Deck 1: People, Politics, and Participation

Question 1

Which age group has had the highest turnout rate in recent presidential elections?

A) 18-24
B) 25-44
C) 45-64
D) 65+
E) Voter turnout for the various age groups was essentially the same in recent elections.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

All of the following are considered public goods EXCEPT

A) access to government-provided health care.
B) roads and highways.
C) bridges.
D) clean air and water.
E) access to air transportation.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT a commodity tax?

A) sales tax
B) property tax
C) income tax
D) sin tax
E) luxury tax

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which decade saw a marked decline in American attitudes toward government?

A) 1950s
B) 1960s
C) 1970s
D) 1980s
E) 1990s

Question 5

What is the foundation of the legal structure of the United States?

A) the Supreme Court
B) the federal Constitution
C) state constitutions
D) local constitutions
E) the federal court system

Question 6

Which of the following services is facilitated by federal, state, and local governments?

A) health services
B) roads
C) bridges
D) education
E) communication

Question 7

Buycotting is

A) buying items produced by companies whose practices you agree with.
B) refusing to buy items produced by companies whose policies you disagree with.
C) buying items from companies who contribute donations to political parties you support.
D) buying items from companies whose products you like.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 8

In which presidential election was voter turnout by 18-24-year-olds the HIGHEST?

A) 2000
B) 2004
C) 2008
D) 2012
E) Voter turnout for 18-24-year-olds was essentially the same in all four elections.

Question 9

Which of the following services is provided by federal, state, and local governments?

A) commerce
B) entertainment
C) air travel
D) education
E) communication

Question 10

After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, what percentage of young people supported U.S. military actions in Afghanistan?

A) 50 percent
B) 60 percent
C) 70 percent
D) 80 percent
E) 90 percent

Question 11

Efficacy is citizens' belief that

A) they have the power to achieve something desirable, and that the government will listen to them.
B) government should be run efficiently and effectively by a small group of bureaucrats.
C) government exists for the maintenance of individual and general welfare.
D) government policies should be based on the protection of individual rights and freedoms.
E) government can and should work to benefit all sectors of society.

Question 12

Political engagement can be defined as

A) citizen actions intended to solve public problems through political means.
B) citizen actions intended to address ideological differences through public interaction.
C) individual and collective actions designed to identify issues of public concern.
D) individual and collective efforts to describe political actions and outcomes.
E) citizen actions intended to generate public awareness of the country's problems.

Question 13

Which of the following terms matches this description? "A quality conferred on government by citizens who believe that its exercise of power is right and proper."

A) authenticity
B) legitimacy
C) veracity
D) populism
E) right of exercise

Question 14

Electoral politics in the United States was much the same in 1990 as it had been in 1890. The advent of which technologies transformed electoral politics?

A) computers, rapid air transit, and satellite television
B) cell phones, satellite television, and the Internet
C) personal computers, cell phones, and the Internet
D) cell phones, PDAs, and satellite radio
E) rapid air transit, personal computers, and PDAs

Question 15

Which of these types of government sees power held in the hands of an elite few?

A) monarchy
B) oligarchy
C) democracy
D) autocracy
E) tyranny

Question 16

What rate of income tax from all levels of government is currently in place in the United States?

A) between 15 and 25 percent of each dollar earned
B) between 15 and 35 percent of each dollar earned
C) between 25 and 35 percent of each dollar earned
D) between 25 and 45 percent of each dollar earned
E) between 35 and 45 percent of each dollar earned

Question 17

Which of the following are actions practiced by individuals who engage in civic life and public experience?

A) active communication with representatives and policymakers
B) advocating for one's and others' self-interest
C) holding public officials accountable for their actions and decisions
D) accumulation of knowledge about public issues
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 18

Which of these types of governmental structure essentially controls every aspect of citizens' lives?

A) totalitarian
B) authoritarian
C) constitutional
D) libertarian
E) anarchic

Question 19

How many factors influence the way social scientists classify modern world governments?

A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five
E) six

Question 20

Which of these types of government places the supreme power of governance in the hands of citizens?

A) tyranny
B) oligarchy
C) democracy
D) monarchy
E) autocracy

Question 21

Which of the following phrases best describes the form of government of the United States?

A) oligarchy
B) authoritarian democracy
C) constitutional democracy
D) constitutional monarchy
E) directed democracy

Question 22

Who wrote Two Treatises on Civil Government in 1689, arguing against divine right monarchy and proposing the existence of inalienable individual rights?

A) Sir Isaac Newton
B) Baron de Montesquieu
C) Jacques-Benigne Bossuet
D) John Locke
E) Thomas Hobbes

Question 23

Who of the following constructed the concept of natural law, which asserts that standards that govern human behavior are derived from human nature and can be universally applied?

