Question 1

The Canadian military dictates rules that govern every aspect of soldiers' lives,including the ability to try,convict,and punish them for breaking military rules.Which of the following refers to the military's ability to enforce their rules,outside of the Canadian justice system?

A) authority
B) leverage
C) power
D) traditional authority

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What do we call the ability to achieve one's goals despite opposition from others?

A) authority
B) power
C) influence
D) social control

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following institutions enables some people and groups to acquire and exercise power?

A) religion
B) economics
C) military
D) politics

Answer 3

D

Question 4

William Wallace,the thirteenth century Scottish warrior,led an army to rebel against the occupation of Scotland by England.According to the textbook,how would we classify his actions?

A) as political upheaval
B) as political terrorism
C) as political revolution
D) as political skirmishing

Question 5

What did Charles Stuart,King of Scotland in the 1600s,reign with?

A) legal-rational authority
B) charismatic authority
C) traditional authority
D) socio-political authority

Question 6

What was U.S.President Abraham Lincoln referring to with his famous phrase "government of the people,by the people,for the people"?

A) democracy
B) oligarchy
C) autocracy
D) monarchy

Question 7

Even though Mimi is not a supervisor,she is able to overcome the resistance of her co-workers to a new way of getting the work done and forces them to do it her way.Which of the following does Mimi have?

A) authority
B) leverage
C) social control
D) power

Question 8

According to the textbook,what is from the problem with most of the world's democracies that results in them being less than "genuine democracies"?

A) elections are most often "rigged" in other nations
B) elections often only have one candidate for people to "freely" choose
C) legal protection of rights and freedoms for large classes of people is still missing
D) legal elections are still far from the norm; most democratic elections are held covertly

Question 9

When the populace recognizes the right of rulers to rule,what does power become?

A) influence
B) authority
C) social control
D) approval

Question 10

How is power experienced in society?

A) as an economic relationship
B) as a social relationship
C) as a relationship between abstract elements
D) as a system of authority

Question 11

When considering its basic form,what is the most fundamental characterization of power?

A) legitimate authority
B) influence
C) force
D) potency

Question 12

Many previously non-democratic nations held competitive elections between the 1970s and the 1990s; however,democracy in these new regimes was often ineffectual and limited.How did many Western political sociologists react to this situation?

A) They rethought the democratic electoral process.
B) They rethought the social preconditions for democracy.
C) They brought in sophisticated economic analyses.
D) They focused their analyses on political elites across nations.

Question 13

Why was the "most important election of the twentieth century" labelled this way by the authors of the text?

A) because it was the first time that the NDP formed the Government of Canada
B) because it brought in sweeping reforms to the Canadian Criminal Code
C) because it was linked to the North American Free Trade Agreement
D) because it signalled the rise of right-wing politics in Canada

Question 14

According to the textbook,which election was the most important Canadian federal election of the twentieth century?

A) the 1968 election
B) the 1988 election
C) the 1993 election
D) the 2006 election

Question 15

A father tells his nine-year-old daughter that she is unable to leave her room for the rest of the day because she misbehaved.She immediately leaves her room anyway and the father returns her to her room and locks the door.What is the father demonstrating in this situation?

A) parental authority
B) social control
C) potency
D) force

Question 16

In spite of opposition from universities across the province,a collective movement of students is able to secure a tuition freeze for five years.What would sociologists argue the group of students was able to demonstrate?

A) power
B) control
C) authority
D) leverage

Question 17

What do we call power that is viewed as legitimate and justified,and that is institutionalized in politics,religion,and law?

A) force
B) control
C) influence
D) authority

Question 18

Why was Canada's "most important election" characterized by one wit as "government of the people,by the lawyers,for the businessmen"?

A) because it was declared legally invalid based on a vote miscount
B) because it was viewed as being the result of big business sponsorship of all party campaigns
C) because each of the candidates was a lawyer or businessperson looking after their own interests
D) because it was believed to have been won on the basis a strong business lobby and expensive media campaigns

Question 19

Which theorist described authority across a range of ideal types?

A) Durkheim
B) Weber
C) Marx
D) DuBois

Question 20

Pierre Elliott Trudeau,who was Canada's prime minister from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984,characterizes which of the following?

A) legal-rational authority
B) charismatic authority
C) traditional authority
D) socio-political authority

Question 21

The Business Council on National Issues and the Fraser Institute are special interest groups that represent the interests of their constituents by attempting to gain a political profile for their issues.What kind of group are these organizations?

