Deck 1: Citizenship: in Our Changing Democracy

Question 1

Which of the following is true of millennial attitudes about electoral politics?

A) Sixty percent believe altruism motivates elected officials.
B) Sixty percent believe selfishness motivates elected officials.
C) About half have interest in seeking political office one day.
D) Thirty percent believe politicians are interested in helping people like them.
E) Ninety-five percent of millennials have never voted and have no interest in voting.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

An instance in which one segment of society manages to push through a law in one legislative session, only to have another segment build enough support to overthrow the law in the next session, is best considered an example of

A) direct democracy.
B) pluralism.
C) a ruling elite.
D) aristocracy.
E) minority rights.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

America's democracy is characterized by

A) majority rule and protections for minority rights.
B) greater than 90 percent participation by the citizenry in elections.
C) absolute power being exercised by a single person.
D) absolute equality amongst all citizens.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Political decision-making by the entire citizenry is called

A) direct democracy.
B) representative democracy.
C) majority rule.
D) minority rights.
E) authoritarianism.

Question 5

Which of the following statements about ruling-elite theory is LEAST accurate?

A) It argues that members of the elite wield political power disproportionate to their numerical size.
B) It argues that members of the elite are often able to influence public policy to their own advantage.
C) Empirical findings have demonstrated that members of the elite are more likely to trample over civil liberties than Americans with less wealth or education.
D) It argues that members of the elite tend to be better informed about political affairs than other Americans.
E) It argues that members of the elite generally have greater access to political officials and political offices than other Americans.

Question 6

The secret requests of Facebook for information, that institutions like the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court have made, highlight the tensions between

A) majority rule and minority rights.
B) representative democracy and political power.
C) national security and personal freedom.
D) freedom of religion and freedom of the press.
E) government authority and the right to a fair trial.

Question 7

Aristotle, Thomas Jefferson, and John Locke all agreed that

A) women were equal to men.
B) the citizenry must remain politically active.
C) complacent citizens were a sign of a healthy government.
D) a government, once established, could not be overturned.
E) the people should be excluded from politics as completely as possible.

Question 8

The defining characteristic of pluralism is the belief that

A) various groups and coalitions constantly vie for government favor and the ability to exercise political power, but none enjoys long-term dominance.
B) when too many interests exist within a single polity, the government cannot function effectively.
C) the commitment to majority rule inevitably results in the oppression of minorities.
D) an undue commitment to minority rights places undue restraints on majority rule.
E) despite its democratic rhetoric, the United States is effectively governed by a small elite whose membership rarely changes.

Question 9

The constellation of voluntary relationships and activities that keep us connected with others and make our communities vital places to live and work is called

A) government.
B) social capital.
C) direct democracy.
D) civic life.
E) liberal democracy.

Question 10

The bonds of trust and reciprocity between citizens that form the glue holding modern societies together is referred to as

A) social capital.
B) sense of community.
C) political culture.
D) belief systems.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 11

Which of the following statements about democracy as currently practiced in the United States is most accurate?

A) The United States is one of the few countries that practices direct democracy.
B) In the United States, the rule of the majority is absolute.
C) In the United States, the majority in government cannot pass laws without the active support of the minority.
D) In the United States, the minority has veto power over the electoral and legislative choices of the majority.
E) In the United States, public policy is determined by the people's representatives, not by the people themselves.

Question 12

Millennials who are attending or about to attend college are

A) less ethnically and racially diverse than previous generations attending college.
B) more civic-minded than their immediate predecessors in Generation X.
C) less civic-minded than their immediate predecessors in Generation X.
D) less politically engaged than their immediate predecessors in Generation X.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 13

According to the theory of biased pluralism, which group has disproportionate influence in the formation of public policy?

A) citizen movements
B) labor unions
C) the wealthy
D) the middle class
E) the poor

Question 14

The ability of LGBT groups to mobilize support for their cause and to challenge several laws in the courts seems to demonstrate which of the following?

