Deck 1: The Origins of American Political Principles

Question 1

A custom, practice, or organization, often embedded in rule of law, is called: ___.

A) A policy
B) An institution
C) A legal procedure
D) A rule

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of these terms refers to the rule of an elite few for their own interests?

A) Monarchy
B) Polis
C) Democracy
D) Oligarchy

Answer 2

D

Question 3

According to Plato, who should rule a properly constituted polis?

A) A philosopher-king
B) A political science-king
C) The few wisest citizens
D) None of the above

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of these statements accurately defines a type of government according to Aristotle's typology?

A) Aristocracy is a government organized around a few men who are primarily motivated by their narrow private and class interests.
B) Democracy is a government organized around many men who are primarily motivated by the broad public interest.
C) Tyranny is any government that is oppressive to the people.
D) All of the above

Question 5

Which one of the following pairs of cities formed the centers of the two greatest European societies of the ancient world?

A) Paris and London
B) Berlin and Madrid
C) Athens and Rome
D) Oslo and Copenhagen

Question 6

Before it was an empire, what was ancient Rome?

A) It was always an empire.
B) It was a democracy.
C) It was a republic.
D) It was a polity.

Question 7

Which theorists made the first and most influential efforts to explain how mixed governments can work in practice?

A) Polybius and Cicero
B) Socrates and Plato
C) St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas
D) Thomas Hobbes and John Locke

Question 8

According to the Pro and Con section, which of the following was not a characteristic of the "Athenian democracy?"

A) The people met in the Assembly to discuss and decide major issues
B) A deep respect for the individual rights and liberties of all city residents
C) Slaves and resident aliens (three-fifths of the population) were denied citizenship
D) All citizens were given one vote in the Assembly

Question 9

What is the temporal world?

A) The world of the sacred
B) The world of the politically powerful
C) The world of peoples and nations and human history
D) The otherworldly

Question 10

Who wrote that, without an all-powerful monarch, human beings will fall into a war of all against all in which life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

A) Niccolo Machiavelli
B) John Calvin
C) Thomas Hobbes
D) John Locke

Question 11

In addition to social contract theory, what are two other concepts taken from classical liberalism that influenced the Founding generation?

A) Nothing else was taken
B) There is nothing besides social contract theory in classical liberalism
C) Separation of powers and free markets
D) Unlimited, immoderate constitutional regimes

Question 12

Who were the Pilgrims?

A) Wealthy English Puritans who settled in the South in order to avoid religious persecution in the home country
B) Middling English Puritans who settled in New England in order to avoid religious persecution in the home country
C) Wealthy English Anglicans who settled in the South in order to develop it economically
D) Middling English Anglicans who settled in the Mid-Atlantic in order to develop it economically and in some cases to avoid religious persecution in the home country

Question 13

In the population of the American colonies in 1765, which ethnic group was the largest?

A) The English
B) The Irish
C) The Germans
D) The Dutch

Question 14

What drove the idea behind the notion that the Americans had "space" for dissent?

A) The orthodox did not feel the need to destroy the unorthodox
B) Banishment was an accepted form of punishment
C) The vastness of the land allowed for pockets of acceptability interspersed between places of orthodoxy
D) All of the above

Question 15

What was political participation like in the early colonies?

A) It was very democratic in nature
B) It was oligarchic but still modestly democratic in nature
C) It was oligarchic and hence not very democratic at all in nature
D) It was aristocratic and hence not very democratic at all in nature

Question 16

To what area of social life did Adam Smith most extensively apply the principles of classical liberalism?

A) Law
B) Government and politics
C) The economy
D) Culture

Question 17

Which Enlightenment thinker argued the earliest and most influentially that science and discovery worked for the eternal benefit of society?

A) Hobbes
B) Machiavelli
C) Montesquieu
D) Bacon

Question 18

How did St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas differ from the ancients and how did this impact the Founding generation?

A) They privileged the role of the sacred over the secular and this served as a negative example for the Founding generation
B) They privileged the role of the secular over the sacred and this served as a positive example for the Founding generation
C) They privileged the role of the national over sub-national governments and this served as a positive example for the Founding generation
D) They privileged the role of the sub-national over the national government and this served as a negative example for the Founding generation

Question 19

When did the concept of individualism find its brightest moment and what form did it take?

A) At the Constitutional Convention and in the form of separation of powers
B) At the Magna Carta and in the form of the Barony
C) At the American Revolution and in the form of the idea that freedom has its own order and structure
D) At the English Revolution and in the form of religious tolerance

Question 20

What lesson did the Founding Fathers learn from Polybius and Cicero?

