Question 1

A police officer stops you for driving 73 mph in a 65 mph zone and gives you a ticket that costs $150. If you go home and mail a check, you are acknowledging that the police officer has:

Accepted Answer

Authority refers to the legal right to exercise power and enforce laws or rules. By acknowledging the police officer's ticket and paying the fine, you are recognizing their authority to enforce traffic laws.

Question 2

Manuel Noriega was never elected president of Panama but became its de facto ruler when he became head of the army and thus powerful enough to demand the resignation of the elected president. Given only this information, what was Noriega's government?

Accepted Answer

Noriega's government was authoritarian because he did not come to power through free and fair elections and held power through military force and coercion.

Question 3

In Who Governs, Robert Dahl examined the way power was distributed in New Haven, Connecticut, and concluded that a wide variety of actors played a role in the political decision-making process. What theory of power does Dahl believe in?

Accepted Answer

Dahl supports the theory of pluralism, which argues that power is distributed among a range of actors in society rather than being concentrated in the hands of a single group or individual. His study of New Haven found that interest groups, community organizations, and other non-governmental actors played an important role in shaping political decisions alongside elected officials and government institutions.

Question 4

Why do politics, education, and religion all appear in the same chapter of your text?

Accepted Answer

Political, religious, and educational concerns often overlap in everyday life, which is why they are grouped together in the same chapter. For example, political decisions often impact education and religious institutions, and religious beliefs can shape political and educational views. Understanding the intersection of these three areas is important for sociologists to analyze and understand broader social trends and conflicts.

Question 5

Robert is walking down the street late at night when a man in a ski mask suddenly sticks a gun in his face and takes his wallet. Sociologists would say that Robert's mugger had ____________ but not ____________.

Accepted Answer

The mugger had power, the ability to force Robert to comply with his demands, but not authority, which is power that is recognized as legitimate by those it is exercised over. Authority implies a recognized and accepted right to command, which the mugger lacks in this scenario.

Question 6

What do schools, churches, and governments all have in common?

Accepted Answer

Schools, churches, and governments are all considered to be social institutions, as they play important roles in shaping and organizing society. While the level of importance may vary over time, they all still function at the macro level, impacting the larger community beyond just individual or private interests.

Question 7

For which of the following reasons could the supposed increase in voter turnout in the 2004 election really be just an artifact of the way that voter turnout is measured?

Accepted Answer

The turnout rate being based on eligible voters rather than all residents of voting age could artificially inflate the turnout percentage, as it excludes non-eligible individuals from the calculation.

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT a technique that could work to disenfranchise part of the population?

Accepted Answer

Requiring polling places in as many locations as possible would likely increase accessibility and enfranchise more people, not disenfranchise them.

Question 9

The methods and tactics of managing a political entity are called:

Accepted Answer

The term used to describe managing a political entity is politics. Power may be a component of politics, but it is not an accurate label for the entirety of managing a political entity. Totalitarianism, fascism, and monarchy are specific forms of political systems, not methods of managing them.

Question 10

Abdullah II of Jordan succeeded his father, Hussein bin Talal, as ruler of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1999. This makes his government a:

Accepted Answer

Abdullah II of Jordan inherited the position of ruler from his father, indicating that Jordan is a monarchy.

Question 11

Since 1917, all Puerto Ricans have been considered U.S. citizens, but they are not represented in Congress and cannot cast ballots in presidential elections. In this sense they are:

Accepted Answer

Puerto Ricans cannot cast ballots in presidential elections and are not represented in Congress, which means they are disenfranchised, or deprived of the right to vote or participate in democratic processes.

Question 12

Kim Jong Il and his father, Kim Il Sung, Korea's current and former leader, have both restricted the basic human rights of their subjects. What type of government does North Korea have?

Accepted Answer

North Korea has a totalitarian government, which is characterized by a single political party or ruler having complete control over all aspects of society and limiting individual freedoms and rights. The Kim family has maintained control over North Korea since its inception and has restricted many basic human rights, such as freedom of speech and assembly, for its citizens.

Question 13

What is it called when a government seeks to control every aspect of life?