A) social movements
B) civil societies
C) politicos
D) lobbies

Question 22

What do we call groups that seek to influence politicians through their members' votes,organizing skills,and campaign contributions?

A) voluntary organizations
B) lobbies
C) political parties
D) social movements

Question 23

Amartya is angry with the leadership at her university because she believes that most of the grants,student work-study projects,and bursaries are given to undeserving but well-connected students.She organizes other students who create an organization that mounts protests,educates the public and campus population,and attempts to put pressure on the university to change its policies.What is this organization an example of?

A) a political party
B) a lobby
C) a political revolution
D) a social movement

Question 24

North Korea is a nation that strives to regulate all aspects of the citizenry's public and private life.What type of society does North Korea exemplify?

A) a totalitarian society
B) a dictatorship
C) a democracy
D) an authoritarian society

Question 25

What is the underlying message of the textbook's piece on the film Gangs of New York (2002)?

A) All of today's powerful nation-states had politically unstable beginnings.
B) All nation-states were forged in violence and greed.
C) All powerful nations come from humble immigrant beginnings.
D) Immigrant rivalries changed the course of America's power today.

Question 26

In Canada,people use an electoral process to determine a leader.What type of society does Canada exemplify?

A) a totalitarian society
B) a dictatorship
C) a democracy
D) an authoritarian society

Question 27

Which one of the following social groups is defined by all areas of social life-the economy,culture,politics,and family relations?

A) government
B) the judiciary
C) polite society
D) civil society

Question 28

Which of the following elements of civil society specializes in keeping a close watch on the activities of politicians and the state and informing the public about their activities?

A) interest groups
B) lobbies
C) mass media
D) social movements

Question 29

What type of political organization competes for control of the government in regular elections and puts forth policy alternatives?

A) a political party
B) a lobby
C) a political revolution
D) an interest group

Question 30

China has highly concentrated and centralized state power.What type of society does China exemplify?

A) a totalitarian society
B) a dictatorship
C) a democracy
D) an authoritarian society

Question 31

When uncommon people challenge existing authority because they claim to be motivated by a higher authority or higher principles,what type of authority are they exhibiting?

A) individual authority
B) legal-rational authority
C) traditional authority
D) charismatic authority

Question 32

In modern societies,authority is derived from respect for the law.Laws specify how a person can legitimately achieve positions of command and accomplish tasks.If a person achieves political office by following the laws,what type of authority does he or she have?

A) individual authority
B) traditional authority
C) legal-rational authority
D) charismatic authority

Question 33

The Council of Canadians and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives have worked on several campaigns to gain political support for issues like a guaranteed annual income for Canadians and poverty reduction strategies.What kind of group are these organizations?

A) lobbies
B) social conscience groups
C) public opinion groups
D) social movements

Question 34

In the movie Gangs of New York (2002),the nation-state lacked legitimacy in the eyes of many of its citizens.Rival gangs vied for dominance,politicians were corrupt,and violence was used to secure power.What type of state does this characterize?

A) an authoritarian state
B) a totalitarian state
C) a revolutionary state
D) a charismatic state

Question 35

Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi,considered by many as India's founding father,was the spiritual and political leader for Indian people through the first decades of the twentieth century.What type of leadership did he characterize?

A) legal-rational authority
B) charismatic authority
C) traditional authority
D) socio-political authority

Question 36

What type of group is the Bloc Québécois?

A) a social movement
B) a political party
C) an interest group
D) a lobby

Question 37

What type of authority is associated with tribal and feudal societies?

A) individual authority
B) traditional authority
C) legal-rational authority
D) charismatic authority

Question 38

According to which of the following models is political power widely dispersed across many competing interest groups?

A) the pluralist model
B) the elite model
C) the power resource model
D) the state-centred model

Question 39

What do we call the institution that specializes in exercising power and authority over the citizenry of a nation?

A) the authoritarian command apparatus
B) civil society
C) the coercive socio-political system
D) the state

Question 40

What sociological message is conveyed in the film Gangs of New York (2002)?

A) People trapped in lives of poverty seldom vote.
B) Media control of elections was high in 1840s America.
C) The nation-state lacked legitimacy in 1840s America.
D) Early immigration undermined democratic processes.

Question 41

According to elite theory,which of the following is a characteristic of the power elite?

A) They do not interact with one another outside of the political sphere.
B) They have opposing interests on both social and economic issues.
C) They have similar backgrounds and interests.
D) They strongly dislike one another, leading to a great number of conflicts.