A) Mixed constitutions should be avoided
B) Mixed constitutions should be embraced because they balance the interests of the rich and the poor
C) Mixed constitutions should be embraced because they serve the interests of the middle classes
D) Mixed constitutions should be avoided because monarchy is the best way to govern a republic

Question 21

Who normally rules in aristocracies and oligarchies?

A) The poor
B) The rich
C) The middle class
D) None of the above

Question 22

How does the textbook author define the word "institution?"

A) A place where official government business is conducted
B) The formal and informal rules that set the parameters within which "the game of politics" is played
C) A custom, practice, or organization, usually embedded in rules and law, that defines and structures social and political activity
D) None of the above

Question 23

What is meant by American political development (APD)?

A) The study of development and change in American political processes, institutions, and policies over time
B) The study of America's democratic development in comparison to the development of other democracies around the world
C) The thesis that American government has become much more political over time, thus reducing its capacity to solve the problems that affect the lives of ordinary Americans
D) None of the above

Question 24

What did the ancients mean by "democracy?"

A) They thought it was equivalent to "mob rule"
B) Rule by the people in the interest of the entire community
C) Rule by the people in their own self-interest
D) They thought it was equivalent to "free government"

Question 25

What is meant by "classical republicanism?"

A) A mixed state in which monarchical, aristocratic, and democratic principles are combined
B) A form of popular government that relies on elected representatives instead of direct democratic governance
C) A set of ideas that emphasizes concern for the common good over the self-interest of individuals
D) A set of ideas that emphasizes the importance of limited government and individual rights

Question 26

What differentiates a monarchy from a tyranny?

A) The source of their legitimacy, with monarchies being based on the will of God and tyrannies being based on the will of the ruler
B) The source of their legitimacy, with monarchies being based on the will of the people or of God and tyrannies being based on neither
C) The purpose of government, with monarchies having bad motives and tyrannies having good ones
D) The purposes of government with monarchies having good motives and tyrannies having bad ones

Question 27

What two concepts does classical liberalism favor?

A) Large government and aggregate rights
B) Limited government and individual rights
C) Large government and individual rights
D) Limited government and aggregate rights

Question 28

What was the dominant American political and social ideology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries?

A) Social Democracy
B) Classical Liberalism
C) Classical Republicanism
D) Corporatist Capitalism

Question 29

Which of the following are characteristics of American colonial settlement that influenced American political development?

A) Space for dissent and economic opportunity
B) Social fluidity and heterogeneity
C) Equality and tolerance
D) All of the above

Question 30

John Locke was a "giant" during which stage of the Western intellectual tradition?

A) The Ancient World
B) Modernity
C) The Middle Ages
D) The Renaissance

Question 31

Which of these statements most accurately describes democratic political participation in the early colonies?

A) In New England colonies, most white men were allowed to actively participate in local democratic governance
B) In southern colonies, most white men were allowed to actively participate in local democratic governance
C) In all colonies, most white men were allowed to actively participate in local democratic governance
D) In all of the colonies, active participation in governance was limited to a few white men

Question 32

What was the official religion of the British colonies in North America?

A) There was no single official religion throughout all of the British colonies
B) Puritanism
C) Anglican
D) Catholicism

Question 33

What is a polis?

A) Greek term for political community on the scale of a city
B) Latin term for political community on the scale of a city
C) Greek term for political community on the scale of a state
D) Latin term for political community on the scale of a country

Question 34

What is an aristocracy?

A) Rule by the many in the interest of the entire community
B) Rule of the few in their own self-interest
C) Rule by the few in the interest of the entire community
D) Both of the first two options

Question 35

What did Aristotle mean by a "polity?"

A) A political community in which the institutions of oligarchy and democracy were mixed to produce political stability
B) A political community that is no larger than a city unless part of a confederacy
C) The worst possible form of government
D) None of the above

Question 36

What does secular mean?

A) Religious
B) Otherworldly
C) Non-religious
D) Selfish

Question 37

Who is the legitimate source of political authority, according to the idea of individualism?

A) The powerful
B) The rich
C) The divine
D) The people

Question 38

What is social contract theory?

A) An argument that the legitimate origin of government is in the agreement of a free people
B) An argument that the legitimate origin of government rests with the "divine right of kings"
C) An argument that the non-legitimate origin of government is in the agreement of a free people
D) An argument that power rests exclusively with those best suited to exercise it

Question 39

Which one of the following pairs contains giants from the Protestant Reformation?

A) Niccolò Machiavelli and Montesquieu
B) Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes
C) Martin Luther and John Calvin
D) St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas

Question 40

The Preamble to the _______provides a summary statement of the document's principles and purposes.

