Deck 2: Majoritarian or Pluralist Democracy

Question 1

An important problem with the procedural view of democracy is that it can clash with which of the following?

A) Minority rights
B) The majoritarian view
C) Voting rights
D) Political parties
E) Democratic government

Answer 1

A

Question 2

A form of government that puts power in the hands of an elite is which of the following?

A) Oligarchy
B) Democracy
C) Autocracy
D) Dictatorship
E) Theocracy

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Portland's incorporation of neighborhood associations into its municipal government is an example of which of the following?

A) Pluralism
B) Majoritarianism
C) Political equality
D) Participatory democracy
E) Universal participation

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Most democracies give the power to make laws to which of the following?

A) The business community
B) Political parties
C) Expatriates
D) Representatives
E) Citizens

Question 5

The principle of responsiveness requires that legislators do which of the following?

A) Cast their ballots based on what people think back home
B) Pay special attention to groups that are highly organized
C) Follow the general contours of public opinion
D) Support public opinion in all matters related to electoral politics
E) Consider the views of their fellow legislators more than the views of their constituents

Question 6

Most scholars believe that the world's democracies include all but which of the following countries?

A) The United States
B) France
C) Germany
D) Russia
E) Ireland

Question 7

According to procedural theory, the government should do which of the following?

A) Whatever the majority wants
B) Whatever the most insistent interest group wants
C) Whatever they judge to be right
D) Whatever the most influential elites want
E) Whatever they think the framers of the Constitution would have done

Question 8

The basic standard of substantive democracy is that government must guarantee which of the following?

A) Economic rights
B) Social equality
C) Civil rights and liberties
D) Economic equality
E) Equality of outcome

Question 9

A country abiding by the principle of "one person, one vote" is practicing which of the following?

A) Direct democracy
B) Political equality
C) Equal suffrage
D) Substantive democracy
E) Participatory democracy

Question 10

The theory of democracy that no adult should be excluded from voting and being involved in government is known as which of the following?

A) Procedural democracy
B) Substantive democracy
C) Majority rule
D) Participatory democracy
E) Universal participation

Question 11

Pluralist theory proposes that people's interests are protected by which of the following?

A) Interest groups
B) Political parties
C) The majority
D) Elected representatives
E) Elites

Question 12

Participatory democracy today meets which of the following criteria?

A) Rare in the United States, but regularly practiced in Europe
B) Common in the United States and other democracies
C) Common in the United States, but rare in other democracies
D) Common in the United States and Europe, but rare in the rest of the world
E) Rare in the United States and other democracies

Question 13

To whom do most democracies give power to make laws?

A) Business leaders
B) Political parties
C) Expatriates
D) Representatives
E) All citizens

Question 14

A government in which one person has the power to make all, or almost all, important decisions is known as which of the following?

A) Oligarchy
B) Democracy
C) Autocracy
D) Socialist republic
E) Democratic monarchy

Question 15

Over 20 percent of the world's political parties contain some form of which of the following terms?

A) Socialist
B) Democratic
C) Republican
D) Participatory
E) Representative

Question 16

In a system of participatory democracy, which of the following is true?

A) Neighborhoods are the basic unit of civic engagement.
B) Representatives are required to interact regularly with citizens.
C) Citizens govern themselves, without electing representatives.
D) The national government always defers to the state government.
E) The Supreme Court decides who should be president.

Question 17

The procedural view of democracy is most concerned with which of the following?

A) The level of popular participation in decision making
B) The equality of government decisions
C) Minority protections
D) The impact of government decisions
E) How government decisions are made

Question 18

Which of the following is not a principle of procedural democracy?

A) Government responsiveness to public opinion
B) Minority rights
C) Universal participation
D) Majority or plurality rule
E) Political equality

Question 19

The ancient Greeks classified governments as autocracies, oligarchies, or democracies based on which of the following?

A) The fundamental purpose for which the government was instituted
B) The extent of government power
C) The types of elected officeholders
D) The kinds of decisions the government was responsible for
E) The number of citizens involved in governing

Question 20

A politician who appeals to and often deceives the masses by manipulating their emotions and prejudices is which of the following?

A) Politico
B) Delegate
C) Oligarch
D) Legacy
E) Demagogue

Question 21

Studies of the agenda of the U.S. Congress demonstrate that it is characterized by an emphasis on which of the following?

A) Legislation concerned with the poor
B) Legislation concerned with increasing taxes on the wealthy
C) Legislation concerned with immigration
D) Business-related legislation
E) Social welfare legislation

Question 22

A sign that pluralist democracy might not be working well in the United States is which of the following?

A) A decentralization of the American government
B) A declining number of interest groups in Washington, D.C.
C) The fact that the best represented sectors in Washington are business and professional groups
D) The increased representation for low-income Americans
E) The generally low levels of political knowledge among Americans

Question 23

Any organization of individuals formed on the basis of common interest to influence public policy is known as which of the following?

A) An interest group
B) A majority
C) An elite group
D) A substantive group
E) A primary organization

Question 24

Which of the following perspectives holds that society is really ruled by a small number of people who exercise power to further their self-interest?

A) Majoritarian theory
B) Personality theory
C) Elite theory
D) Pluralistic theory
E) Interest group theory

Question 25

According to elite theory, which of the following groups would be the most successful if the issue were the management of national forests?

