Course-notes

Question 1

The ability of one person to cause another
person to act in accordance with the
first person’s intentions

Answer 1

power

Question 2

Power when used to determine who will
hold government office and how
government will behave

Answer 2

political power

Question 3

The right to exercise political power

Answer 3

authority

Question 4

The widely-shared perception that something

or someone should be obeyed

Answer 4

legitimacy

Question 5

Conferring political power on those selected

by the voters in competitive elections

Answer 5

representative democracy

Question 6

Term for the Greek city-state

Answer 6

polis

Question 7

An identifiable group of people with a
disproportionate share of political
power

Answer 7

elite (political)

Question 8

A political system in which the choices of
the political leaders are closely
constrained by the preferences of the
people

Answer 8

majoritarian politics

Question 9

A philosopher who defined democracy as the

“rule of the many”

Answer 9

Aristotle

Question 10

A theory that government is merely a
reflection of underlying economic
forces

Answer 10

Marxist Theory

Question 11

A sociologist who presented the idea of a mostly nongovernmental power elite

Answer 11

Mills

Question 12

Individual who worried the new government he helped to create would be too democratic

Answer 12

Hamilton

Question 13

A sociologist who emphasized the
phenomenon of bureaucracy in
explaining political developments

Answer 13

Weber

Question 14

A political system in which local citizens are
empowered to govern themselves
directly

Answer 14

community control

Question 15

A political system in which those affected by
a governmental program must be
permitted to participate in the
program’s formulation

Answer 15

citizen participation

Question 16

A North American approximation of direct

or participatory democracy

Answer 16

New England town meeting

Question 17

A theory that no one interest group

consistently holds political power

Answer 17

pluralist theory

Question 18

Structures of authority organized around

expertise and specialization

Answer 18

bureaucracy

Question 19

An economist who defined democracy as the
competitive struggle by political
leaders for the people’s vote

Answer 19

Schumpeter

Question 20

A theory that appointed civil servants make

the key governing decisions

Answer 20

bureaucratic theory

Question 21

A term used to describe three different
political systems in which the people
are said to rule, directly or indirectly

Answer 21

democracy

Question 22

A political system in which all or most
citizens participate directly by either
holding office or making policy

Answer 22

direct or participatory democracy

Question 23

A theory that a few top leaders make the key
decisions without reference to popular
desires

Answer 23

elitist theory

Question 24

It took the national government many years to implement just a fraction of the
bipartisan homeland security policies and programs.

Answer 24

True

Question 25

Politics exists in part because people differ about who should govern and the ends toward which they work.

Answer 25

true

Question 26

Federal income taxes were higher in 1935 than they are today.

Answer 26

False In 1935, about 96 percent of all Americans paid no federal income tax whatsoever. Today almost all families pay about 21 percent of their incomes.

Question 27

Most people holding political power in the United States today are middle-class, middle-aged, white Protestant males.

Answer 27

true

Question 28

Constitutional amendments giving rights to African Americans and women passed by large majorities.

Answer 28

true

Question 29

It is easy to discern political power at work. | _____________________________________________________

Answer 29

False Sometimes is exercised in subtle ways that may not even be evident to those who are exercising it.

Question 30

The text suggests that, increasingly, matters that were once considered “public” become “private,” and beyond the scope of governmental action. ______________________________________________________________________

Answer 30

False Increasingly matters once thought to be “private” are becoming “public.”

Question 31

In the 1950s the federal government would have displayed little or no interest in a university refusing applicants

Answer 31

True

Question 32

Much of American political history has been a struggle over what constitutes legitimate authority.

Answer 32

True

Question 33

Aristotle thought of democracy as the “rule of the many.”

Answer 33

True

Question 34

Alexander Hamilton worried that the new government would not be democratic enough.

Answer 34

False Hamilton worried just the opposite, that it would be too democratic.

Question 35

Everyone in the ancient Greek city-state was eligible to participate in government

Answer 35

False Slaves, women, minors and those without property were excluded from participation.

Question 36

The New England town meeting approximates the Aristotelian ideal.

Answer 36

True

Question 37

Some writers of the Constitution opposed democracy on the grounds that the people would be unable to make wise decisions.

Answer 37

True

Question 38

Democracy as used in this book refers to the rule of the many.

Answer 38

False The text uses Joseph Schumpter’s definition of representative democracy, not direct democracy.

Question 39

The Framers of the Constitution did not think that the “will of the people” was synonymous with the “public good.”

Answer 39

True

Question 40

The Framers hoped to create a representative democracy that would act swiftly and accommodate sweeping changes in policy.

Answer 40

False They did not. In their view, a government that could act swiftly and in radical ways could also do a great deal of harm.

Question 41

People today have unprecedented access to information and consume more political news than ever.

Answer 41

False They do have higher levels of access to news and information, but they are not giving political news and information more attention than in the past. Most, especially young people, do not consume political news.

Question 42

Majoritarian politics probably influence relatively few issues in this country.

Answer 42

True

Question 43

Marxist theory sees society as divided into two classes: capitalists and workers.

Answer 43

True

Question 44

C. Wright Mills included corporate, governmental, and labor officials in his power elite.

Answer 44

False Mills “power elite” consisted of corporate leaders, key military officials and key politicians.

Question 45

Today, some would add major communications media chiefs to Mills’ power elite.

