Deck 3: Elites in America

Question 1

Pluralism treats business elites as

A) leaders of just another interest group.
B) central actors in the economy.
C) more powerful than government elites.
D) talented and resourceful individuals.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Jacksonian democracy was concerned with ___________.

A) absolute equality
B) opening up the elite
C) redistributing wealth
D) voting rights for women

Answer 2

B

Question 3

A)

Answer 3

A

Question 4

After the economic collapse of 2008,

A) the administration of George W. Bush took no economic action.
B) the administration of George W. Bush took over two automobile companies and seized bailed banks.
C) the administration of George W. Bush purchased the nation's largest insurance company (AIG).
D) Both options (b) and (c) are true.

Answer 4

C

Question 5

The Supreme Court ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford protected slavery as a form of

A) economic production.
B) property.
C) cultural expression.
D) class system.

Question 6

According to the survey results from the Pew Research Center, which government entity has the lowest opinion regarding the ability of the masses to make an informed opinion regarding major issues?

A) Congress
B) Presidential Staff
C) President
D) Senior Bureaucrats

Question 7

Corporate power is generally wielded by the ______________ of the nation's large industrial corporations and financial institutions.

A) Shareholders
B) Creditors
C) founders
D) managers

Question 8

The Supreme Court case that validated the broad definition of national power as suggested by Alexander Hamilton regarding the "necessary and proper" clause was ________________.

A) Marbury v. Madison
B) United States v. Washington
C) McCulloch v. Maryland
D) Plessy v. Ferguson

Question 9

The largest non-financial corporation in America is

A) General Motors
B) Apple, Inc.
C) Wal-Mart.
D) Exxon-Mobil.

Question 10

Which of the following is responsible for keeping acting as a check on the elite system in the United States?

A) Popular elections
B) Elite competition
C) One party dominance
D) Corporate interests

Question 11

The New Deal is best characterized as

A) a reform of the capitalist system.
B) a series of provisions adopted suddenly.
C) using Keynesian economics to protect the economy.
D) all of the above.

Question 12

The Anti-Federalists were a coalition of

A) manufacturers and Northern landowners.
B) state elites and commercial elites.
C) Southern plantation owners.
D) none of the above.

Question 13

Industrial elites came to prominence in large part because

A) the Civil War removed competing Southern planter elites.
B) war profits allowed them to be independent of government spending.
C) canals and railroads brought in foreign competition.
D) None of the above is true.

Question 14

Alexander Hamilton recognized that the United States would require __________ to ensure the confidence of financial elites. .

A) low income taxes
B) a sound financial basis
C) repression of mass uprisings
D) French styled economic policies

Question 15

Which government act brought about the government ability to promote fair trade and prevent unfair or deceptive acts of commerce?

A) Interstate Commerce Act
B) Federal Reserve Act
C) Sherman Antitrust Act
D) Establishment of the Federal Trade Commission

Question 16

Which of the following contributed to elite willingness to reform the American system in the 1930s?

A) The rise of communism in Russia
B) The rise of fascism in Germany
C) Assignation of President McKinley
D) All of the above are true.

Question 17

Which best describes an open elite system?

A) Social Darwinism
B) Absorption of anti-democratic leaders into the elite
C) Slow and continuous modification of the ruling class
D) Turnover of Representatives and Senators in elections

Question 18

The principle that all (white) men should have the right to vote and hold office, even if they don't have property was advocated by

A) George Washington.
B) Andrew Jackson.
C) Thomas Jefferson.
D) Abraham Lincoln.

Question 19

Northern Elites in the 1800s saw the West as important to them because it was

A) a substantial source of raw materials.
B) a lucrative market for manufactured goods to be consumed.
C) an area for the development of non-slave states to fight Southern political power.
D) All of the above are true.

Question 20

Power in the United States requires an elite member to be
a.
in an institutional position.
b.
born in to the elite.
c.
highly educated.
d.
politically connected.

Question 21

________________ may have been the last Founding Father to publicly acknowledge elitist views.

A) Thomas Jefferson
B) James Madison
C) Alexander Hamilton
D) John Adams

Question 22

______________ is / are considered part of the "third force" in U.S. elite society and have been labeled as the Establishment.

A) The RAND Corporation
B) The Cato Institute
C) The Council on Foreign Relations
D) All of the above

Question 23

Who is the only modern president to reduce the size and cost of the federal government?

A) Ronald Reagan
C) Bill Clinton
C) George H.W. Bush
D) Barack Obama

Question 24

Due to the risks associated with ___________________, investing in them is limited to the elites.

A) hedge funds
B) foreign currency
C) government bonds
D) private equity stocks

Question 25

Changes in policy in American government are best described as ___________________ in nature.

Question 26

Politicians focus on which of the following?

A) Running the government
B) Seeking office
C) Economics
D) All of the above

Question 27

Which corporation has a so-called "revolving door" regarding the number of former employees working in the economic sectors of various administrations?

A) AIG
B) Goldman Sachs
C) JP Morgan Chase
D) Citigroup

Question 28

In the elite model of public policymaking, opinion making is performed by

A) foundations and universities.
B) think tanks.
C) government commissions and the media.
D) corporations.

Question 29

Which of the following is an elite from President Obama's administration due to their experience as a politician?

