American Political Culture #3
1) Which of the following statements about the U.S. democratic republic is correct?
a) It has been tried without great success by many other countries.
b) It thrived in the United States despite the existence of a feudal aristocracy.
c) It thrived in the United States despite the large number of legal restraints on it.
d) It emphasizes social equality over personal liberty.
2) The French aristocrat who in 1835 wrote Democracy in America, a profound analysis of U.S.
political culture, was
a) The Marquis de Montespan.
b) Guy LaFleur.
c) Alexander Dumas.
d) Alexis de Tocqueville.
3) Alexis de Tocqueville published Democracy in America in
a) 1795.
b) 1835.
c) 1880.
d) 1925.
4) The fact that democracy flourished in the United States can best be explained by
a) The U.S. Constitution.
b) The physical advantages of the country.
c) Both of the above.
d) Neither of the above.
5) According to Alexis de Tocqueville, one of the reasons a democratic republic took root in the
United States was because of the
a) Minimal taxes imposed by the government.
b) Insistence on economic equality for all
c) Presence of fertile lands and rich resources.
d) Absence of foreign intervention.
6) According to Alexis de Tocqueville, one of the reasons a democratic republic took root in the
United States was because of the
a) Opportunities for people to acquire land and make a living.
b) Insistence on economic equality for all.
c) Presence of fertile lands and rich resources.
d) Absence of foreign intervention.
7) According to Alexis de Tocqueville, a democratic republic took root in the United States for all of
the following reasons except
a)
b)
c)
d)
The absence of a feudal aristocracy.
Opportunities for people to acquire land and make a living.
The minimal taxes imposed by government.
The absence of foreign intervention.
8) The text notes that if Alexis de Tocqueville had returned to the United States fifty years later,
when the frontier was closed, he would have found that
a) Government had grown enormously.
b) Democracy still flourished.
c) Class consciousness had deepened.
d) People were still not crowding into cities.
9) A political ____________ deals with what a government should do, while a political __________
deals with how government should operate.
a) Constitution, administration
b) Administration, constitution
c) Culture, ideology
d) Ideology, culture
10) The difference between a political ideology and a political culture is that
a) The former deals with means, the latter with goals.
b) The former deals with economic issues, the latter with sociological issues.
c) The former deals with what government should do, the latter with how government should
operate.
d) The former deals with theories, the latter with reality.
11) Why is speaking of a single political culture within a nation dangerous?
a) Because most nations do not have a homogeneous population
b) Because political culture is not easily defined
c) Because most nations do not have consistent views about the policies government ought to
pursue
d) Because people can share a common political culture but still disagree on ideology
12) Liberty and individualism are two key elements of
a) All Western democracies.
b) All twentieth-century nations.
c) Most nations throughout history.
d) U.S. political culture.
13) All of the following are basic elements of the U.S. political culture except
a) Liberty.
b) Economic equality.
c) Individualism.
d) Civic duty.
14) The text lists three critical questions to ask about political culture. These include all of the
following except
a) How can we explain actions that are inconsistent with beliefs?
b) Why has so much political conflict occurred throughout history?
c) What is the self-interest of those who describe the alleged beliefs?
d) How do we know that people share the alleged beliefs?
15) Race relations were described as “an American dilemma” by
a) Paul Samuelson.
b) Gunnar Myrdal.
c) Milton Friedman.
d) Alexis de Tocqueville.
16) What was Swedish sociologist Gunnar Myrdal referring to when he spoke of “America’s
dilemma”?
a) Affluence
b) Race relations
c) Corporate dominance
d) Political ignorance
17) Political conflict can occur over specific policies even among those who share common beliefs.
One reason for this is that
a) Political culture typically takes precedence over political ideology.
b) A Unitarian political system allows little room for compromise.
c) Our interpretations of these common beliefs are also alike.
d) Many political values are irrelevant to specific controversies.
18) According to the text, the persistence in our political vocabulary of the term __________ is
evidence of Americans’ common hopes and values.
a) Freedom
b) Americanism
c) Morality
d) Equality
19) The text uses the phrase “equality of results” in its discussion of economic equality in the United
States and Sweden. This phrase refers to equality in
a) What people are paid.
b) People’s opportunity to get ahead.
c) Access to government funds.
d) Political participation.
20) Which of the following statements about economic equality applies most accurately to
Americans?
a) Most Americans believe that everyone 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.”
21) Which one in each of the following pairs are Americans more likely to tolerate?
a) Political versus economic inequality
b) Ideologues versus activists
c) Economic versus political inequality
d) Activists versus ideologues
22) 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.