Answer 45

True

Question 46

Weber assigned a significant amount of power to appointed officials in the bureaucracies of modern governments.

Answer 46

True

Question 47

Weber felt that bureaucrats merely implemented public policies that are made by elected officials.

Answer 47

False Weber saw power in the fact that bureaucrats also have discretion, which can cause their implementation of policies to vary widely.

Question 48

Pluralists deny the existence of elites. | ___________________________________________________

Answer 48

False Pluralists do not believe everyone has power or that everyone has the same amount. They recognize that there are political elites (those with a disproportionate amount of political power and influence).

Question 49

The bureaucratic view does the most to reassure one that America has been, and continues to be, a democracy in more than name only. ______________________________________________________________

Answer 49

False The pluralist view is the more reassuring on this count.

Question 50

The Framers suspected even highly educated persons could be manipulated by demagogic leaders who played on their fears and prejudices.

Answer 50

True

Question 51

A policy can be good or bad independent of the motives of the person who decided it

Answer 51

True

Question 52

The self-interest of individuals is often an incomplete guide to their actions.

Answer 52

True

Question 53

In the 1920s it was widely assumed that the federal government would play a small role in citizens’ lives.

Answer 53

True

Question 54

Who wields power—that is, who made a difference in the outcome and for what reason—is harder to discover than who did what.

Answer 54

True

Question 55

Political change is not always accompanied by changes in public laws.

Answer 55

True

Question 56

The delegated to the Philadelphia convention were not popularly elected

Answer 56

True

Question 57

The American revolution was fought for the ideal of

Answer 57

Linerty

Question 58

Revolutionary colonists rejected the notion that the king of England had a natural prerogative to be their legitimate ruler

Answer 58

True

Question 59

The colonists new vision of government insisted that the legislative branch be superior to the executive branch

Answer 59

True

Question 60

Who was elected president in 1785?

Answer 60

John Hancock, but he never showed up to take the job

Question 61

How long did the constitutional convention last?

Answer 61

About four months

Question 62

The Pennsylvania constitution was the most radically democratic

Answer 62

True

Question 63

Most of the framers were experienced in government and were in their fifties or sixties

Answer 63

FALSE | the framers of the constitution had amazing levels of political experience but were relatively young.

Question 64

James Madison opposed the great compromise

Answer 64

True

Question 65

The great compromise, which essentially saved the convention from collapsing, was directly opposed by, or not supported by, eight of he thirteen states.

Answer 65

True

Question 66

The author of the Virginia plan reused to sign the constitution

Answer 66

True

Question 67

The constitution did not contain a bill of rights originally, in part because the founders did not believe that the national government would be able to infringe on those rights already protected in such bills

Answer 67

True

Question 68

Founders voted, more often than not, in terms of the economic interests of the states that they represented

Answer 68

True

Question 69

The government suppression of American leftists after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution in Russia

Answer 69

Red scare

Question 70

Federalist bill of 1789 criminalizing criticism of government.

Answer 70

Sedition axt

Question 71

A 1940 act criminalizing the advocacy of violent revolution

Answer 71

Smith act

Question 72

A 1950 act requiring the registration of all communists

Answer 72

Internal security act

Question 73

A 1954 act denying legal rights to the communist party

Answer 73

Community control act

Question 74

Term which describes the process whereby the Supreme Court applies provisions if the bill of rights to the states

Answer 74

Selective incorporatioln

Question 75

A Supreme Court formula to legitimate the abridgment if the right to free speech

Answer 75

"Clear-and-present danger" test

Question 76

Harmon another by publishing defamatory statements

Answer 76

Libwl

Question 77

Category of individuals who mis show material is false and printed with actual malice to win a libel case

Answer 77

Public figures

Question 78

A government action to prevent rather than punish certain expressions

Answer 78

Prior reatraint

Question 79

The supposed superiority of right of expression over other constitutional rights

Answer 79

Preferred position

Question 80

The use of only minimal measures to restrict potentially dangerous expression

Answer 80

Least means

Question 81

Case in which the Supreme Court decided to apply the exclusionary rule to state and local law enforcement officers

Answer 81

Mapp v. Ohio

Question 82

The first amendment clause prohibiting an official religion

Answer 82

Establishment clause

Question 83

Justice who argues the first amendment protects all publications, even wholly obscene ones

Answer 83

Hugo black

Question 84

A teaching on the origin of the world found to be religiously inspired

Answer 84

Creationism

Question 85

A special court that approves electronic eavesdropping on foreign spies

Answer 85

FISA

Question 86

A period during the public school say when students get religious instruction

Answer 86

Released time

Question 87

The prohibition against the use of illegally obtained evidence in court

Answer 87

Exclusionary rule

Question 88

A written authorization to police officers to conduct a search

Answer 88

Search earrant

Question 89

The legal basis for the issuance of a search warrant

Answer 89

Probably cause

Question 90

A Supreme Court case that led to rules that police officers must follow in warning arrested persons of their rights

Answer 90

Miranda v. Arizona

Question 91

Individual who first penned the phrase "wall-of-separation" in a private letter

Answer 91

Thomas jefferson

Question 92

One who refuses military service on religious or ethical grounds

Answer 92

Conscientious objector

Question 93

Case in which the Supreme Court first applied the first amendment to the states

Answer 93

Gitlow v. New york

Question 94

A relatively small political unit within which | classical democracy was practiced

Answer 94

city-state