Deck 1: Democracys Challenge 1

Question 1

The Great Compromise refers to the Constitutional Convention debate concerning

A) ratification of the Constitution.
B) representation in Congress.
C) the division of power between the federal government and the states.
D) the election of the president.
E) the number of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

According to the text, the Titanic offers a powerful metaphor for U.S. society and politics for all of the following reasons except

A) like the Titanic, the U.S. political system is doomed to fail.
B) U.S. businesses' concerns with profits resemble the similar concerns of the Titanic's owners.
C) the Titanic was the world's most powerful ship, and the United States is the world's most powerful nation.
D) there was great economic inequality among the Titanic's passengers, and there is great economic inequality in the United States.
E) the Titanic's first-class passengers were treated much better than those in steerage, and the U.S. rich have much more of the good things in life than poor people have.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

All of the following statements about the Bill of Rights are true except

A) it constitutes the first ten amendments of the Constitution.
B) it prohibits Congress from designating any religion as an official one.
C) it prohibits courts from requiring people to testify against themselves.
D) it guarantees all adults over the age of twenty-one the right to vote.
E) it reserves to the people or the states any powers not explicitly assigned to the federal government.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The national government is characterized by a system of checks and balances that includes all of the following except

A) the capacity to govern is shared by the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
B) the president can veto congressional legislation.
C) the Senate must approve key presidential appointments.
D) the president can remove Supreme Court justices whose decisions are unconstitutional.
E) the Supreme Court can review laws passed by Congress and signed by the president.

Question 5

Compared to the gap between high and low incomes in the United States, the wealth gap is

A) much smaller.
B) slightly smaller.
C) about the same.
D) greater.
E) so difficult to measure that it's impossible to make such comparisons.

Question 6

The number of representatives from each state elected to the House of Representatives is based on

A) the state's population.
B) the geographic size of the state.
C) the year the state is admitted to the union (older states have greater representation).
D) the amount of federal tax revenue generated in that state.
E) equal representation of each state.

Question 7

The Articles of Confederation

A) allowed each state to retain its sovereignty and independence.
B) were signed in 1787.
C) provided for an extremely strong and powerful national government.
D) gave the president much more power than it gave Congress.
E) is just another name for what is usually called the Constitution.

Question 8

Since 1980, the gap between rich and poor in the United States has

A) decreased a lot.
B) decreased a little.
C) stayed about the same.
D) increased.
E) been so difficult to measure that there's no way of knowing whether the gap has decreased, increased, or remained the same.

Question 9

According to the Constitution as it was originally ratified

A) members of the House of Representatives would be elected by the people every six years.
B) senators would be chosen by the state legislatures.
C) the president has the power to declare war.
D) Congress is prohibited from regulating interstate commerce.
E) justices of the Supreme Court are elected by the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Question 10

As a result of the election of Barack Obama, the country's first black president, people of color now

A) earn as much as whites.
B) live as long as whites.
C) are less victimized by street crime than whites are.
D) are as well educated as whites are.
E) experience similar conditions as before; the income and wealth of people of color has not significantly improved since the election of Barack Obama.

Question 11

Under the Articles of Confederation, the federal government had the exclusive power to

A) coin money.
B) levy taxes.
C) raise a militia.
D) make rules regarding international trade.
E) negotiate treaties with other nations.

Question 12

According to the text, the most powerful predictor of an individual's health and mortality is that individual's ______________.

A) genetics
B) exposure to carcinogens
C) smoking
D) social class position
E) race

Question 13

All House of Representatives members are

A) chosen by direct election every 2 years.
B) selected by state legislatures every 2 years.
C) chosen by direct election every 6 years.
D) selected by state legislatures every 6 years.
E) chosen by direct election every 4 years.

Question 14

What percent of the U.S.'s total income is earned by the poorest 20 percent of U.S. households?

A) approximately 3 percent
B) approximately 9 percent
C) approximately 15 percent
D) approximately 20 percent
E) approximately 50 percent

Question 15

The Declaration of Independence

A) was signed in 1787.
B) was written to compensate for the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
C) states that all human beings have certain unalienable rights.
D) is just another name for what is usually called the Constitution.
E) affirmed Great Britain's right to rule the thirteen colonies.

Question 16

In 2011, the top 1 percent of income earners in the United States owned about ______________ of the nation's wealth.

A) 5 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 40 percent
D) 60 percent
E) 80 percent

Question 17

What percent of the U.S.'s total income is earned by the richest 20 percent of the country's households?