A) Sir Isaac Newton
B) Baron de Montesquieu
C) Jacques-Benigne Bossuet
D) John Locke
E) Thomas Hobbes

Question 24

In the early years of the American republic, the right to vote was

A) available to white men only.
B) available to white men and women only.
C) available to white and black men only.
D) available to women and men of all races, but not immigrants.
E) available to women and men of all races, including immigrants.

Question 25

A social contract can be defined as an agreement between people and their leaders in which

A) the leaders agree to surrender some powers in exchange for popular support.
B) the people agree to give up some liberties in exchange for the protection of their other liberties.
C) the people agree to give up most of their liberties in exchange for security and protection.
D) the leaders agree to surrender most of their powers to popular political structures.
E) the people agree to surrender all of their liberties in exchange for security and protection.

Question 26

Which of these types of governmental structure is limited, or restricted in its actions, so that citizens' rights are protected?

A) totalitarian
B) authoritarian
C) constitutional
D) libertarian
E) anarchic

Question 27

Which of the following values is considered the MOST essential quality of American democracy?

A) equality
B) collectivism
C) liberty
D) security
E) self-government

Question 28

According to this philosopher, without the rule of a strong monarch, people would lead lives that were ".....solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

A) Jean-Jacques Rousseau
B) Martin Luther
C) Isaac Newton
D) Thomas Jefferson
E) Thomas Hobbes

Question 29

Political culture can be defined as the

A) different political parties and ideologies that are formed within societies.
B) groups and industries within our society that concern themselves with political issues.
C) individual beliefs and opinions of citizens within large communities and societies.
D) people's collective beliefs and attitudes about political and government processes.
E) people's collective support or dislike of different political parties and governmental institutions.

Question 30

Which centuries saw the evolution of the modern concept of equality?

A) sixteenth and seventeenth
B) seventeenth and eighteenth
C) eighteenth and nineteenth
D) nineteenth and twentieth
E) twentieth and twenty-first

Question 31

What structure of government, in which citizens decide policy through majority rule, was formed by the colonists in New England who fled religious persecution in England?

A) indirect democracy
B) representative democracy
C) direct democracy
D) oligarchy
E) constitutional democracy

Question 32

What does the Greek term demokratia translate to mean?

A) democracy
B) people power
C) people's will
D) liberty
E) freedom

Question 33

Which of these countries is considered an authoritarian state system?

A) the United States
B) North Korea
C) Canada
D) Japan
E) China

Question 34

What is another name for indirect democracy, where citizens elect representatives who decide policies on their behalf?

A) representative democracy
B) guided democracy
C) limited democracy
D) directed democracy
E) constitutional democracy

Question 35

According to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, government that is created by the people is dependent on the authority of the people to rule, which is otherwise known as

A) legitimacy.
B) the divine right.
C) natural law.
D) social contract theory.
E) popular sovereignty.

Question 36

Which of these countries is considered a totalitarian state system?

A) the United States
B) North Korea
C) Canada
D) Japan
E) China

Question 37

Who was the chief advocate of divine-right monarchy, or the idea that monarchs and emperors ruled according to God's will?

A) Jean-Jacques Rousseau
B) Baron de Montesquieu
C) Jacques-Benigne Bossuet
D) John Locke
E) Thomas Hobbes

Question 38

Why did Martin Luther's actions spark the Reformation?

A) He called for a social contract between religious leaders and the faithful.
B) He campaigned to be Pope, but was rejected.
C) He denounced the concept of the divine right of kings.
D) He openly criticized harmful practices of the Catholic Church.
E) He wanted the powers of Catholic priests to be increased.

Question 39

President Obama's decision that businesses who provide health care plans must give employees free birth control conflicted MOST with the American value of

A) equality.
B) capitalism.
C) consent of the governed.
D) liberty.
E) emphasis on individual, family, and community.

Question 40

The Occupy movements that arose in fall 2011 were an example of the disagreements that exist in the United States over the concept of

A) political ideology.
B) legal equality.
C) liberty.
D) economic equality.
E) political culture.

Question 41

Political ideology provides a framework for which of the following?

A) thinking about politics
B) thinking about policy issues
C) considering the role of government in everyone's lives
D) thinking about political structures
E) thinking about politics, thinking about policy issues, and considering the role of government in everyone's lives

Question 42

Which of the following was NOT one of the key tenets of classical liberalism?

A) unfettered market economy
B) freedom of thought
C) strong governmental authority
D) rule of law
E) consent of the governed

Question 43

Which age group is MOST conservative?

A) 18-29
B) 30-49
C) 45-64
D) 65+
E) All age groups are about equally conservative.

Question 44

Which of the liberties protected by the Constitution illustrates the intimate relationship between individual and community life favored by the Constitution's framers?