Question 42

Which theory examines how government officials are power-holders,mainly based upon the fact that they hold political office?

A) civil society theory
B) institution theory
C) state-centred theory
D) bureaucracy theory

Question 43

In general,what has the power resource theory contributed to sociologists' understandings of political power?

A) that democratic politics is about compromise and the accommodation of group interests
B) that despite compromise and accommodation, power is concentrated among high-status groups in society
C) that despite the concentration of power in society, shifts in the distribution of power do occur
D) that despite the influence of the distribution of power on political life, the state exerts a powerful independent influence

Question 44

Which of the following models is most likely to argue that representative democracies ensure that no one group can have over power the others and that individual rights will be protected?

A) the state-centred model
B) the elite model
C) the power resource model
D) the pluralist model

Question 45

The fact that women,new immigrants,and people from the lower social classes generally are rarely represented politically is the basis for a critique of which theory?

A) the state-centred model
B) the pluralist model
C) the power resource model
D) the elite model

Question 46

Which theory focuses on how variations in the distribution of power between groups affect the electoral success of parties?

A) power resource theory
B) elite theory
C) pluralist theory
D) state-centred theory

Question 47

Leonard believes that public policy in Canada is influenced by shifts in power,and the balance in power between people of different classes,ethnicities,and regions.Which theory does he subscribe to?

A) elite theory
B) pluralist theory
C) state-centred theory
D) power resource theory

Question 48

What is the effect of the phrase "political involvement decreases with social class"?

A) It provides support for pluralist theory.
B) It calls pluralist theory into question.
C) It supports the notion that only elites are fit to govern.
D) It undermines the idea that elites should govern.

Question 49

When were women in Canada permitted to vote in federal elections?

A) 1867
B) 1890
C) 1917
D) 1926

Question 50

Which theory argues that the distribution of power changes very little,if at all,over time?

A) pluralist theory
B) elite theory
C) state-centred theory
D) power resource theory

Question 51

Why do structural Marxists argue that the state acts as an arm of capitalism?

A) because of the social origins of elite government officials
B) because of the ties government officials have with business elites
C) because political parties rely upon big business for financial support
D) because the state is constrained in its actions by the nature of capitalism

Question 52

Which theory examines how the state influences and structures political life?

A) state elite theory
B) state pluralist theory
C) state organizational theory
D) state-centred theory

Question 53

What does elite theory claim with regard to political participation?

A) The poor are the most cynical and apathetic.
B) The middle class have the highest political participation.
C) The rich do not care about political participation.
D) Political participation is spread fairly evenly through the classes.

Question 54

Gillian's sociology professor tells her class that his professor created the theory that suggests that the power elite occupy the top of the power pyramid in the United States.Who was Gillian's professor's professor?

A) Talcott Parsons
B) Robert Merton
C)
C) Wright Mills
D) John Porter

Question 55

As of 2011,approximately what percentage of the Members of Parliament and provincial and territorial members of legislative assemblies were women?

A) 45 percent
B) 35 percent
C) 25 percent
D) 15 percent

Question 56

What kind of system is in place when political power is concentrated into the hands of a few and when most of the public is relatively politically powerless?

A) a state-centred system
B) an elite system
C) a pluralist system
D) a power resource system

Question 57

Which of the following is a claim that instrumental Marxists make?

A) People in the lower classes are more likely to vote.
B) Voter turnout is dependent on region.
C) Big business is dependent on the state.
D) The state is controlled by the business elite.

Question 58

Which model is likely to be viewed as problematic when people turn away from broad social values and society becomes fragmented?

A) the state-centred model
B) the elite model
C) the pluralist model
D) the power resource model

Question 59

In Marxist terms,what do we call the self-aware,cohesive group of people,led by corporate executives,whose primary actions are to support capitalism?

A) the influentials
B) the ruling class
C) the sovereign class
D) the political dominants

Question 60

What are the small groups that occupy Canada's top positions in politics,military,and the economy?

A) citizens
B) intellectuals
C) interest groups
D) elites

Question 61

Which of the following most exemplifies the regional dynamic in Canadian politics?

A) the Conservative Party
B) the Bloc Québécois
C) the Green Party
D) the Liberal Party

Question 62

What kind of democracy is Canada an example of?

A) a formal democracy
B) an informal democracy
C) an liberal democracy
D) a socialist democracy

Question 63

What was the basis of the resistance to democracy exhibited by "the dinosaur" of Robert Brym's Russian trip?

