Deck 4: American Political Culture

Question 1

Which of the following statements about economic equality applies most accurately to Americans?

A) Most Americans believe that all people should be paid on the basis of their economic needs: "equality of results."
B) Most Americans believe that everyone has the right to get ahead: "equality of opportunity."
C) Most Americans believe in the preferential treatment of women and minorities in hiring: "equality of access."
D) Most Americans believe in the idea of having a top limit on what people can earn: "equality of wealth."
E) Most Americans believe that citizens who participate in politics should have guaranteed income: "equality of participants."

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Political conflict can occur over specific policies even among those who share common beliefs. One reason for this is that

A) political culture typically takes precedence over political ideology.
B) a unitarian political system allows little room for compromise.
C) our interpretations of these common beliefs are also alike.
D) many political values are irrelevant to specific controversies.
E) ideology is rarely a feature of political conflict.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

de Tocqueville argued that American democracy endured as the byproduct of

A) geography.
B) laws.
C) customs.
D) manners.
E) All of the above.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Liberty and individual responsibility are two key elements of

A) all Western democracies.
B) all twentieth-century nations.
C) most nations throughout history.
D) U.S. political culture.
E) European nations during the 1700s.

Question 5

The text suggests Americans are "preoccupied" with

A) their rights.
B) political news.
C) constitutional debates.
D) the media.
E) inequality.

Question 6

In a classic study of the political beliefs and attitude of children, American children were more likely to argue that a president who was pulled over for speeding would be

A) warned.
B) reprimanded.
C) let off completely.
D) fined or ticketed.
E) impeached.

Question 7

What was the Swedish sociologist Gunnar Myrdal referring to when he spoke of "America's dilemma"?

A) Affluence
B) Race relations
C) Corporate dominance
D) Political ignorance
E) Economic disparities

Question 8

Social policy in the United States is dominated by a common belief among Americans in the

A) ethic of self-reliance.
B) value of group harmony.
C) need to protect all citizens.
D) value of preferential hiring.
E) sense of community.

Question 9

The text says that one notable distinction between two democracies, the United States and Japan, is in regard to

A) commerce.
B) legislative processes.
C) executive privilege.
D) political commentary.
E) immigration policy.

Question 10

In American political culture, the _________ view of social policy is by far the most popular.

A) individualist
B) collectivist
C) accountability
D) conservative
E) traditionalist

Question 11

Which of the following are Americans more likely to tolerate?

A) Political as opposed to economic inequality
B) Ideologues as opposed to activists
C) Economic as opposed to political inequality
D) Activists as opposed to ideologues
E) Political as opposed to sociological inequality

Question 12

The text lists three critical questions to ask about political culture. One of these is:

A) To what extent are political culture and political ideology synonymous?
B) What is the self-interest of those who describe the alleged beliefs?
C) Why does political culture develop in some places and not in others?
D) Why do political cultures tend to override political issues?
E) How do we know that people share the alleged beliefs?

Question 13

According to polls, which of the groups below are Americans most willing to help?

A) People on welfare
B) Feminist groups seeking preferential hiring programs
C) The elderly
D) Recent immigrants
E) Civil rights groups seeking preferential hiring programs

Question 14

de Tocqueville's notable visit to the United States was prompted by the desire to study

A) farming.
B) prisons.
C) the legislative process.
D) campaigns and elections.
E) Both C and D.

Question 15

Some have argued that democracy flourished early in America because of

A) the lack of a national army.
B) strict immigration laws.
C) low population levels.
D) moderate temperatures.
E) the availability of land.

Question 16

In our society, government officials should be accountable to the people. This principle is known as

A) liberty.
B) equality.
C) civic duty.
D) democracy.
E) capitalism.

Question 17

All of the following are basic elements of the U.S. political culture except

A) liberty.
B) democracy.
C) individualism.
D) civic duty.
E) economic equality.

Question 18

The citizens of _________ are most likely to say they are proud to be citizens of their country.

A) the United States
B) Canada
C) Britain
D) France
E) Germany

Question 19

According to the text, the persistence in our political vocabulary of the term ________ is evidence of Americans' common hopes and values.

