Reading/Discussion Guide for Chapter 1: Introducing Government in America
Directions: As you read Pp. 2-5 and 8-27 in your textbook, answer the following
questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. In 2010 what percentage of money that went into Americans’ wallets was from
government payments? List the types of government payments from which these
monies came.
2. Are young Americans more engaged or less engaged in politics than older
Americans?
3. In a 2008 National Election Study what percentage of Americans under age 30
said they rarely followed politics? Why do think this was (and still is) so?
4. (Google this) Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution lowered the national
voting age to 18? In what year was this amendment ratified by the states?
5. Why do older people tend to be more politically involved/informed than younger
people?
6. By the year 2020 what percentage of domestic government spending will go
towards Medicare (health care) and Social Security for the elderly?
7. How does your textbook define “government”?
8. About how many elected officials (from national, state, and local governments)
are there in the United States?
9. Who is the current Speaker of the House, and to what political party does he
belong?
10. (not in your book…Google the definition) Define “sovereignty”.
11. Identify 5 items that national governments throughout the world perform.
12. How much money (approximately) does the U.S. Government spend on national
defense annually? Is this figure rising or falling?
13. Identify several public goods and services provide by the governments to their
citizens.
14. What are collective goods, and what are two very important ones that our national
government sometimes does and definitely should provide?
15. Approximately how many dollars earned by Americans go toward national, state,
and local taxes?
16. How does your textbook define “politics”?
17. What is “political participation” and what are 4 ways you can participate in
politics?
18. How did Harold Lasswell define politics?
19. How does voter turnout in America compare with other countries around the
world?
20. What do “linkage institutions” link?
21. List 4 linkage institutions.
22. I am not thrilled with how your textbook defines “interest groups”. Please look
on-line for a more concrete definition as well as three examples of an interest
group.
23. Define “policy agenda”.
24. Identify the four policymaking institutions in the United States government.
25. What is “public policy”?
26. Identify one example of a Supreme Court decision and one example of a
regulation made by an agency on the federal government that qualify as public
policy.
27. Identify the three principles of traditional democracy mentioned in the text.
28. Identify and define the three contemporary theories of American democracy
mentioned in the text.
29. Outline the arguments that are made by some critics of pluralist theory.
30. Which group has the most power and influence in government according to
subscribers of the elitism theory?
31. What percentage of the population holds over a third of the nation’s wealth?
32. On what point do elitism and hyperluralism theorists agree?
33. Identify the four major challenges to democracy mentioned in the text.
34. Do you think that there is policy gridlock in Washington? Why or why not?
35. On page 19, the caption under the picture of the Adelsons refers to “PACs”. Use
the internet or another source and define “PACs”. To which of the two major
political parties do you think a labor union PAC would donate money, Democrat
or Republican?
36. Why has it become increasingly difficult for individual citizens to make informed
decisions about what government should do in areas of public policy?
37. Seymour Martin Lipset argues that American creed, or American political culture,
is composed of five elements. Identify these five elements.
38. What did Lipset mean by “individualism”?
39. What does laissez-faire economic policy promote?
40. Explain how the American national government spends $3.7 trillion a year?
41. Explain what a budget deficit is. During whose presidency did there last exist a
budget surplus?
42. What was the U.S. Federal government’s budget deficit for fiscal year 2009
through fiscal year 2012?
43. What is the current national debt of the U.S.A. (approximately)?