A) direct democracy
B) ruling elite theory
C) pluralism
D) protection of minority rights
E) protection of civil liberties

Question 15

Which of the following represents the largest voting bloc in the nation?

A) senior citizens
B) baby boomers
C) Generation Y
D) Generation X
E) millennials

Question 16

Which of the following institutions best exemplifies direct democracy?

A) a New England town meeting in which all members of the community are allowed to introduce legislation and then vote for passage or rejection of legislation
B) a national government in which all the people have the right to express their opinion and cast their vote for the person whom they wish to elect to the presidency
C) a presidential administration in which the ethnic make-up of the president's cabinet roughly coincides with the ethnic make-up of the country as a whole
D) a bicameral national government in which seats in one house are divided equally among all the states, and seats in another house are divided among the states in proportion to their population
E) a local government in which all political positions including judgeships are elective, and none are appointive

Question 17

Which of the following is true of citizenship for much of the past half-century in the United States?

A) Citizenship overall is has strengthened.
B) Citizens' rates of volunteerism in their communities has tripled.
C) Voter turnout has stayed consistent with that of other advanced democracies.
D) The level of trust between citizens and elected national leaders has decreased.
E) All of these answers are correct.

Question 18

Democracy as practiced in the United States and most other Western nations is best described as

A) oligarchic.
B) absolutist.
C) direct.
D) representative.
E) restricted.

Question 19

________ is a system in which citizens hold public officials accountable through periodic elections and the rule of law.

A) Direct democracy
B) Representative democracy
C) Majority rule
D) Minority rights
E) Authoritarianism

Question 20

The authors of the textbook are most interested in promoting ________ in America.

A) direct democracy
B) majority rule
C) class consciousness
D) genuine pluralism
E) elitism

Question 21

AmeriCorps is an example of which of the following?

A) a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving voting participation
B) a national volunteering effort not affiliated with the federal government
C) indirect government support of volunteering efforts
D) direct government support of volunteering efforts
E) a manifestation of the ruling elite theory of government

Question 22

According to the study discussed in the text, in which of the following countries do people ages 18 and older have the highest level of trust in government?

A) United States
B) Italy
C) India
D) France
E) Germany

Question 23

Which of the following is true of diversity in American suburbs?

A) Diversity has decreased slightly over the last two decades.
B) Once diversity is achieved in a suburb, it tends to stay that way.
C) The oldest suburbs are the most likely to be diverse.
D) The proportion of metropolitan-area residents who live in mostly-white suburbs is increasing.
E) The number of diverse suburbs is at its lowest level in fifty years.

Question 24

A device permitted in 24 states that allows citizens to approve or repeal measures already acted upon by legislative bodies is called a(n)

A) initiative.
B) popular referendum.
C) legislative referendum.
D) recall.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 25

Approximately how large was the white population of the United States when the Constitution was ratified?

A) more than four million
B) more than two million
C) roughly nine hundred thousand
D) more than nine million
E) around five hundred thousand

Question 26

What is the term for the requirement that certain types of measures, such as state constitutional amendments, must be approved by the electorate?

A) initiative
B) popular referendum
C) legislative referendum
D) recall
E) social capital

Question 27

What is the term for an electorate's right to vote directly for or against legislation already on the books?

A) initiative
B) popular referendum
C) legislative referendum
D) recall
E) social capital

Question 28

Which of the following men called for periodic citizen uprisings to reinvigorate the spirit of democracy?

A) Aristotle
B) John Locke
C) John Stuart Mill
D) Thomas Jefferson
E) Robert Putnam

Question 29

How many of the 50 states grant their citizens the power of initiative?

A) 6
B) 18
C) 26
D) 37
E) 50

Question 30

What is the term for an electorate's right to force unpopular elected officials out of office before the expiration of their term?