A) Janet Napolitano
B) Joe Biden
C) John Kerry
D) all of the above

Question 30

Public policy, according to ________________, reflects an equilibrium of the relative influence of interest groups.

A) elites
B) policy specialists
C) pluralists
D) policy-planning groups

Question 31

In 2010, the median pay package of a corporate CEO was ______ greater than the average worker's pay.

A) 168 times
B) 343 times
C) 525 times
D) 615 times

Question 32

In 2000, the median pay package of a corporate CEO was ________ greater than the average worker's pay.

A) 40 times
B) 168 times
C) 343 times
D) 525 times

Question 33

___________________ is the term for the movement of talented and ambitious individuals from the lower strata into the elite.

Question 34

Large control blocks of stock in corporations are usually held by which of the following institutions?

A) Banks
B) Mutual funds
C) Pension trusts
D) All of the above

Question 35

In 2013, the median pay for a CEO averaged ________ million dollars.

A) 11.7
B) 17
C) 25
D) 15

Question 36

Power in the United States is organized into large ___________________.

Question 37

Elite theory suggests that the initial resources for research, study, planning, and formulation of national policy are derived from

A) various non-profit organizations.
B) anonymous sources.
C) corporate and personal wealth.
D) none of the above.

Question 38

_______________ are the group in the United States primarily responsible for making policy decisions.

Question 39

Elites communicate with the masses and each other through newspapers such as the

A) New York Times.
B) Wall Street Journal.
C) Washington Times.
D) All of the above are true.

Question 40

There has only been one breakdown of elite consensus in American history; it resulted in the ___________________.

Question 41

The election of which president ushered in a new era in U.S. Elite philosophy because it threatened the status of the current elite class?

A) Woodrow Wilson
B) Franklin D. Roosevelt
C) Williams Jennings Bryant
D) William McKinley

Question 42

In a free-market economy, most key economic decisions are made by ___________________.

Question 43

Before the Great Depression, the federal budget hit an all-time high at $18.5 billion during World War I.

Question 44

In terms of market capitalization, the world's most valuable corporation is ______________.

Question 45

Person in positions of power at large public and private institutions like corporations, banks and financial institutions, universities, law firms, religious institutions, professional associations, and military and government bureaucracies are the _________________.

Question 46

The Bank of the United States was successful at stabilizing the currency because it could issue currency as well.

Question 47

__________________ is the party that opposed Hamilton but had no intention of redistributing wealth.

Question 48

The term ___________________ describes elites moving from one power position to another among the private and public sectors.

Question 49

The notion that the elite have a responsibility for the welfare of the masses is called ___________________.

Question 50

________________ is the Supreme Court case that upheld Hamilton's broad definition of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

Question 51

Bank of America is the largest financial Corporation in America. The largest non-financial corporation in America is _________________.

Question 52

Alexander Hamilton was the most influential man in the creation of the United States' banking system and as a commercial nation.

Question 53

Elites are defined as anyone who participates in decisions that allocates resources for society. .

Question 54

___________________ refers to directors of corporations sitting on multiple boards.

Question 55

The Homestead Act and the Transcontinental Railroad Act of 1862 both promoted ___________________.

Question 56

Policy-planning groups are also known as ___________________.

Question 57

__________ was the railroad industrial elitist who stated, "The public be damned."

Question 58

The economic collapse of the ___________________resulted in the adoption of Keynesian economics as a way to control the economy.

Question 59

The man who led the opposition to Hamilton's economic program was___________________.

Question 60

Governmental elites must respond to media definitions of social problems.

Question 61

More than half of American exports before the Civil War were ___________________.

Question 62

Elite Theory states that economic elites are distinctly powerful in shaping government policy.

Question 63

In the slave-owning South, only half of the (white male) population owned more than 50 slaves.

Question 64

Public Employee pension funds are an important part of many hedge funds because they are considered a safe investment.

Question 65

The largest 500 corporations in American collectively take in about $15.7 billion each year.

Question 66

Most large corporations in America are run and controlled by the men who created them.

Question 67

The Heritage Foundation promotes a progressive, liberal agenda.

Question 68

The Federal Reserve Act was passed to prevent an economic crisis or another Great Depression.

Question 69

Think tanks reflect a variety of ideological perspectives.

Question 70

Corporate executive elites often staff key government positions before and after public service.

Question 71

How does noblesse oblige bind the elites to the masses? Do politicians and government elites still adhere to the notion of noblesse oblige?

Question 72

The rapid development of the American West made the new political struggle in the 1800s one of the settler masses against the financial elites.

Question 73

The Democratic Republicans defeated the Federalists by eliminating their programs once taking control of the government.

Question 74

How does noblesse oblige reinforce the ideas of elitism as an explanation of American politics?

Question 75

Considering the chart on about the responses from congressional and presidential staff and senior bureaucrats, what does this have to tell us about elite attitude towards mass governance?

Question 76

Interlocking directorates occur when economic elites, such as managers or directors, hold positions in multiple companies.

Question 77

Another name for the "necessary and proper" clause regarding Congressional power is the elastic clause.

Question 78

Formal control of the nation's economy rests in the hands of the Congress and the President.

Question 79

Discuss how Alexander Hamilton's policies created the United States banking system and commercial industry. How can this be seen in today's economy?

Question 80

Is the idea of the "circulation of elites" real in America today? Explain your answer and provide examples.