Deck 4: American Political Culture American Political Culture

Question 1

 Since de Tocqueville's visit to the United States over 175 years ago,Americans' love for democracy has 

A) remained strong. 
B) risen dramatically. 
C) lessened significantly. 
D) lessened slightly. 
E) been replaced by a thirst for authoritarianism.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

 Americans generally believe that success in life is determined by 

A) the individual. 
B) forces beyond an individual's control. 
C) the system of government. 
D) the economic system. 
E) democracy.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

 Which principle of American political culture holds that people should generally be accountable for their own actions and well-being? 

A) Liberty 
B) Equality 
C) Civic duty 
D) Democracy 
E) Individual responsibility

Answer 3

E

Question 4

 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 5

 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 6

 In America,more than 80% of adults identify as 

A) White. 
B) Democrats. 
C) Republicans. 
D) Hispanic. 
E) Christian

Question 7

 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 8

 Most Americans believe that public officials are 

A) primarily interested in winning elections. 
B) generally honest but incompetent. 
C) generally competent but dishonest. 
D) primarily interested in advancing the common good. 
E) None of these are correct.

Question 9

 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) apologized to. 
C) let off completely. 
D) fined or ticketed. 
E) impeached.

Question 10

 Which political difference among nations is the most difficult to summarize? 

A) Constitutional 
B) Demographic 
C) Cultural 
D) All political differences among nations are equally difficult to summarize. 
E) None of these are correct.

Question 11

 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."

Question 12

 What do most Americans consider the biggest barrier to people's expression of their views? 

A) State-run propaganda 
B) Government censorship 
C) Political correctness 
D) Propaganda funded by business interests 
E) Diversity

Question 13

 de Tocqueville argued that American democracy endured as the byproduct of 

A) geography. 
B) laws. 
C) customs. 
D) manners. 
E) All of these are correct.

Question 14

 Americans are more willing to tolerate __________ than __________. 

A) economic inequality; political inequality 
B) freedom of speech; freedom of religion 
C) economic liberty; political liberty 
D) social inequality; economic inequality 
E) civil liberties; civil rights

Question 15

 Which principle of American political culture holds that people should generally be able to do whatever they want as long as they don't hurt other people? 

A) Liberty 
B) Equality 
C) Civic duty 
D) Democracy 
E) Capitalism

Question 16

 A political culture exists where 

A) there is a sustained 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 17

 When the South seceded from the Union,its new government  

A) was radically different from the Constitution. 
B) was closely modeled after the Constitution. 
C) was not a democracy. 
D) replaced republicanism with slavery. 
E) could not have survived peacetime.

Question 18

 This basic element of U.S.political culture holds that people ought to take community affairs seriously and help out when they can. 

A) Liberty 
B) Democracy 
C) Individualism 
D) Civic duty 
E) Economic equality

Question 19

 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 20

 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 21

 The text suggests that Americans have a "preoccupation" with 

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

Question 22

 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 23

 Americans' distrust of authority is rooted in 

A) economic theory. 
B) the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. 
C) the philosophy of John Locke. 
D) religion. 
E) the scientific method.

Question 24

 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 25

 Religious diversity flourished in the United States due to the absence of a(n) 

A) established religion. 
B) strong state governments 
C) strong central government. 
D) established aristocracy. 
E) charismatic religious leaders.

Question 26

 A classic study of America,Germany,Great Britain,Italy,and Mexico found that citizens of __________ had the highest sense of civic duty and civic competence. 

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

Question 27

 From one generation to the next,the importance of religion in America  

A) is fluctuating unpredictably. 
B) remains constant. 
C) is increasing. 
D) is declining. 
E) cannot be measured.

Question 28

 On average,Americans are more likely than Europeans to believe that 

A) religion is not an important part of life. 
B) we are here as a result of a cosmic accident. 
C) morality is relative. 
D) morality is absolute. 
E) None of these are correct.

Question 29

 Americans generally believe that 

A) the government runs inefficiently because public officials are overly concerned with what regular people think. 
B) public officials are incompetent and corrupt, and reform is impossible because the American system of government is fundamentally flawed. 
C) the American system of government is good, as are the people in power. 
D) public officials are honest and competent, but the flawed American system of government prevents them from doing good. 
E) the American system of government is good, but the people running it are inept.

Question 30

 During the 1730s and 1740s,the political life of the American colonies was transformed by 

A) an economic depression. 
B) war with France. 
C) a religious revivalist movement, called the First Great Awakening. 
D) a fight over trade between the North and South. 
E) a call for political independence.