A) freedom
B) Americanism
C) morality
D) equality
E) righteousness

Question 20

A political culture exists where

A) there is a distinctive and patterned way of thinking about political and economic life.
B) the demographics of a nation suggest the presence of a fairly homogeneous group.
C) a constitution creates an orderly society.
D) there is a large amount of agreement among the public.
E) there is elite guidance in matters related to politics.

Question 21

The text suggests that Americans have a "preoccupation" with

A) law.
B) rights.
C) order.
D) conflict.
E) commerce.

Question 22

Compared with Americans, Japanese are more likely to

A) stress social harmony and group cohesion in their social relations.
B) emphasize the virtues of individualism and competition in social relations.
C) emphasize the virtue of treating others fairly but impersonally, with due regard for their rights.
D) rely on individual decision making rather than decisions made by groups.
E) believe in a divine being.

Question 23

Which group attracted an enormous amount of media attention and became a prominent force in many national, state, and local elections during the 1990s?

A) Great Beginnings
B) Prohibitionists
C) Spiritual Awakening
D) Hyper-Dispensationalists
E) the Christian Coalition

Question 24

The text argues that the democratic political culture of Sweden differs from that of the United States because the Swedes

A) integrate religion more successfully into their politics.
B) insist on greater citizen participation in government.
C) allow greater economic inequalities to exist.
D) resist tendencies toward socialism.
E) are more deferential than participatory in their politics.

Question 25

The distrust of political authority so evident in American political culture has its basis in

A) English literature.
B) middle-class values.
C) imperialism.
D) religious beliefs.
E) private property.

Question 26

Compared with the average European, the average American is more likely to

A) believe in God.
B) pray on a daily basis.
C) acknowledge clear standards of right and wrong.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Question 27

A classic study found that citizens of ______ had the highest sense of civic competence.

A) Italy
B) Germany
C) New Mexico
D) Great Britain
E) the United States

Question 28

Religious diversity in the United States was largely the result of the absence of a(n)

A) established religion.
B) bill of rights.
C) strong central government.
D) established aristocracy.
E) powerful army.

Question 29

Which religious group or leader advocated constitutional amendments that would require prayer in public schools and ban abortion?

A) the Great Awakening
B) the Moral Majority
C) Prohibitionists
D) Martin Luther King, Jr.
E) Rev. Jesse Jackson

Question 30

The citizens of ________ are most likely to say that teaching children the value of hard work is important.

A) the United States
B) Canada
C) Britain
D) France
E) Germany

Question 31

Which statement is incorrect?

A) The Federalists were led by Hamilton and Adams.
B) The Democratic-Republicans were led by Jefferson and Madison.
C) The Federalists passed laws to suppress journalists favorable to Jefferson.
D) The Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans deeply distrusted one another.
E) The Federalists sought to repeal laws that suppressed journalists favorable to Jefferson.

Question 32

There is, in fact, less income inequality in Sweden than in America because

A) workers there are more similar in their talents.
B) employers have different notions of economic fairness.
C) the government ensures that it is so.
D) education levels are much lower in Sweden.
E) political parties are stronger in the United States.

Question 33

The citizens of _________ are least likely to think that success in life is determined by forces outside our control.

A) the United States
B) Canada
C) Britain
D) France
E) Germany

Question 34

A classic study found that citizens of ______ had the highest sense of civic duty.

A) Italy
B) Germany
C) New Mexico
D) Great Britain
E) the United States

Question 35

The text argues that the U.S. Constitution had to reconcile

A) the work ethic with the existence of a leisure class.
B) a religious establishment with the quest for religious freedom.
C) personal liberty with the need for social control.
D) European traditions with westward expansion.
E) the work ethic with the religious establishment.

Question 36

Which of the following statements concerning attitudes and opinions expressed by Americans in surveys is incorrect?

A) They have greater faith in political institutions than citizens of other nations.
B) They are more likely to be patriotic than citizens of other nations.
C) They have greater faith in private institutions than citizens of other nations.
D) Their trust in government has declined in recent years.
E) None of the above.

