Deck 6: Political Behavior and the Political Environment

Question 1

When we talk about the political environment we are referring to:

A) the number of political billboards that exist
B) how frequently elections are held
C) the level of tension in political debates
D) the social, political, historical, and economic context in which politics takes place

Answer 1

the social, political, historical, and economic context in which politics takes place

Question 2

_____________ is the process that describes how individuals develop political attitudes.

A) Political mobilization
B) Political recruitment
C) Political socialization
D) Political entrepreneurship

Answer 2

Political socialization

Question 3

Negative political socialization may result in _____________.

A) political cynicism
B) political loyalty
C) political party activity
D) political enthusiasm

Answer 3

political cynicism

Question 4

A political role can be defined as

A) the political parties that compete in an election.
B) a pattern of expected behavior for individuals holding particular positions in a system.
C) the leadership position in a party, whether there is a president or a chairman.
D) whether the political mass supports a candidate for office or not.

Question 5

One of the most important agents of socialization is an individual's

A) first job.
B) first book read.
C) family.
D) geographic location.

Question 6

The notion of a political subculture may suggest that

A) different groups in society have different attitudes and values.
B) presidential systems and parliamentary systems are fundamentally the same.
C) the role of courts is to interpret written law.
D) legislatures effectively represent all groups in society.

Question 7

At the very least, political recruitment is important for politics because

A) it can affect whether the judiciary pays attention to what the president wants.
B) who the office holders are in politics makes a difference in terms of what happens.
C) it reflects the kind of electoral system a nation has.
D) it affects the economic relations between actors in the political system.

Question 8

The two parts of the recruitment process are initial recruitment to politics, and later

A) the development of political attitudes among officeholders.
B) the relationship between branches of the government,
C) the frequency with which elections are held.
D) promotion within the political infrastructure.

Question 9

One interesting pattern of political recruitment in the United States is that

A) race makes no difference in terms of office holding.
B) many more lawyers are elected to Congress than in other nations.
C) gender makes no difference in terms of office holding.
D) young candidates win elections significantly more frequently than older candidates

Question 10

The concept of social class refers to the ordering of groups in society

A) and affects how frequently elections take place.
B) including such objective characteristics as income, education, or occupation.
C) without taking into consideration economic status.
D) and is affected by military spending by the government.

Question 11

A class approach to the study of politics is based upon the notion of stratification. This means that

A) some classes are made up of a single occupational group.
B) some classes are divided on the basis of gender.
C) some classes have more rights than others simply because of their class identity.
D) some classes are insulated from economic factors in society.

Question 12

The notion that suggests that not only do different classes exist, but that they are in competition with each other to have more power, more access to resources, or more security, is called:

A) political socialization
B) political ethnocentrism
C) class conflict
D) judicial precedent

Question 13

Why is gender important in politics?

A) Women tend to hold far less than a proportional share of the leadership positions ingovernment.
B) Women have completely overcome barriers to their political participation.
C) Women make better political decisions than men.
D) Women have never been associated with political conflict.

Question 14

Reasons for lack of political opportunities for women include all of the following except:

A) legal limitations
B) ability
C) cultural limitations
D) colonialism

Question 15

One of the key goals of feminism is to

A) take control of politics.
B) teach all men to respect women.
C) remove the pattern of unequal opportunities for women in contemporary society.
D) erase all conflict in society.

Question 16

Economic development in the Third World

A) would not be a challenge if women were in power.
B) is a result of legislative inaction in the developed world.
C) could be facilitated by a different judicial framework.
D) is bringing opportunities for girls and women.

Question 17

What is the term used to describe those who have relatively high levels of interest in politics and relatively high levels of involvement in the political process?

A) the politburo
B) the intelligentsia
C) the political elite
D) the green political party

Question 18

The term used to describe the existence of many groups in society is:

A) stare decisis
B) polytheism
C) pluralism
D) isomorphism

Question 19

The concept of an open elite refers to the opportunity

A) for the military to decide who has access to political participation.
B) for the judiciary to rule on who can participate in politics.
C) for members of the political masses to become part of the political elite.
D) for the bureaucracy to have more influence in policymaking.

Question 20

Violence as a political concept

A) is associated with economic pluralism.
B) has many different meanings and is difficult to define precisely.
C) does not exist in ethnically homogeneous societies.
D) is historically not sustainable in the Western hemisphere.

Question 21

What is the term used to describe a "revolution from above," the sudden seizure of power from above, usually carried out by individuals near the center of power who have access to resources and political support?

A) coup d'etat
B) jacquerie
C) praetorianism
D) palace guard

Question 22

The term used to describe a mass revolution, involving significant and radical changes in the ruling class, is:

A) coup d'etat
B) jacquerie
C) praetorianism
D) palace guard

Question 23

Guerrilla warfare usually involves violent action that

A) focuses on government targets, usually military targets.
B) is carried out with economic patterns of behavior.
C) results from legislative policymaking.
D) follows on the heels of judicial decision making.

Question 24

Terrorist violence is often illustrated by an act that is

A) carried out by individuals wearing masks.
B) very private and secretive.
C) publically announced in advance and covered by the media.
D) random or symbolic in nature.

Question 25

Which is an example of environmental terrorism?

A) bombing a Pan American airliner
B) hijacking a boat off the coast of Somalia
C) attacking a power grid in Japan
D) Saddam Hussein ordering the dumping of oil into the Persian Gulf

Question 26

The term "political education" was addressed in Plato's Republic.

Question 27

The concept of brainwashing is completely unrelated to the concept of political socialization.

Question 28

Political roles and role behavior are not established at birth, but are taught.

Question 29

Cross-cultural differences and similarities in socialization can affect what is learned about politics.

Question 30

The most widely studied dimension of socialization research is the "by whom or what" question.

Question 31

The study of elite socialization asks the question "how do political elites transfer their values to the lower class?"

Question 32

The study of political recruitment suggests that political recruitment is a process.

Question 33

In the United Sates, political parties are more powerful at present than they have ever been in the process of political recruitment.

Question 34

Under Mexican law the President must be male.

Question 35

Ethnic identity is rarely associated with social class.

Question 36

A key concept in the theory of class conflict is that classes are happy to admit other classes to elite status.

Question 37

Feminists today only want to remove restrictions on political opportunities for women.

Question 38

In the book The Power Elite (1956),C. Wright Mills argued that the United States was dominated by a small number of military, political, and corporate leaders, a true elite.

Question 39

Elite theory usually is illustrated by showing society in the shape of a circle.

Question 40

Examples of political violence might be an election, a tension-filled court case, or a repressive tax policy.

Question 41

What is the value of a theory of political socialization? How does it help us to understand how the political world operates?

Question 42

If political recruitment is important because it is important to know who will become officeholders, does our understanding of recruitment today help much? What do we know about how recruitment works? Is there much difference across national borders and cultures?

Question 43

What has changed in our understanding of political elite since Mills's book appeared in 1956? Is there a "power elite" in politics today? Is a having a power elite a good thing or a bad thing?

Question 44

What is the relationship between a political elite and democratic government? What is the relationship between a political elite and stable government? Are they the same thing?

Question 45

Is there ever a place in democratic society for political violence?