Question 31

 In the 1830s,de Tocqueville was amazed how __________ Americans were in comparison to his fellow Europeans. 

A) religious 
B) tolerant 
C) educated 
D) progressive 
E) All of these are correct.

Question 32

 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 33

 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 34

 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 35

 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 36

 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) Swedish political cultural strongly believes that government should guarantee citizens a basic standard of living. 
D) education levels are much lower in Sweden. 
E) political parties are stronger in the United States.

Question 37

 Compared to Europeans,Americans are willing to accept an unusually high level of 

A) secular leadership. 
B) blue collar compensation. 
C) executive compensation. 
D) economic equality. 
E) government-sponsored care for the poor.

Question 38

 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) more likely to support liberal political candidates. 
C) more likely to support higher spending on welfare programs. 
D) more likely to favor limits on pay. 
E) All of these are correct.

Question 39

 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 40

 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) religious-based student clubs.

Question 41

 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 42

 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 43

 Based on research,Morris Fiorina argues that the culture war is more of a myth and is 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 merely not expressing its polarization. 
D) the major issues have been decided. 
E) the middle class is increasingly alienated from political processes.

Question 44

 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 1990s. 
C) polling techniques were not perfected until the 1970s. 
D) few Americans understand government or pay attention to it. 
E) people are more trusting of other institutions today.

Question 45

 In the culture wars,a progressive is more likely to 

A) value personal freedom as much as traditional rules. 
B) hold that morality is independent of individual preferences. 
C) believe that moral rules derive from the commands of God. 
D) believe that notions about right and wrong are clear and unchanging. 
E) believe that moral rules are more important than self-expression.

Question 46

 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 47

 Americans have a comparatively low degree of 

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

Question 48

 Most Americans consider themselves part of the 

A) lower class. 
B) middle class. 
C) upper class. 
D) silent majority. 
E) oppressed minority.

Question 49

 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 50

 This sociologist,who was the first to formulate our current understanding of the culture war,defined the United States has having two culture classes: orthodox and progressive. 

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

Question 51

 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 52

 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 53

 In the culture war,the progressive side often includes 

A) Catholics and people from the South. 
B) Southern Baptists. 
C) liberal Protestant denominations and people with no strong religious beliefs. 
D) Republicans. 
E) Prohibitionists.

Question 54

 The culture war in America is primarily a war over 

A) opportunity. 
B) liberty. 
C) status. 
D) money. 
E) values.

Question 55

 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 56

 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 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

 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 59

 Civil society is used to describe 

A) commercial groups. 
B) government agencies. 
C) quasi-public corporations. 
D) private, voluntary groups. 
E) None of these are correct.

Question 60

 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 61

 The sociologist Max Weber explained the rise of American capitalism as being due to the nation's commitment to civic duty. 

Question 62

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

Question 63

 The progressive side of the culture war takes the position that moral rules have to be evaluated in light of circumstances. 

Question 64

 Americans generally agree that taking care of the poor is the government's responsibility. 

Question 65

 Americans are more likely to believe in equality of results than in equality of opportunity. 

Question 66

 Americans are willing to support education and training programs to help disadvantaged people get ahead,but they are generally opposed to preferential treatment,such as hiring quotas. 

Question 67

 Religious individuals donate three times more money to charity compared to secular individuals in the same income groupings. 

Question 68

 Today,Americans have less trust in government than they once did. 

Question 69

 Secular persons are more likely to do volunteer work than religious persons. 

Question 70

 Donald Kinder and David Sears view Americans strong belief in economic individualism as "symbolic racism"-a kind of plausible camouflage for anti-black attitudes. 

Question 71

 Today,the nation's 54 million African Americans represent about 17 percent of the U.S.population,the largest single minority group. 

Question 72

 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 73

 Americans generally do not favor putting a top limit on incomes. 

Question 74

 In the 2000 presidential election,George Bush was the only candidate who extolled the virtues of religion and advocated the right of religious organizations that deliver social services to receive government funding. 

Question 75

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

Question 76

 Alexis de Tocqueville concluded that the success of American democratic institutions could be explained entirely by the U.S.Constitution and by the abundance of natural resources and land. 

Question 77

 How Americans think about the world,including how they think about politics,is largely acquired within the family. 

Question 78

 Swedes are less likely than Americans to challenge governmental decisions. 

Question 79

 Britons tend to have a higher sense of civic duty,compared to Americans. 

Question 80

 Today,popular confidence in political institutions remains higher in America than in many places abroad.