23) In the American political culture, the ________view of social policy is by far the most popular.
a) Individualist
b) Collectivist
c) Accountability
d) Conservative
24) According to polls, which of the groups below are Americans most willing to help?
a) People on welfare
b) Feminist and civil rights groups seeking preferential hiring programs
c) The elderly
d) Recent immigrants
25) Compared with U.S. political culture, Swedish political culture is more deferential than
participatory. This means that Swedes are more likely than Americans to
a) Challenge government decisions in court.
b) Favor equality of opportunity over equality of results.
c) Value equality over liberty.
d) Believe in government decisions based on what people want, not on what is best.
26) 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.
27) Japanese and Americans diverge markedly in their attitudes toward
a) New ideas.
b) Consumerism.
c) Individualism.
d) Entrepreneurism.
28) Concerning the values of individualism, competition, and equality, the sharpest contrast to U.S.
political culture is found in
a) Sweden.
b) Japan.
c) France.
d) Mexico.
29) Almond and Verba found that the citizens of which country are more likely to have the greatest
confidence in their nation’s major institutions?
a) Great Britain
b) Italy
c) Germany
d) The United States
30) Almond and Verba found that the citizens of which country are most likely to be willing to go to
war for their country?
a) Great Britain
b) Italy
c) Mexico
d) The United States
31) In the Almond and Verba study, the belief that the legislature could be trusted was least
prevalent among the citizens of
a) Great Britain.
b) Italy.
c) The United States.
d) Germany.
32) According to a 1987 survey, Americans are more likely than Europeans to show confidence in
their country’s
a) Labor unions.
b) Armed forces and police.
c) Legal system.
d) Judicial system.
33) Data in the text suggest that the average American is more likely than the average European to
a) Believe in God.
b) Hold relative standards of right and wrong.
c) Have a high tolerance for atheism.
d) Exhibit a disinterest in daily prayer.
34) Which religious group or leader advocated constitutional amendments that would require
prayer in public schools and ban abortion?
a) Great Awakening
b) Moral Majority
c) Prohibitionists
d) Martin Luther King, Jr.
35) Which group attracted an enormous amount of media attention and became a prominent force
in many national, state, and local elections during the 1990s?
a) Great Beginnings
b) Prohibitionists
c) Spiritual Awakening
d) Christian Coalition
36) 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.
37) The adversarial, contentious spirit of U.S. society is related most closely to Americans’ belief in
a) Individual rights.
b) Social equality.
c) Group harmony and cohesion.
d) Democracy.
38) Political diversity and participation in the political process in the United States was encouraged
most strongly by its
a) Commitment to social equality.
b) Sense of national independence.
c) Religious diversity.
d) Unitarian system.
39) Early competition between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans ended by
establishing the principle that
a) Freedom of speech did not include political slander.
b) Political participation was restricted to males.
c) Slavery was not an issue for national legislation.
d) Democracy could survive a change of ruling parties.
40) The text argues that long-standing religious values underlay the movement for
a) Prohibition.
b) Abortion
c) Protectionism.
d) Deregulation.
41) The long-standing controversy concerning the sale of liquor in the United States arose ultimately
out of competing
a) Economic interests.
b) Political philosophies.
c) Religious doctrines.
d) State regulations.
42) The dominant religious tradition in the early United States was
a) Catholicism.
b) Protestantism, especially Presbyterianism.
c) Protestantism, especially Puritanism.
d) Nonexistent: the United States had no dominant religious tradition.
43) Religious diversity in the United States was largely the result of the absence of a(n)
a) Established religion.
b) Bill of rights.
c) Strong central government.
d) Established aristocracy.
44) The text argues that the absence of an established religion and the guarantees of the First
Amendment made _____________ inevitable.
a) Secularism
b) Religious indifference
c) Religious bigotry
d) Religious diversity
45) One strong source of the sense of civic duty that grew up in the United States was its
a) Commitment to social equality.
b) Sense of national independence.
c) Protestant (work) ethic.
d) Unitary system.
46) The Protestant ethic is sometimes called the
a) Work ethic.
b) Religious ethic.
c) Political imperative.
d) American dilemma.
47) Congregational churches provided many Americans with
a) A puritanical set of values.
b) Political training and experience.
c) A justification for wealth amidst poverty.
d) Opposition to the political values of the majority.
48) Churches organized along ____________ lines provided training and experience in miniature
political systems for many Americans.
a) Hierarchical
b) Communal
c) Congregational
d) Evangelical
49) Tales of youngsters who started out poor but became rich through determination and hard work
are associated with the writings of
a) Kurt Vonnegut.
b) F. Scott Fitzgerald.
c) Horatio Alger.
d) Ernest Hemingway.