A) approximately 20 percent
B) approximately 30 percent
C) approximately 40 percent
D) more than 50 percent
E) more than 80 percent

Question 18

Compared with other economically developed countries, the gap between rich and poor in the United States is

A) greater.
B) about the same.
C) slightly less.
D) much less.
E) so difficult to measure that it's impossible to make such comparisons.

Question 19

According to the text, the lopsided distribution of income and wealth is or was a central concern of ______________.

A) the Tea Party movement
B) the Occupy Wall Street movement
C) the Business Roundtable
D) the Federalists
E) the abolitionist movement

Question 20

Federalism is a political system in which

A) national power is limited by the reservation of certain powers to the states.
B) the Constitution guarantees citizens certain basic political liberties.
C) there are checks and balances among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.
D) state constitutions trump the national constitution if there is a conflict between the two.
E) the Constitution outlines the powers of state and local governments.

Question 21

______________ is the idea that the ultimate and supreme source of political authority lies not with rulers but with the people, the citizens of a republic.

A) The market
B) The Bill of Rights
C) The separation of powers
D) Popular sovereignty
E) Federalism

Question 22

The number of a state's electors in the Electoral College is determined by

A) the state's population.
B) the number of members the state elects to the House of Representatives.
C) the sum of the state's members in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
D) the number of the state's U.S. Senators.
E) electoral laws established by Congress.

Question 23

According to the text, it is important to consider substantive as well as procedural democracy. If a political scientist were studying the extent to which there is substantive democracy in a political system, she or he would most likely be concerned with

A) what the Constitution said.
B) whether the political system had a bill of rights.
C) how much federalism existed.
D) what the laws said about how members of the legislature are elected.
E) how economic inequality affected the operation of the political system.

Question 24

In the contemporary United States

A) the vast majority of Evangelical Protestants vote Republican, as do the vast majority of Catholics and other Protestants.
B) the vast majority of Protestants vote Democratic.
C) the vast majority of Catholics vote Republican.
D) the vast majority of Jews vote Republican.
E) roughly half of Catholics vote Democratic and roughly half vote Republican.

Question 25

According to the text, the United States's capitalist market system

A) is inherently not democratic.
B) is inherently democratic.
C) may or may not be democratic depending on who is president.
D) may or may not be democratic depending on which party controls Congress.
E) may or may not be democratic depending on whether the government officials adhere to the Constitution's basic principles.

Question 26

According to the text, large corporations have disproportionate political power mainly because

A) almost all of their top executives are white men.
B) the Constitution prohibits government from regulating business too heavily.
C) the well-being of everyone as measured by jobs and income depends on the investment decisions and the profits of private firms.
D) most politicians are susceptible to bribes.
E) most government leaders were once CEOs of large corporations.

Question 27

The close relationship between business and government is referred to as a

A) market economy.
B) constitutional democracy.
C) system of checks and balances.
D) corporate complex.
E) superpower.

Question 28

When political scientists talk about the "privileged position of business," they mainly mean that

A) business executives are greedy.
B) top corporate executives get away with more illegal activity than most other people.
C) top corporate executives are admitted to elite private clubs that exclude blue-collar workers.
D) top corporate executives get paid much more than factory workers.
E) business leaders have an advantage in influencing public policy debates.

Question 29

An economic system based on the private ownership of property in which profit is pursued through the investment of capital and the employment of labor is called ______________.

A) the market.
B) the corporate complex.
C) capitalism.
D) republicanism.
E) democracy.

Question 30

According to the text

A) contrary to popular belief, politics is less polarized now than it was fifty years ago.
B) U.S. politics is more divided by income and social class than it is by race.
C) throughout the twentieth century, the vast majority of southern whites voted Republican.
D) in the past half-century, differences within the Democratic and Republican parties have gotten larger at the same time as differences between the two parties have become smaller.
E) in the past half-century, differences within the Democratic and Republican parties have gotten smaller at the same time as differences between the two parties have become larger.

Question 31

The Constitution dealt with slavery by

A) making slaves citizens.
B) counting every five slaves as three persons for apportioning seats in the House of Representatives.
C) prohibiting Congress from ever passing laws abolishing the importation of slaves.
D) declaring that a slave would be free forever if she or he escaped to a state that prohibited slavery.
E) outlawing slavery in the North, but not in the South.

Question 32

A country's combined military and economic strength that results in it having a dominant position in the world is called a ______________.