Question 37

Research finds that religious persons are more likely than secular persons to

A) donate money to charity.
B) volunteer their time.
C) give money and time to nonreligious organizations.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Question 38

The relevance and potential impact of religion in American politics were evident in 2002 when a federal court issued a controversial ruling regarding

A) prayer in schools.
B) the use of the Bible in high school literature classes.
C) the Pledge of Allegiance.
D) the singing of "God Bless America."
E) All of the above.

Question 39

A classic study of American and Swedish trade-union and political-party leaders found that Americans were

A) less likely to favor equal pay for workers.
B) less likely to favor a top limit on salaries.
C) more likely to support higher disparities in salaries.
D) more likely to favor equality of results.
E) All of the above.

Question 40

Early competition between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans ended by establishing the principle that

A) freedom of speech did not include political slander.
B) political participation was restricted to males.
C) slavery was not an issue for national legislation.
D) democracy could survive a change of ruling parties.
E) the First Amendment applied to the states.

Question 41

Which of the following groups of issues does the text refer to as areas of conflict in the culture war?

A) Abortion, school prayer, foreign policy
B) Gay rights, taxes, business regulation
C) School prayer, foreign policy, pornography
D) Drug use, school prayer, abortion
E) Business regulation, foreign policy, space policy

Question 42

In thinking about trends in popular trust of government, it is important to consider that

A) levels of trust may have been abnormally high in the 1950s.
B) little was expected of government in the 1950s.
C) polling techniques were not perfected until the 1970s.
D) few Americans understand government or pay attention to it.
E) Both A and B.

Question 43

Churches in the United States were important in the development of a sense of civic duty and civic competence because they

A) indoctrinated citizens to favor the status quo.
B) were in a continuous struggle for survival.
C) provided the major opportunity for citizens to express their political views.
D) were independent of most political pressures.
E) were organized much like a political system.

Question 44

One aspect of the American family that contributes to the way Americans regard their political system is the

A) emphasis in the American family on group harmony.
B) relatively small degree of freedom found in American families.
C) emphasis in the American family on respect for authority.
D) tendency of families to disagree about matters that is most personal.
E) large measure of equality among American family members.

Question 45

The culture war is about

A) which ethnic group governs.
B) what kind of country we ought to live in.
C) how much money should be spent on social programs.
D) the ethics of foreign policy.
E) which groups deserve to influence policy.

Question 46

In the language of culture wars, a progressive is more likely to

A) value personal freedom as much as traditional rules.
B) interpret traditional moral rules in the light of new circumstances.
C) believe that moral rules derive from the commands of God.
D) believe that notions about right and wrong are clear and unchanging.
E) Both A and B

Question 47

Alan Abramowitz suggests that the culture war might be more real than imagined because people are increasingly choosing their party affiliation on the basis of

A) issues.
B) income.
C) competition.
D) social background characteristics.
E) advertising.

Question 48

Most conspicuous among the orthodox are

A) conservative persons from the Midwest.
B) Catholics.
C) fundamentalist Protestants.
D) labor leaders.
E) members of the Hollywood elite.

Question 49

Morris Fiorina would have us believe that the culture war is more of a myth than anything else and is really only a reflection of the fact that

A) the media publicize the polarization that exists among political leaders.
B) the media do not cover politics in a thorough fashion.
C) the public is ill informed with respect to political matters.
D) most people think of war as exciting.
E) the middle class is increasingly alienated from political processes.

Question 50

Although the proportion of people who say they trust the government in Washington to do the right thing has steadily declined since the 1950s, it should be remembered that

A) surveys on this particularly topic are notoriously unreliable.
B) the numbers were even lower in the 1920s.
C) more was expected of the government in the 1950s.
D) they are talking about government officials, not the system of government.
E) the proportion of people who trusted the government was never very high.

Question 51

The most important source of political values in the United States is probably

A) the mass media.
B) the family.
C) religion.
D) public schools.
E) local newspapers.

Question 52

The percentage of Americans who say that they have a lot of confidence in Congress is typically

A) quite large.
B) around sixty-five.
C) around fifty.
D) almost forty.
E) fairly low.