A) Declaration of Independence
B) Articles of Federation
C) U.S. Constitution
D) Bill of Rights

Question 41

Which one of the following phrases is found in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution?

A) life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
B) secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity
C) indivisible, with liberty and justice for all
D) nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property

Question 42

During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was the only institution operating throughout Europe. Consequently, its principles and priorities were ___.

A) religious rather than secular
B) secular rather than religious
C) both secular and religious
D) neither religious nor secular

Question 43

Which of the following phrases best describes "direct democracy" by those who doubted its viability?

A) the respect of parents by children
B) the love of flowers by gardeners
C) the adoration of poetry by poets
D) the worship of jackals by jackasses

Question 44

John Locke thought that the _______ushered in an era in which government would be based on deliberation and free choice.

A) American Revolution
B) Glorious Revolution
C) French Revolution
D) Bolshevik Revolution

Question 45

With his "holy experiment," William Penn attempted to establish ___.

A) a society of peace among diverse religious sects
B) the kingdom of God on earth
C) a refuge strictly for persecuted Huguenots
D) a secular society devoid of religious sentiments

Question 46

The Middle Ages began with the collapse of the _______and ended with the beginnings of the ___.

A) early modern Europe
B) Renaissance
C) Roman Empire
D) Greek Empire

Question 47

_______and _______ relied on natural law theory in their political writings.

A) Seneca
B) Locke
C) Cicero
D) Zeno

Question 48

_______and _______ advocated the superiority of mixed government to promote political stability.

A) Locke
B) Polybius
C) Bacon
D) Plato

Question 49

John Locke thought that the Glorious Revolution ushered in an era of _______in which government would be based on ___.

A) deliberation and free choice
B) dissention and chaos
C) decrees and autocracy
D) peace and progress

Question 50

Change, usually evolutionary, sometimes revolutionary, is a constant in our politics.

Question 51

A Republic combines principles from monarchy, aristocracy and democracy.

Question 52

Secularism refers to the division of religious groups according to differences in theological interpretations of the Bible.

Question 53

The Puritans of early Massachusetts shared many ideas about politics with medieval Europeans.

Question 54

Montesquieu argued that circumstance and a nation's people should be considered when decided what sort of government is most useful and effective for a society.

Question 55

Adam Smith and John Locke were British intellectuals that influenced American thought.

Question 56

The principles of equality and tolerance were central to early American social thinking because these principles were central to the doctrines of most of the major religious traditions in North America at the time.

Question 57

The concept of individual rights is central to the ideas of individualism and classical liberalism?

Question 58

According to the Pro and Con section, democracy is always good.

Question 59

The principles of equality and tolerance were inherent among the religious traditions of most of the colonial settlers in America.

Question 60

According to the Let's Compare section, all settlements in North America during colonial times followed similar patterns.

Question 61

A modern definition of "democracy" would include reliance on free elections to select public officials and to affect the direction of public policy.

Question 62

Today, hot-button issues like illegal immigration, fake news, or Russian belligerence are arising for the first time.

Question 63

With the collapse of the Roman state, Europe fell into social, political, and economic disorder.

Question 64

With the collapse of the Roman state, the Catholic Church was the only institution operating throughout Europe.

Question 65

In the Middle Ages, Christians believed that God's Natural Law was imprinted on the mind and heart of man.

Question 66

Classical liberalism envisioned a society of free men, defining their own goals and pursuing their own interests, under the rule of law.

Question 67

Americans had long known and generally admired British institutions, including the British institutions of monarchy and aristocracy.

Question 68

Is American exceptionalism a reasonable description of how the United States developed? Why or why not?

Question 69

Contrast the purposes of government for the ancients and the moderns.

Question 70

Although Athenian democracy promised liberty and justice, class conflict frequently produced instability and injustice. What was missing?

Question 71

What elements of Greek and Roman political thought did early Americans adopt?

Question 72

Explain how political arrangements based on natural law provides stability and protects individual liberty.

Question 73

Ontologically, which comes first? Natural law or natural rights? Defend your answer.

Question 74

How have Individualism and secularism contributed to the development of the American government?

Question 75

In what major ways did diversity impact American colonial development?

Question 76

Do you believe that the social contract is a practical reality or only an abstract idea? Support your answer with concrete examples.

Question 77

Would Montesquieu support the spread of democracy across the globe? Why or why not?

Question 78

Contrast the six basic types of government as laid out by Aristotle. Then, describe his preferred complex (or mixed) regime. Why did he think this regime could be more stable than any of the basic types?

Question 79

What does the notion that there was a natural "openness" of America entail?

Question 80

As completely yet succinctly as possible, discuss the major concepts associated with classical liberalism.