Deck 1: Democracy and American Politics

Question 1

What is the central idea of democracy?

A) Minorities have the full power of decision making over all matters that affect them.
B) Rule by the majority must prevail, even if majority tyranny is the result.
C) Ordinary people want to rule themselves and are capable of doing so.
D) Policy is determined by tyranny of the majority.
E) Majority rule violates minority rights.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following refers to basic freedoms essential to the formation and expression of majority opinion and its translation into public policies?

A) tyranny of the majority
B) majority rules
C) political equality
D) popular sovereignty
E) political liberty

Answer 2

E

Question 3

What constitutes government action?

A) public officials that have formal, legal responsibility in making policy
B) political actors that do not hold official public office
C) institutions that transmit preferences to elected officials
D) what issues become important in politics and government
E) what government does

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Under which circumstance is political equality violated?

A) if citizens are free to argue and debate
B) if citizens are free to form and express their political opinions
C) if some people can speak out but others cannot
D) if the voice of the people is welcomed
E) if people are encouraged to participate in politics

Question 5

The framework presented in this chapter to understand American politics is a set of interrelated actors and influences that operate in which of the following interconnected realms?

A) institutions, interests, and citizens
B) the media, the courts, and the internecine political institutions
C) composition, opposition, and despotism
D) structural, political linkages, and governmental sectors
E) skill, fortune, and opportunity

Question 6

Political linkages are particularly suited to which of the following?

A) communicating the most fundamental and enduring factors that influence politics
B) transmitting the desires of people to representatives in government
C) overseeing the policymaking activities of Congress and the presidency
D) acting on behalf of the government
E) influencing the distribution of income and wealth in society

Question 7

Freedom of speech, religion, association, and the press are examples of which of the following?

A) civil rights
B) state mandates
C) nonexclusionary rights
D) political liberties
E) absolute equalities

Question 8

Which of the following is true according to the principle of popular sovereignty?

A) Power should be exercised by an educated elite.
B) The ultimate source of authority rests with the people.
C) A democratic system is based on the concept of material equality.
D) Majority rule is unacceptable because it leads to tyranny.
E) Minority rule trumps majority power in close elections.

Question 9

The suppression of the rights and liberties of a minority by the majority is which of the following?

A) majority tyranny
B) liberal democracy
C) representative democracy
D) self-government
E) social contract

Question 10

Some people claim that the media increasingly peddles ideologically biased political news. If this is true, which of the following necessary conditions for popular sovereignty is jeopardized?

A) that government policies reflect the wishes of the people
B) that government leaders are selected in competitive elections
C) that elections are free and fair
D) that high-quality information is available
E) that the majority rules

Question 11

With regard to the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which of the following is best classified as a political linkage factor?

A) the growing electoral power of African Americans outside the South
B) the Supreme Court, which was becoming increasingly supportive of civil rights
C) the rules established by the Constitution
D) President Johnson and his support of civil rights
E) Jim Crow laws

Question 12

What does political equality mean?

A) Each person carries the same weight in voting and other political decision making.
B) The opinions and preferences of citizens are combined into a binding decision through the principle of majority rule.
C) Protection will be provided for basic freedoms essential to the formation and expression of the popular will and its translation into policy.
D) The will of the majority is not to be the ultimate determinant of what government does.
E) Each person should have the same opportunities to succeed in society.

Question 13

What did Jim Crow laws represent?

A) the official system of integration in the South
B) the voter registration system in the South that frequently disenfranchised blacks
C) the official system of segregation in the South
D) the official social contract used in the South
E) the institution of slavery

Question 14

Rule by the people that is exercised in open assemblies is synonymous with which of the following?

A) the Framer's view of democracy
B) modern democracy
C) indirect democracy
D) the ancient Greeks' view of democracy
E) representative democracy

Question 15

Civil rights are a combination of which of the following?

A) popularity sovereignty and majority rule
B) equal treatment and majority rule
C) political equality and equal treatment
D) majority rule and political liberty
E) civil liberties and equality

Question 16

Representative democracy best describes government in which of the following?

A) ancient Greece
B) eighteenth-century Europe
C) the United States
D) North Korea
E) New England town hall meetings

Question 17

Political actors, institutions, and processes that transmit the demands of the people are known as which of the following?

A) political linkage factors
B) government actions
C) tyrannical abuses of power
D) media-driven social anxiety
E) government factors

Question 18

Which of the following democracies would most likely be favored by Aristotle, Jefferson, Rousseau, and Dahl?