A) democracy
B) corporate complex
C) superpower
D) Titanic
E) New World Order

Question 33

In discussing criteria for assessing how well a representative democracy is working, the text says all of the following except

A) it's important to consider whether representatives are aware of constituents' interests.
B) it's important to consider whether representatives are responsive to constituents' interests.
C) it's important to consider whether representatives are effective in acting on behalf of constituents.
D) it's important to consider whether the representatives live in the same neighborhood as their constituents.
E) it's important to consider how inequality of resources affects the operation of the representative democracy.

Question 34

Regarding military spending, the United States spends ______________.

A) about the same as the second-biggest military spending nation, China
B) slightly more than the second-biggest military spending nation, China
C) about the same as the next five highest military spending nations combined
D) more than the next fifteen highest military spending nations combined
E) more than all other nations combined

Question 35

According to the text

A) the world is no more interconnected now than it was a century ago.
B) it is only in the twentieth century that U.S. politics have been shaped by war and trade.
C) despite increased global interconnectedness, domestic and international affairs remain largely separate from one another.
D) as a result of the attacks of 9/11, the United States is no longer the world's lone superpower.
E) global interdependence increases U.S. power and vulnerability at one and the same time.

Question 36

According to the text, the recession and global economic crisis of 2008

A) reaffirmed the dangers of too much government regulation of the market.
B) called into question the ideology and practice of less-regulated capitalism.
C) shows that the world is less interconnected than is generally believed.
D) was predicted a decade earlier by Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan.
E) is conclusive proof of the validity of Ronald Reagan's ideas.

Question 37

Substantive democracy refers to

A) whether all citizens have equitable chances to influence and control the making of decisions that affect them.
B) the existence of democratic procedures such as the right to vote.
C) the existence of democratic institutions such as a legislative branch elected by the people.
D) the existence of a Bill of Rights.
E) the right to run for public office regardless of one's race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.

Question 38

According to the text, the principle of majority rule

A) is of no relevance in a representative democracy.
B) is applied in the United States to virtually every important issue.
C) is applied in the United States only to a confined range of issues.
D) is the principle upon which the Declaration of Independence is based.
E) is the principle upon which the Constitution is based.

Question 39

The United States contains about ______________ percent of the world's population, but accounts for about ______________ percent of the world's gross domestic product (GDP).

A) 5 . . . 13
B) 5 . . . 23
C) 5 . . . 33
D) 15 . . . 33
E) 15 . . . 53

Question 40

According to the text, the Reagan Revolution

A) resulted in conservatives setting the main terms of the public debate.
B) pushed conservative ideas further outside of the political mainstream than they had ever been.
C) led the Democratic Party to champion the virtues of big government more strongly than ever.
D) was a myth manufactured by political pundits.
E) was successful at dismantling the welfare state.

Question 41

According to the text, the United States is the lone superpower in a world that is more interconnected and more unpredictable. What are the arguments and evidence that the book presents in support of these assertions: (1) the United States is the lone superpower, (2) the world is more interconnected, and (3) the world is more unpredictable?

Question 42

How have views about government regulation of the marketplace changed since 1980? What are the major events that have affected these changes?

Question 43

What are the differences between procedural and substantive democracy? Are both necessary for a well-functioning democracy? Explain your answer.

Question 44

Evaluate the authors' claim that "greater global interdependence increases American power and vulnerability."

Question 45

Why, according to the text, is the U.S. capitalist market system inherently undemocratic?

Question 46

Describe how U.S. politics has become more polarized over the past half-century. What events have led to this polarization?

Question 47

The text quotes statements by Alan Greenspan during his testimony before Congress. Who is Alan Greenspan, what were his statements, and why are they significant?

Question 48

Summarize the ways in which, according to the text, the tale of the Titanic is a powerful metaphor for key features of U.S. society and politics today. In what ways, however, does the Titanic metaphor break down?

Question 49

Compare and contrast the power of the federal government under the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution.

Question 50

Why do leaders in the marketplace have disproportionate political power? What is the privileged position of business? What in the operation of the U.S. political economy gives business this privileged position?

Question 51

Summarize the standards presented in the text for assessing the extent to which a political system is democratic.

Question 52

In what ways is formal political power in the United States distributed and checked? What is the role of federalism and the system of "checks and balances"?

Question 53

What is the evidence presented in the text in support of the assertion that the United States has become more democratic over the course of its history?