A) initiative
B) popular referendum
C) legislative referendum
D) recall
E) social capital

Question 31

According to theorist John Locke, how do governments hold our allegiance?

A) by enforcing pluralism and suppressing elite dominance
B) by preserving the state of nature in the face of human threats
C) by enabling majority rule and protecting minority rights
D) by holding a monopoly on the use of force within a government's borders
E) by protecting our life, liberty, and property better than we could on our own

Question 32

How many of the 50 states grant their citizens the power of legislative referendum?

A) 6
B) 18
C) 24
D) 37
E) 50

Question 33

According to John Locke, if a government threatens its citizens' rights, those citizens

A) must do their best to accommodate themselves to the oppression.
B) should not rebel because the government is carrying out God's will.
C) have the right to dissolve the government.
D) are no longer entitled to their natural rights.
E) should move to the wilderness and live in the state of nature.

Question 34

Approximately how large is the American population today?

A) 1,200,000,000
B) 840,000,000
C) 325,000,000
D) 125,000,000
E) 62,000,000

Question 35

Which minority group in the United States is growing the fastest?

A) Asian Americans
B) Hispanic Americans
C) African Americans
D) Middle Eastern/Arab Americans
E) Native Americans

Question 36

Approximately what percentage of the American public currently lives in suburbs?

A) 85 percent
B) 75 percent
C) 55 percent
D) 35 percent
E) 20 percent

Question 37

How many of the 50 states grant their citizens the power of recall?

A) 6
B) 18
C) 24
D) 37
E) 50

Question 38

Which of the following statements about John Locke's political philosophy is LEAST accurate?

A) Locke believed that the primary role of government was to ensure an equal distribution of property.
B) Locke's beliefs had a profound effect on the founders of the American republic.
C) Locke argued that people willingly submitted to the authority of government in return for its protection.
D) Locke argued that citizens could dissolve a government that failed to protect, or actively threatened, their rights.
E) Locke argued that human beings were born free, not bound to the will of another person or institution.

Question 39

What is the term for an electorate's ability to place legislative proposals directly on a ballot for citizen approval?

A) direct initiative
B) popular referendum
C) legislative referendum
D) recall
E) people's legislation

Question 40

Which of the following statements about American demographics is most accurate?

A) Same-sex marriage is illegal in a minority of states.
B) Thanks largely to the civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s, most Americans now live in ethnically diverse neighborhoods.
C) Since the 1950s, the percentage of Americans who live in the suburbs has dramatically declined.
D) Hispanic Americans today make up the largest ethnic minority in the United States, narrowly edging out African Americans.
E) While it was once known for its homogeneity, America's suburban population today is almost as ethnically and religiously diverse as its urban population.

Question 41

Which of the following is a reason it is increasingly difficult to determine the social class of people you see?

A) the decreasing income gap between the rich and middle class
B) the increasing popularity of suits and business attire across all classes
C) the new vitality of manufacturing jobs
D) widespread high levels of graduate education
E) widespread ownership of high-end consumer items

Question 42

Which of the following skills is likely to be the LEAST profitable for a job seeker or job performer in the future American workplace?

A) industrial manufacturing skills
B) well-honed creativity
C) analytical skills learned in college
D) financial acumen
E) technological proficiency

Question 43

Which of the following statements about social mobility in the United States is accurate?

A) Those of the middle-income class have seen the greatest rise in social mobility in the past 40 years.
B) Those employed in manufacturing-sector jobs have seen the greatest rise in social mobility.
C) Social mobility has increased for the poorest fifth of Americans, but not for middle-income Americans.
D) A person born into the poorest fifth of Americans has a better chance now of ending up in the highest fifth than forty years ago.
E) Social mobility has become more difficult to achieve over the past forty years or so.

Question 44

Which of the following measures would probably be LEAST conducive to increased political participation?