Accepted Answer

Totalitarianism is a form of government where the state has complete control over all aspects of the citizens' lives, including economic, social, cultural, and political. This type of government is characterized by strict control over the media and limiting individual freedom. Anarchism argues for a stateless society, communism is a socialist ideology advocating for a classless and moneyless society, socialism supports public ownership and control of resources and means of production, and determinism is a philosophical belief that individual actions are predetermined by past events and circumstances.

Question 14

What is it called when a government bars an individual, either temporarily or permanently, from voting?

Accepted Answer

Disenfranchisement is the term used when a government restricts an individual's right to vote, either temporarily or permanently. This could be due to various reasons such as criminal convictions or not meeting certain citizenship requirements. Suffrage refers to the right to vote, pluralism is a political theory advocating the involvement of multiple groups or parties in a government, voting conviction is not a commonly used term in political science, and simulacrum refers to a representation or imitation of something.

Question 15

In the nineteenth century, New Jersey's legislature adopted a number of so-called "sunset laws" that closed the polls early on election day, usually before the working day at factories was over. What would the effect that this had on the working class be called?

Accepted Answer

The effect of the "sunset laws" was to disenfranchise the working class by limiting their ability to vote. By closing the polls early, many factory workers were unable to make it to the polling stations in time to cast their vote, effectively taking away their right to participate in the democratic process. Voter fraud (B) refers to illegal activities that distort the outcome of an election, while democracy (A) and representation (C) are ideals that the disenfranchisement of a large segment of the population would undermine. Totalitarianism (E) refers to a system of government in which the state has complete control over all aspects of society, and is not relevant to the situation described in the question.

Question 16

On January 30, 2005, Iraq held what many claim were the first free and fair elections in its history, after many decades of military dictatorship. This was seen as the first step in transforming Iraq into a:

Accepted Answer

The fact that the elections were free and fair indicate that Iraq was moving towards a democratic system, where citizens could vote for their leaders and hold them accountable. A theocracy is a system where religious leaders have the ultimate authority, and there is no indication that this was what Iraq was moving towards. A kleptocracy is a system where leaders use their power to enrich themselves, which is not what the elections aimed to achieve. A totalitarian regime is a system where the government exercises complete control over every aspect of society, and again, this is not what the elections aimed to achieve. A constitutional monarchy is a system where a monarch serves as a ceremonial head of state and a constitution outlines the powers and responsibilities of the government, but this is not what Iraq was aiming for either.

Question 17

What is a political system called that denies ordinary people participation or representation in their government?

Accepted Answer

The political system described is an authoritarian regime, where the ruling group or individual exercises absolute power and denies ordinary people any meaningful participation in government. Pluralist, democratic, and socialist systems all prioritize the participation of ordinary citizens in governance to varying degrees. Secularism refers to the separation of religion and state, and is unrelated to the question of citizen participation in government.

Question 18

Which theory of power argues that a variety of organizations and institutions have roughly equal access to the power structure?

Accepted Answer

Pluralism argues that power is not concentrated in the hands of a single group or elite, but rather is dispersed among a variety of organizations and institutions. Pluralists believe that individuals and interest groups have roughly equal access to the political system and can influence government decisions through various channels, such as lobbying, voting, and media campaigns.

Question 19

Systems and structures that persist over time and help organize group life are called:

Accepted Answer

Social institutions are the systems and structures that persist over time and help organize group life. Examples include family, education, religion, government, and the economy. Social controls refer to the mechanisms and strategies that societies use to regulate behavior, while political or governmental legislation specifically refers to laws enacted by governments. Secular actions and pluralistic situations are not directly related to the concept of social institutions.

Question 20

What is the most extreme form of authoritarianism called?

Accepted Answer

Totalitarianism is the most extreme form of authoritarianism, where the government has complete control over every aspect of citizens' lives, including their thoughts, beliefs, and actions. It is a highly coercive and repressive form of government that seeks to maintain its power indefinitely. Monarchy, secularism, theocracy, and power elite systems are not necessarily associated with extreme authoritarianism, although they can be, depending on the specific context and implementation.

Quiz 10: The Macro-Micro Link in Social Institutions: Politics, Education, and Religion