Chapter 1 Questions

Question 1

What is the definition of politics?

Answer 1

The activity-negotiation, argument, discussion, application of force, persuasion- by which an issue is agitated or settled.

Question 2

The president’s speechwriters have adopted a new tone reflecting their own evolving views of controversy while drafting a speech. These views are not strongly held by the president, but he will say the words as written. What concept does this illustrate?

Answer 2

Legitimacy

Question 3

Which of the following phrases accurately describes the concept of authority?

Answer 3

The right to use power

Question 4

What term refers to a situation in which the right to exercise power is vested in a governmental office?

Answer 4

Formal authority

Question 5

Which of the following is accepted as a source of legitimacy in the United States?

Answer 5

The U.S. Constitution

Question 6

Which of these statements best defines democracy?

Answer 6

The rule of the many

Question 7

Most Americans believe that, without democracy, what is impossible at any level of government?

Answer 7

The legitimate exercise of political power

Question 8

What type of democracy is in place where all adult citizens gather annually to vote on issues?

Answer 8

Direct

Question 9

Representative democracy is sometimes disapprovingly referred to as what theory of democracy?

Answer 9

Elitist

Question 10

Politicians that agree with referenda refer to it as “the will of the people,” while those who disagree with the referenda refer to it as “mass misunderstanding.” This reflects a common concern with which type of democracy?

Answer 10

Direct

Question 11

What view of democracy might contend that the CEOs of WarnerMedia, AT&T, and the NRA, the president of the AFL-CIO, and other top officials like them, dominate American democracy?

Answer 11

The power elite view

Question 12

In what ways does the theory by Max Weber on the distribution of power in America differ from the theory by C. Wright Mills?

Answer 12

Weber’s theory states that those in power hold valuable resources, while Mill’s theory states that morally impassioned allies hold power.

Question 13

Which view of how power is distributed contends that appointed officials run everything, despite the efforts of elected officials and the public to control them?

Answer 13

Bureacuratic

Question 14

Patrick Henry, leaders of the civil rights movement, and progressive reformers are historical examples modeling which view of power distribution?

Answer 14

Creedal passion

Question 15

What explains the ongoing expansion of the political agenda?

Answer 15

People want the government to continue doing all the things it has done in the past and to address new issues and needs as they arise.

Question 16

Which of these terms refers to the issues that people with decision-making authority believe require governmental action?

Answer 16

Political agenda

Question 17

School desegregation involved what chain of government actions?

Answer 17

Following the Supreme Court’s order that all public schools be desegregated, local school districts resisted, and President Eisenhower had to send in troops to enforce the mandate.

Question 18

As the bureaucracy has grown, what new significance has it acquired in American politics?

Answer 18

As it has grown, the bureaucracy has not only implemented policies, it has also become a source for new policy.

Question 19

In what way is a policy imposing an income tax policy different from a policy regulating a doctor who participates in the Medicare program ?

Answer 19

Widely distributed

Question 20

In what type of politics are interest groups relatively unimportant?

Answer 20

Majoritarian

Question 21

In what kind of politics do many people incur the costs of a policy proposal that benefits a small group?

Answer 21

Client

Question 22

Suppose Senator Richard Burr supported Senator Martha McSally’s proposal in exchange for McSally’s support of Burr’s own proposal. What term describes arrangements like this one?

Answer 22

Log-rolling

Question 23

In response to revelations about the dangers that thousands of toxic waste sites around the country posed to public health, legislators developed the Superfund program in an attempt to force industries to clean up their own toxic waste sites. This program is an example of what type of politics in action?

Answer 23

Entrepreneurial

Question 24

What is arguably one of the best barometers of changes in who governs?

Answer 24

The policy process

Question 25

Which theory of how power is distributed views political resources as widely distributed?

Answer 25

Pluralist