A) allowing citizens to vote by mail
B) allowing citizens to vote online
C) requiring all voters to present a photo ID
D) making Election Day a federal holiday
E) having citizens invited by members of their communities to vote

Question 45

Explain the role that majorities, minorities, elites, and interest groups play in the American political system. Does the American political system adequately balance the rights of minorities with the rule of the majority? Does it afford the people sufficient voice in the government, or does it place too much power in the hands of the elite?

Question 46

Define liberal democracy. How did this ideology develop? What are its most important tenets? How well does the American political system of today match the ideal of a liberal democracy?

Question 47

When the U.S. Constitution was written, social class divisions among Americans were

A) less visible than they are today but every bit as real.
B) defined primarily by wealth and community but were not present in terms of political power.
C) much less visible than they are today.
D) less defined by markers such as wealth and dress.
E) much more visible than they are today.

Question 48

By 2050, what percentage of the American population will be over the age of 65?

A) 80 percent
B) 20 percent
C) 10 percent
D) 35 percent
E) 25 percent

Question 49

A majority of young people find that ________ keep(s) them from voting on Election Day.

A) lack of interest
B) registration problems
C) inconvenient voting locations
D) being too busy
E) disliking the candidates

Question 50

Which of the following is a recent change in the states that has likely negatively impacted political participation?

A) making Election Day a holiday
B) dramatically reducing funds for state-sponsored volunteerism programs
C) applying new direct fees for voting on Election Day
D) weakening political parties
E) cutbacks in civic requirements

Question 51

The graying of the American population is likely to create tensions because

A) fewer workers will have to support more retirees.
B) older Americans are generally more tolerant of gender differences than are younger Americans.
C) older Americans are generally more tolerant of racial differences than are younger Americans.
D) older Americans tend to be less politically active than younger Americans.
E) older Americans are generally more tolerant of ethnic differences than are younger Americans.

Question 52

Describe the various ways the demographic composition of the American public is changing. Be sure to address race, ethnicity, age, class, and sexual preference. How are these changes altering the face of the American public? Which of these changes will present the most challenges in the near or distant future?

Question 53

What were the key ideas about government put forth in John Locke's Second Treatise on Government? How do they apply in today's America?

Question 54

Discuss the differences between civic life and private life. What qualities make an action or an issue civic instead of private? Is it possible to divorce private and civic life, or is the personal always political, and vice versa?

Question 55

The Internet has already made a mark on the American political process, and its impact may well continue to grow. Discuss the changes the Internet and other new communication technologies have already wrought. Have these changes been substantial or superficial? Are they for the better or for the worse? How have these technologies affected your own political engagement?

Question 56

Citizens in many states have expanded measures for participation in the law-making process. Define and distinguish between the direct initiative, indirect initiative, the popular referendum, the legislative referendum, and the recall. How do these advance democracy? In what ways could they potentially be abused?

Question 57

Describe and analyze ruling elite theory and pluralism. In what ways do both help explain the nature and outcome of politics in the United States?

Question 58

Which of the following activities best exemplifies civic engagement, as opposed to an individual activity?

A) helping a sibling with his homework
B) toting used cans and newspapers to a recycling center
C) staying late to help a coworker meet a deadline
D) visiting one's grandfather at his nursing home
E) doing extra research on a class assignment to get a better grade

Question 59

Which of the following is supported overwhelmingly by Americans?

A) mandatory governmental volunteerism programs
B) welfare programs designed to alleviate poverty
C) policies that require more qualifications for voting
D) policies that support public or community service
E) programs designed to increase political participation

Question 60

Which of the following activities would be considered a form of civic engagement, though not a political activity?

A) placing a vote in a city council election
B) negotiating a higher salary from a potential employer
C) wearing a pin endorsing a candidate for office
D) joining a protest in front of City Hall
E) organizing a food drive at a local church

Question 61

How have the growing gap between the rich and the poor and the changing composition of job opportunities in the U.S. altered citizens' capacity for social mobility? Are there solutions to the problem?