A) Environmentalists, who are trying to protect the forests
B) Recreational campers, who visit and enjoy the national forests
C) Hunters, who want to keep down the number of animals in national forests
D) Park rangers, who want to keep the parks open and keep their jobs
E) Logging companies that have plenty of money to convince Congress members to allow logging in the forests

Question 26

The idea that most important government decisions are made by an identifiable and stable minority that shares certain characteristics-especially wealth and business connections-is known as which of the following?

A) Oligarchy
B) Elite theory
C) Pluralist theory
D) The interest group model
E) Aristocracy

Question 27

If top political jobs for both political parties are filled only from an inner circle of top corporate leaders, this would be evidence for which of the following?

A) Elite theory
B) Substantive democracy
C) Pluralist theory
D) The interest group model
E) Authoritarianism

Question 28

What kind of democracy makes a virtue out of the struggle between competing interests?

A) Elitist democracy
B) Pluralist democracy
C) Popular sovereignty
D) Majoritarian democracy
E) Oligarchical democracy

Question 29

The main disadvantage of the pluralist model is that it does which of the following?

A) It doesn't adequately take public opinion into account.
B) It has been used by authoritarian regimes to repress their citizens.
C) It favors groups that need help the least.
D) It gives an "unfair" advantage to poor people.
E) It has been shown to be a poor method of representation.

Question 30

Although they are instruments of majoritarian democracy, initiatives are often sponsored by which of the following?

A) Interest groups
B) Government officials
C) Members of the judiciary
D) Foreign multinational corporations
E) Small numbers of average citizen

Question 31

Over the past few years, what has happened to the total number of democracies around the world?

A) A large decline
B) A large increase
C) Little change
D) An approximately 10 percent increase
E) An approximately 10 percent decline

Question 32

Studies on decision making concerning public policy issues suggest that much of the elite's power comes from the ability of the elites to do which of the following?

A) Win seats in Congress
B) Become state legislators and executives
C) Finance candidates for president of the United States
D) Keep issues off the political agenda
E) Lobby effectively

Question 33

Established procedures and organizations that translate public opinion into government policy, like elections, are known as which of the following?

A) Institutional initiatives
B) Institutional folkways
C) Institutional norms
D) Institutional mechanisms
E) Institutional policies

Question 34

When a state legislature places a policy question on the ballot for citizens to vote on, this is known as which of the following?

A) A charter
B) An initiative
C) A recall
D) A referendum
E) A primary

Question 35

According to the text, it is difficult for a country with a market economy to also have which of the following characteristics in its internal politics?

A) Democratic
B) Responsive
C) Decentralized
D) Undemocratic
E) Pluralistic

Question 36

Democratization is which of the following?

A) The process of moving from procedural to substantive democracy
B) The process of transition as a country attempts to move from an authoritarian form of government to a democratic one
C) The act of electing leaders in a way that conforms to the criteria of substantive democracy
D) The process of moving from a demand to a market economy
E) The requirement that freedom and rights need to be protected by written covenant

Question 37

What rules govern the use of the referendum at the federal level?

A) They can only be used to propose constitutional amendments.
B) They require a two-thirds vote of all Americans.
C) They require a two-thirds vote of Congress.
D) They can only be used for a declaration of war.
E) No provisions exist for the use of referenda at the federal level.

Question 38

What is the political theory that holds that government should do what most of the people want it to do?

A) Pluralism
B) Majoritarianism
C) Elite theory
D) Proportionalism
E) Democratic centralism

Question 39

Although public opinion does not fluctuate erratically, change can occur when which of the following happens?

A) When the president makes his State of the Union address
B) When older voters change their minds collectively on an issue
C) When different generations with different experiences enter the electorate
D) When pollsters refine their questions to get the answers that they're looking for
E) When everyone maintains the same opinion about current topics

Question 40

Cohesive political parties with well-defined programs contribute to which of the following?

A) The pluralist model of democracy
B) The majoritarian model of democracy
C) The republican theory of democracy
D) The elite theory of democracy
E) The substantive theory of democracy

Question 41

Explain the role that interest groups play in the pluralist democratic model.

Question 42

Do you believe that pluralism or elite theory is the more accurate description of American politics? Why?

Question 43

Discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses of the majoritarian and pluralist models of democracy.

Question 44

Is the pluralist model truly an adequate expression of democracy, or does it portray America as democratic when it is not? Explain your reasoning.

Question 45

Identify and discuss some of the problems with participatory democracy and ways to respond to those problems.

Question 46

The process of transition as a country attempts to move from an authoritarian form of government to one where the people have more say is known as which of the following?

A) Pluralism
B) Majoritarianism
C) Democratization
D) Oligarchicalization
E) Economic moralism

Question 47

Identify three of the four principles of procedural democracy, and discuss the difficulties with their implementation.

Question 48

The text suggests that the United States struggled to promote democracy in countries with which of the following characteristics?

A) Were transitioning from socialism
B) Were previously totalitarian
C) Could not accept pluralism
D) Could not accept the high degree of tolerance and freedom allowed to all members of society
E) Were dominated by religious groups

Question 49

The United States is not truly a majoritarian democracy, as there is nothing in our Constitution providing for a national referendum. Should we have national referenda? How would that affect American government?

Question 50

Discuss why democratization can be difficult to achieve in different parts of the world and why there is a strong relationship between economic prosperity and democracy.

Question 51

The text suggests that what type of forces may be pushing authoritarian governments towards democratization?

A) Religious
B) Moral
C) Philosophical
D) Ethical
E) Economic

Question 52

Explain some reasons that political and economic instability affect the process of democratization.

Question 53

Explain the difference between procedural democratic theory and substantive democratic theory,