A) a democracy with a large difference between the rich and the poor
B) a democracy with a large and educated ruling class where political power is concentrated
C) a democracy with a small difference between the rich and the poor
D) a democracy with a large and educated ruling class where economic power is concentrated
E) a democracy with a small and educated ruling class where political and economic power is concentrated

Question 19

Which of the following serves as an indicator of a mostly anti-government moment in American history?

A) Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal
B) the "Occupy Wall Street" movement
C) the focus of Congress and President Obama in 2011 and 2012 on the problem of budget deficits
D) FEMA's response to Hurricane Katrina
E) September 11, 2001

Question 20

Why do some political thinkers believe that democracy is superior to other forms of government?

A) because it encourages dreams that can never be achieved
B) because it is incapable of promoting progress on important decisions
C) because it protects human rights
D) because it is found only in the United States
E) because it subverts the views of the masses

Question 21

Why is direct democracy untenable in the United States?

A) It exudes socialism.
B) It yields inferior policy results.
C) The U.S. population is too heavily concentrated on the East Coast.
D) The U.S. population is too homogeneous.
E) The U.S. population is too large.

Question 22

Some political commentators argue that the participatory aspects of direct democracy are not worth preserving as an ideal.

Question 23

To the ancient Greeks, democracy meant rule by the common people exercised directly in open assemblies.

Question 24

What are the three fundamental benchmarks of a healthy representative democracy? Provide a supporting element of each benchmark.

Question 25

Why is it important for democratic citizens to have high-quality information?

A) High-quality information ensures that public opinion will coalesce around public policy solutions that are agreeable to most Americans.
B) High-quality information is a prerequisite for voting in most states.
C) Political leaders respond only to informed public opinion, and the public cannot be informed without high-quality information.
D) High-quality information enables the formation of political opinions that are consistent with one's values and interests.
E) The media relies on high-quality information to keep politicians honest.

Question 26

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, some Muslim Americans became targets of popular hostility. This is an example of majority tyranny.

Question 27

Why is participation in the political process an important condition of popular sovereignty?

A) Participation conveys the will of the people.
B) Participation prevents leaders from being responsible to the public.
C) Participation helps to ensure that the public is well-informed about policy issues.
D) Participation protects the public from overly responsive political leaders.
E) Participation overcomes political apathy and political efficacy.

Question 28

Essential political liberties including the freedoms of speech, of conscience and religion, of the press, and of assembly and association are embodied in the __________ Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Question 29

Most people around the world prefer to be governed by benevolent military regimes.

Question 30

How does majority tyranny threaten political liberty? What is a recent example?

Question 31

Philosopher John Locke thought that individual rights and liberties were so fundamental to the good society that their preservation was the central responsibility of any legitimate government and that their protection was the very reason people agreed to enter into a __________ to form government in the first place.

Question 32

It is safe to say that most people do not want to live in places where there is no government to speak of at all.

Question 33

The most obvious sign of popular sovereignty is the existence of a close correspondence between what __________ does and what the people want it to do.

Question 34

A monarchy includes rule by the one.

Question 35

If __________ are to be useful as a way to keep government leaders responsive and responsible, they must be conducted in a fashion that is free and fair.

Question 36

After the 2008 presidential election, the news media frequently presented standard geographic maps of the United States that were intended to summarize the election results. These maps typically had states won by Barack Obama colored blue, while states won by John McCain were colored red. What might be a misleading factor observed on the standard maps?

A) The maps overemphasize the partisan divide in the United States.
B) The maps do not take into account population density within each state.
C) The maps exaggerate the diversity of voters within each state.
D) The maps make appropriate adjustments for the size of a state's population
E) The maps emphasize people over geographical space.

Question 37

Describe the central idea of democracy. What elements account for this idea's widespread popularity around the world?

Question 38

Taken together, political equality and equal treatment are sometimes called __________.

Question 39

The form of political decision making in which policies are decided on the basis of what a majority of the people want is known as __________.

Question 40

In what type of situation would you recommend direct democracy over representative democracy? Why? Give an example.

Question 41

Examine the government's response to the BP Gulf oil spill using the analytical framework provided in your textbook.

Question 42

Are the low levels of voter turnout in American elections an indication that popular sovereignty does not really exist in the United States? Why or why not?

Question 43

In your opinion, is representative democracy or direct democracy preferable? Based on your answers, what changes would you make to the American political system?

Question 44

In the text's "Using the Framework" feature, which political linkage do you think proved most influential in overcoming Southern resistance to political participation by African Americans before the Voting Rights Act of 1965? Why?

Question 45

If you were to debate critics of liberal democracy, how would you respond to their most common criticisms?

Question 46

Describe the extent to which citizens are the ultimate source of government authority in the United States by explaining the seven conditions related to popular sovereignty.