A) freedom of speech
B) protection from search and seizure
C) freedom of assembly
D) freedom of religion
E) right to bear arms

Question 45

Projections of the U.S. population through 2050 indicate that, by 2050,

A) the proportion of older Americans will have increased.
B) the proportion of older Americans will be about the same.
C) the proportion of middle-aged Americans will have increased.
D) total population numbers will be lower than they are now.
E) total population numbers will have leveled off.

Question 46

Which ideology places the greatest emphasis on traditional values?

A) Liberalism
B) Conservatism
C) Socialism
D) Libertarianism
E) Populism

Question 47

Libertarianism advocates which of the following principles?

A) government provided safety net
B) socialist economy
C) "hands-on" government approach
D) rights of property owners
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 48

Which of the following statements about majority rule is NOT true?

A) Only policies with vote of 50 percent plus one are enacted.
B) It often paired with the concept of the protection of minority rights.
C) Political candidates in all democracies must win a majority of votes.
D) Governments based on this rule believe in the right of self-governance.
E) It is implicit within the concept of consent of the governed.

Question 49

Which regions of the United States are seeing increased elderly populations, as younger people leave these regions and seek opportunities elsewhere?

A) West and Northeast
B) South and Southwest
C) Midwest and Plains
D) Southwest and Northeast
E) Southeast and Northeast

Question 50

Conservatism advocates which of the following principles?

A) separation of church and state
B) no prayer in public schools
C) the importance of civil liberties
D) recognition and protection of states' rights
E) government provided safety net

Question 51

Which ideology places the greatest emphasis on equality?

A) Liberalism
B) Conservatism
C) Socialism
D) Libertarianism
E) Populism

Question 52

Modern liberalism advocates which of the following principles?

A) separation of church and state
B) minimal government authority
C) unfettered market economy
D) government ownership of the means of production
E) maintenance of the status quo

Question 53

In economic and legal senses, property is defined as

A) land.
B) material possessions.
C) liquid or transferable capital assets.
D) property, firms, or businesses.
E) anything that can be owned.

Question 54

Which ideology places the greatest emphasis on economic freedom?

A) Liberalism
B) Conservatism
C) Socialism
D) Libertarianism
E) Populism

Question 55

In a democracy, the idea of the consent of the governed argues that government power

A) derives from the people's consent.
B) derives from its inherent right to promote law and order.
C) is justified and necessary.
D) derives from its security apparatus, particularly the army and the police force.
E) is acceptable as long as individual rights are recognized.

Question 56

What type of ideological scale have social scientists developed to accurately represent people's ideologies?

A) one-dimensional
B) two-dimensional
C) multidimensional
D) linear spectrum
E) circular chart

Question 57

Which age group is MOST liberal?

A) 18-29
B) 30-49
C) 45-64
D) 65+
E) All age groups are about equally liberal.

Question 58

By 2015, the population of the United States was about

A) 134 million.
B) 230 million.
C) 281 million.
D) 320 million.
E) 353 million.

Question 59

The key difference between modern liberals, conservatives, and libertarians is their view of

A) political culture.
B) representative democracy.
C) the capitalist economy.
D) fundamental human rights.
E) the role of government.

Question 60

Which ideology places the greatest emphasis on government control of the economy?

A) Liberalism
B) Conservatism
C) Socialism
D) Libertarianism
E) Populism

Question 61

Discuss the key trends and developments in political involvement in the United States since the 1970s.

Question 62

Describe key beliefs and ideologies present in the United States today.

Question 63

Outline how technology has transformed politics since the mid-twentieth century.

Question 64

Discuss and identify key features of the political culture of the United States.

Question 65

Explain the difference between an authoritarian government and a totalitarian one, and identify examples of each.

Question 66

A result of the economic downturn that began in 2008 was a(n)

A) decrease in single-person households.
B) increase of young adults living in their parents' home.
C) increase in female households without spouses.
D) decrease of male households without spouses.
E) decrease in those living in nonfamily households.

Question 67

Outline the key features of monarchies, oligarchies, and democracies.

Question 68

Between 1980 and 2010

A) both the Hispanic and white percentages of the population increased.
B) both the Hispanic and black percentages of the population decreased.
C) the Hispanic percentage of the population increased, while the white percentage of the population decreased.
D) the black percentage of the population decreased, while the Asian percentage of the population increased.
E) whites dropped below 50 percent of the total population.

Question 69

Outline the evolution of modern American democracy over the last 500 years.

Question 70

Identify and explain the significance of the demographic changes occurring in the United States during the twenty-first century.

Question 71

Identify and explain the key functions of the United States government.

Question 72

Which of the following are effects of changes in the U.S. population's ethnic makeup?

A) changes in national and local political culture
B) changes in people's political attitudes
C) changes in terms of who governs
D) changes in political campaigns and outreach
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 73

Compare and contrast the political philosophies of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes.