1. (1.0 point)
Which of the following statements is NOT an argument for staying
informed about public affairs?
a. Political knowledge
b. Political knowledge
c. Political knowledge
would benefit them.
d. Political knowledge
promotes active participation in politics.
makes voter turnout unnecessary.
helps citizens to identify policies that
fosters civic virtues.
Answer: _____
2. (1.0 point)
According to the authors of Government in America, which of the
following is true of the rise of the internet and the proliferation of
information available on the web?
a. They are likely responsible for low levels of political
participation among young Americans.
b. They offer potential new forms of engagement in the political
process.
c. They offer both opportunities and challenges for further
political involvement.
d. Both b and c.
e. All of the above.
Answer: _____
3. (1.0 point)
What are services that are shared by everyone and cannot be denied to
anyone called?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
National defense
Public policies
Public goods
Democracy
Policymaking institutions
Answer: _____
4. (1.0 point)
Which of the following is an example of the means through which
national government socializes the young?
a. Requiring civic education in elementary school.
b. Daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public
schools.
c. Increasing spending on education.
d. Both a and b.
e. All of the above.
Answer: _____
5. (1.0 point)
Which of the following is NOT part of the policymaking process,
according to the authors of Government in America?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Linking institutions
Political issues
People
Political interests
Private goods
Answer: _____
6. (1.0 point)
A political party is a key _____ in America's democratic system.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
output
majoritarian inhibitor
stimulus-response
linkage institution
input
Answer: _____
7. (1.0 point)
The political agenda responds
a. specifically to the Constitution.
b. more to societal successes than failures.
c. more to societal failures than successes.
d. more to elections than to financial interests.
more to the press than the people's wishes.
Answer: _____
8. (1.0 point)
Which of these is an example of a Presidential action?
a. The federal budget.
b. The Social Security Act.
c. The approval of a new drug by the Food and Drug
Administration.
d. The Supreme Court ruling that school segregation is
unconstitutional.
e. The invasion of Iraq.
Answer: _____
9. (1.0 point)
The writers of the United States Constitution
a. sought to establish the most democratic system they could.
b. patterned our government after Britain's with the exception of
the role of a King.
c. believed in majority rule.
d. were distrustful of democracy.
e. were interested in promoting equality above all else.
Answer: _____
10. (1.0 point)
Which of the following is most fundamentally critical of American
democracy?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Traditional democratic theory
Elite and class theory
Critical democratic theory
Democratic negativism
Pluralist theory
Answer: _____
11. (1.0 point)
Elite and class theory holds that
a. in a democracy the majority class must overthrow the
government and rule by itself if government is to be freed from
the control of the rich.
b. politics is the basis of elite power.
c. there is little consensus in policymaking among elites.
d. all societies are divided along class lines and that an upperclass elite will rule.
e. power is dispersed among many institutions.
Answer: _____
12. (1.0 point)
In evaluating American democracy, hyperpluralists
a. claim that competing groups vying for power make for generally
efficient, honest government.
b. claim that too many influential groups cripple government's
ability to govern.
c. believe that the public interest is nearly always translated
into public policy in the United States.
d. claim that society is governed solely by an upper-class elite.
e. none of the above
Answer: _____
13. (1.0 point)
Hyperpluralists would argue that
a. wealth is the basis of power.
b. too many influential groups cripple government's ability to
govern.
c. society is divided along class lines.
d. group competition will result in a rough approximation of the
public interest.
e. too few groups lead to a proliferation of governments.
Answer: _____
14. (1.0 point)
Which of the following is NOT an element of the American Creed,
according to Seymour Martin Lipset?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Individualism
Liberty
Egalitarianism
Laissez-faire
Opportunism
Answer: _____
15. (1.0 point)
The largest item in the United States government budget, consuming more
than one-fifth of the federal budget is:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
welfare for the poor
foreign aid
national defense
education spending.
Social Security
Answer: _____
16. (1.0 point)
In a 2004 survey of political knowledge, young people provided the
correct answer to only one-third of these questions, whereas people
over 65 were correct half the time.
a. True
b. False
Answer: _____
17. (1.0 point)
Compared to other democracies, the United States has a high rate of
voter participation.
a. True
b. False
Answer: _____
18. (1.0 point)
A non-decision is one type of a government policy decision.
a. True
b. False
Answer: _____
19. (1.0 point)
The three primary policymaking institutions are the Courts, the
Congress, and the Bureaucracy.
a. True
b. False
Answer: _____
20. (1.0 point)
The writers of the Constitution were unanimously and wholly committed
to democracy.
a. True
b. False
Answer: _____
21. (1.0 point)
Pluralist theory hinges on the assumption that power is dispersed in
American government.
a. True
b. False
Answer: _____
22. (1.0 point)
The theory that government is weakened in the face of too many groups
competing for power and influence is called classism.
a. True
b. False
Answer: _____
23. (1.0 point)
Political culture refers to a set of values shared within American
society.
a. True
b. False
Answer: _____
24. (1.0 point)
Individualism includes a belief that people can and should get ahead on
their own.
a. True
b. False
Answer: _____
25. (1.0 point)
Compared to other nations, the United States devotes the highest
percentage of its resources to pay for the government.
a. True
b. False
Answer: _____