50) The books of Horatio Alger attributed success to
a) Patriotism and good luck.
b) Personal effort and proper living.
c) Superior athletic ability.
d) Family influence and tradition.
51) Americans have a comparatively low degree of
a) Material acquisitiveness.
b) Social conformity.
c) Class consciousness.
d) Geographic mobility.
52) Remarkable among U.S. citizens is their low degree of
a) Class consciousness.
b) Acquisitiveness.
c) Competitiveness.
d) Nationalism.
53) The absence of a high degree of class consciousness in the United States is due to many factors,
including all of the following except
a) Centralized political authority.
b) Religious and ethnic diversity.
c) Equality within families.
d) An individualistic philosophy.
54) The most important source of political values in the United States is
a) The mass media.
b) The family.
c) Religion.
d) The public school.
55) All of the following are distinguishing characteristics of American families noted by Eric Erikson
except
a) The freedom enjoyed by children.
b) The measure of equality among family members.
c) The belief that various interests are legitimate.
d) The mistrust of political leaders.
56) Which of the following groups of issues does the text refer to as areas of conflict in the culture
war?
a) Abortion, school prayer, foreign policy
b) Gay rights, taxes, business regulation
c) School prayer, foreign policy, pornography
d) Drug use, school prayer, abortion
57) 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.
58) Which of the following most accurately describes the orthodox view in the culture war?
a) Morality is more important than self-expression and is based on unchanging rules from God.
b) Personal freedom is more important than tradition, and the rules for morality vary with
circumstances.
c) Morality is more important than self-expression, and the rules vary with circumstances.
d) Personal freedom is more important than tradition, and morality is based on unchanging
rules from God.
59) Which of the following most accurately describes the progressive view in the culture war?
a) Morality is more important than self-expression and is based on unchanging rules from God.
b) Personal freedom is more important than tradition, and the rules for morality vary with
circumstances.
c) Morality is more important than self-expression, and the rules vary with circumstances.
d) Personal freedom is more important than tradition, and morality is based on unchanging
rules from God.
60) One of the ways in which the culture war differs from other political disputes is that
a) Money is not at stake.
b) Compromise is easily achieved.
c) The conflict is basically a simple one.
d) It is exclusively about what kinds of policies the government ought to adopt.
61) The text defines the two primary opposing camps in the American “culture war” as
a) Democratic and Republicans.
b) The orthodox and the progressive.
c) Conservatives and liberals.
d) Women and men.
62) The president who first publicly noted Americans’ lack of confidence in their political institutions
was
a) Ronald Reagan.
b) Jimmy Carter.
c) Gerald Ford.
d) Richard Nixon.
63) Beginning in the mid-1960s, the growing distrust of government felt by many Americans was
directed primarily at
a) The political system itself.
b) The media and their pervasive influence on politics.
c) The U.S. Constitution and especially the Bill of Rights.
d) Political leaders and their policies.
64) The Watergate affair led most notably to a decrease in
a) Citizens’ trust in their government.
b) Investigative reporting in Washington.
c) Power of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
d) Felonies behavior by elected officials.
65) The text correlates the largest drop in public political confidence in recent U.S. history with the
a) Watergate scandal.
b) Vietnam War.
c) Oil embargo.
d) Hostage crisis in Iran.
66) The recent increase in public cynicism is probably not a reflection of a
a) Dislike of the leaders of government.
b) Rejection of the system of government.
c) Disapproval of government policies.
d) Dissatisfaction over the outcome of government policies.
67) Americans’ mistrust in government began to increase
a) In the mid-1950s.
b) In the mid-1960s.
c) In the early 1970s.
d) In the early 1980s.
68) The degree of mistrust of government by citizens has remained relatively steady since about
a) 1980.
b) 1970.
c) 1960.
d) 1940.
69) The text cites evidence that mistrust of government since 1980 has
a) Stayed at about the same level.
b) Declined steeply.
c) Risen sharply.
d) Risen more slowly than before.
70) The level of public trust in government during the 1970s and 1980s compared to the 1950s
appears
a) Higher than the long-term historical norm.
b) Higher, but closer to the historical norm.
c) Lower, but closer to the historical norm.
d) Lower than the historical norm.
71) In recent decades, what has been the relationship between public confidence in political
institutions and that in other institutions?
a) They have both gone down.
b) The former has gone down while the latter has remained unchanged or declined.
c) The former has remained steady while the latter has gone down.
d) The former has gone up while the latter has gone down.