Question 53

The notion that individuals should work hard, save their money, and avoid dependence on the state is sometimes referred to as the

A) Protestant (work) ethic.
B) blue-collar ethic.
C) doctrine of social Darwinism.
D) evolutionary principle.
E) labor theory of value.

Question 54

Tales of youngsters who started out poor but became rich by determination and hard work are associated with the writings of

A) Kurt Vonnegut.
B) F Scott Fitzgerald.
C) Horatio Alger.
D) Ernest Hemingway.
E) Mark Twain.

Question 55

Americans have a comparatively low degree of

A) material acquisitiveness.
B) social conformity.
C) class consciousness.
D) geographic mobility.
E) capitalist instinct.

Question 56

Who explained the rise of capitalism in terms of religious beliefs and the community involvement of individuals?

A) Mills
B) Weber
C) Wagner
D) Strauss
E) Durkheim

Question 57

Over the last three decades, public trust has declined for all of the following except

A) newspapers.
B) public schools.
C) the military.
D) churches.
E) labor unions.

Question 58

Congregational churches provided many Americans with

A) a puritanical set of values.
B) political training and experience.
C) a justification for wealth amid poverty.
D) opposition to the political values of the majority.
E) belief in a strong central government.

Question 59

The dominant religious tradition in the early United States was

A) Catholicism.
B) Protestantism, especially Presbyterianism.
C) Protestantism, especially Puritanism.
D) Protestantism, especially Lutheranism.
E) nonexistent; the United States had no dominant religious tradition.

Question 60

The current understanding of the culture war and its sides was first formulated by

A) James D. Hunter.
B) Max Weber.
C) Karl Marx.
D) Bill O'Reilly.
E) Samuel Huntington.

Question 61

Civic duty is an important element in the U.S. view of the political system.

Question 62

Americans favor economic equality more than do the citizens of France and Britain.

Question 63

Studies show that Americans support constitutional freedoms under what conditions?

A) Only for people who agree with them
B) During times of peace, but not necessarily during war
C) In the abstract, but not always in the concrete
D) For all groups at all times
E) In the aftermath of war

Question 64

Compared with those of the United States, immigration policies in Japan are highly restrictive.

Question 65

The citizens of Britain and France are more likely than Americans to think it is the responsibility of the government to take care of the poor.

Question 66

Most of the citizens of Britain and France think favorably of democracy.

Question 67

Older Americans are more likely than younger Americans to define a good citizen as a person who votes, pay taxes, obeys the law, and supports the military.

Question 68

The text argues that a lack of consensus regarding which groups ought to be repressed has led to

A) a breakdown of consensual social values.
B) the survival of unpopular political causes.
C) a large increase in the number of free-speech court cases.
D) an erosion of First Amendment freedoms.
E) reinterpretation of the Protestant work ethic.

Question 69

Most Americans believe that people should not be allowed to vote if they cannot read or write or vote intelligently.

Question 70

Political conflict can occur even when personal beliefs are shared.

Question 71

Americans are more willing to tolerate economic inequality than political inequality.

Question 72

According to the text, a degree of tolerance toward political discussion without too much oppression is

A) what the U.S. Constitution called for.
B) what the Bill of Rights mandated.
C) rare in a unitary system.
D) what characterizes all free nations.
E) the minimum requirement of a democracy.

Question 73

France has a written constitution, but Great Britain does not.

Question 74

Americans place no limits on the freedoms they think people should enjoy in the marketplace.

Question 75

The government of the southern Confederation was modeled on the U.S. Constitution.

Question 76

Liberty is an important element in the U.S. view of the political system.

Question 77

In surveys, an overwhelming majority of Americans say that they "love" America.

Question 78

Putnam worried that Americans might be losing social capital because

A) they are increasingly likely to complain about government.
B) they are less likely to participate in major elections.
C) they have high levels of external political efficacy.
D) they are less and less likely to join voluntary associations.
E) they are a nation of "joiners."

Question 79

Over 80 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians.

Question 80

de Tocqueville visited the United States in 1835 in order to research its prison systems.