A) prejudice against Western values and beliefs
B) a fear of modernization
C) the equation of democratic freedom with greed and inequality
D) the belief that Russians would be unable to overcome earlier values associated with communism

Question 64

Which of the following is a precondition of liberal democracy?

A) postindustrialism
B) urbanization
C) economic equality
D) technological innovation

Question 65

Inga lives in a nation that holds a federal election every five years and is fully supportive of its citizens' rights through its constitution and charter of rights and freedoms.What kind of nation does Inga live in?

A) a formal democracy
B) an informal democracy
C) an liberal democracy
D) a socialist democracy

Question 66

Stephen believes that Canada is becoming more equal in terms of the gap between the rich and the poor and that economic issues are becoming less important to voters.Which of the following schools of thought would he likely agree with?

A) postmaterialism
B) postverticalism
C) poststratification
D) post technocratic

Question 67

Inga lives in a nation that holds a federal election every five years and is fully supportive of its citizens' rights through its constitution and charter of rights and freedoms.Which of the following nations does Inga live in?

A) Canada
B) Russia
C) China
D) North Korea

Question 68

According to the textbook,which of the following is an outcome of the ways that the Canadian state has structured its policies and laws?

A) regional divisions
B) class conflict
C) ethnic divisions
D) religious conflicts

Question 69

According to the textbook,what undermined the first historical wave of democracy?

A) the rise of authoritarian and totalitarian rule
B) the rise of democratic socialism
C) the overthrow of many governments by anarcho-syndicalists
D) the overthrow of many governments by military juntas

Question 70

In general,what has the elite theory contributed to sociologists' understandings of political power?

A) that democratic politics is about compromise and the accommodation of group interests
B) that despite compromise and accommodation, power is concentrated among high status groups in society
C) that despite the concentration of power in society, shifts in the distribution of power do occur
D) that despite the influence of the distribution of power on political life, the state exerts a powerful independent influence

Question 71

How is democracy viewed when a nation's military is also a powerful political force?

A) precarious and merely formal
B) strong due to military support
C) well-organized but weak
D) strongly constitutionally reformed

Question 72

In a recent opinion poll,almost 90 percent of Canadians stated that they wanted governments to set concrete targets and timelines for poverty reduction in Canada.Despite this finding,politicians continue to prioritize other issues.What does the textbook say about this phenomenon?

A) People are more concerned with issues that directly impact them.
B) Politicians will say whatever they need to, to get elected.
C) There is a disconnect between Canadian priorities and Canadian politics.
D) Canadians are finally beginning to bring their politics and their priorities together.

Question 73

In general,what has the state-centred theory contributed to sociologists' understandings of political power?

A) that democratic politics is about compromise and the accommodation of group interests
B) that despite compromise and accommodation, power is concentrated among high status groups in society
C) that despite the concentration of power in society, shifts in the distribution of power do occur
D) that despite the influence of the distribution of power on political life, the state exerts a powerful independent influence

Question 74

In general,what has the pluralist theory contributed to sociologists' understandings of political power?

A) that democratic politics is about compromise and the accommodation of group interests
B) that despite compromise and accommodation, power is concentrated among high-status groups in society
C) that despite the concentration of power in society, shifts in the distribution of power do occur
D) that despite the influence of the distribution of power on political life, the state exerts a powerful independent influence

Question 75

Jorge lives in a nation that holds regular competitive elections; however,he is part of a group that is still fighting for constitutional protection of many citizens' rights.What kind of nation does Jorge live in?

A) a formal democracy
B) an informal democracy
C) an electoral democracy
D) a state-centred democracy

Question 76

According to the textbook,two world powers are most strongly positioned to promote democracy globally.However,factoring in historical and recent support of anti-democratic regimes,which of the following is,in fact,the most likely to be helpful in the global spread of democracy?

A) the United States
B) the European Union
C) Canada
D) Japan

Question 77

Which of the following is a major dynamic in contemporary Canadian politics?

A) ethnicity
B) gender
C) region
D) class

Question 78

According to the textbook,what proportion of single Canadians under the age of 25 live below the poverty line?

A) one-quarter
B) one-third
C) one-half
D) two-thirds

Question 79

According to the textbook,why did democracy falter in Russia after initially taking root?

A) because the corrupt media influenced the political system
B) because free elections were suspended by the ruling party
C) because the nation experienced oil and gas shortages
D) because the economy collapsed and poverty increased

Question 80

Which of the following is an important precondition that must be met to create a stable democratic society?

A) well-organized economic elites
B) substantial international trade
C) powerful working and middle classes
D) well-organized bureaucracies