72) If people have a sense of political efficacy, then they believe they
a) Trust the government to do what is right.
b) Would rather live here than elsewhere.
c) Have a say in what government does.
d) Feel alienated from public policy.
73) The sense that one has a say in what government does and that politics is understandable is
referred to as
a) Political efficacy.
b) Political clout.
c) Political legitimacy.
d) Political participation.
74) One’s own confidence in one’s ability to understand and take part in politics is referred to as
a) External efficacy.
b) Internal efficacy.
c) Political ideology.
d) Political culture.
75) Internal efficacy refers to
a) One’s feelings about domestic politics.
b) One’s ability to understand and take part in politics.
c) The government’s ability to implement the will of the people.
d) The responsiveness of government to public needs.
76) One’s own belief about the responsiveness of the government is referred to as
a) External efficacy.
b) Internal efficacy.
c) Political ideology.
d) Political culture.
77) External efficacy refers to
a) One’s feelings about international politics.
b) One’s belief in the government’s responsiveness.
c) The government’s attempts to build coalitions.
d) The efficiency of higher-level government agencies.
78) Many Americans feel helpless in the face of high inflation. They do not understand why it is
happening, and they do not think the system is responsive to their needs anyway. In other
words, they lack a sense of
a) Political efficacy.
b) Internal incentive.
c) External incentive.
d) Political representation.
79) Parties are only interested in people’s votes, not their opinions. This statement reflects a lack of
a) Internal political efficacy primarily.
b) External political efficacy primarily.
c) Both internal and external political efficacy.
d) Neither internal nor external political efficacy.
80) In the past generation, Americans’ sense of political efficacy has
a) Remained unchanged overall.
b) Declined for external efficacy, remained unchanged for internal efficacy.
c) Declined for internal efficacy, remained unchanged for external efficacy.
d) Increased substantially overall.
81) Compared to the 1950s, the average American in 1990 (and even today) was (is) much more
likely to state,
a) “Government is too complicated for me to understand.”
b) “I do not have much of a say in what government does.”
c) “Government is too big to care what I think.”
d) “I am not very good at influencing government.”
82) Americans’ sense of political efficacy compared to that of most Europeans seems to be
a) About the same.
b) Significantly higher.
c) Slightly lower.
d) Significantly lower.
83) Compared with Europeans, Americans are more likely to
a) Sign a petition.
b) Vote.
c) Feel alienated from the political process.
d) Defer to experts to make decisions.
84) 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) The minimum requirement of a democracy.
d) What characterizes all free nations.
85) 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
86) The level of political tolerance among officeholders and activists compared to the general public
is
a) Somewhat less.
b) About the same.
c) Somewhat greater.
d) Much greater.
87) Unpopular groups survive in the United States despite wide-scale opposition. The text cites all of
the following reasons for this fact except
a) Unpopular groups tend to keep a low profile.
b) Most people opposed to a group do not act on their belief.
c) People do not agree on which groups should be opposed.
d) Courts protect unpopular groups.
88) The text argues that a lack of consensus regarding which groups ought to be repressed has led
to
a) A breakdown of consensual social values.
b) The survival of unpopular political causes.
c) A large increase in the number of free-speech court cases.
d) An erosion of First Amendment freedoms.
89) All of the following are reasons certain groups survive in the face of political intolerance except
a) Most of us do not act on our beliefs.
b) People usually cannot agree on which group to suppress.
c) Such groups are able to go underground.
d) Such groups receive protection from the courts.
ANSWERS
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13)
14)
15)
16)
17)
18)
19)
20)
21)
22)
23)
24)
25)
26)
27)
28)
29)
30)
31)
32)
33)
34)
35)
36)
37)
38)
39)
40)
A
D
B
D
A
A
D
B
D
C
A
D
B
C
B
B
D
B
A
B
C
A
A
C
C
A
C
B
D
D
B
B
A
B
D
C
A
C
D
A
41)
42)
43)
44)
45)
46)
47)
48)
49)
50)
51)
52)
53)
54)
55)
56)
57)
58)
59)
60)
61)
62)
63)
64)
65)
66)
67)
68)
69)
70)
71)
72)
73)
74)
75)
76)
77)
78)
79)
80)
81)
82)
C
C
A
D
C
A
B
C
C
B
C
A
A
B
D
D
B
A
B
A
B
B
D
A
A
B
B
A
A
C
B
C
A
B
B
A
B
A
B
B
C
B
83)
84)
85)
86)
87)
88)
89)
A
C
C
C
C
B
C