Deck 13: Politics and Economic Life

Question 1

Over the past decade,what has happened to political rights and civil liberties in the world?

A) They have declined in most countries,including the United States.
B) They have declined in most countries,but not in the United States.
C) They have increased in most countries,but not in the United States.
D) They have increased in most countries,including in the United States.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which group was most likely to vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election?

A) White
B) Black
C) Hispanic
D) Asian

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In a political system based on proportional representation,

A) there is a greater concentration of political ideas on the middle ground than in two-party systems.
B) when a single party lacks an overall majority,a government by coalition can lead to indecision and stalemate.
C) legal restrictions are placed on the number of political parties.
D) there is a closer resemblance between the various political parties than in two-party systems.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Pierre is a Canadian who lives in Quebec.Pierre feels more loyalty to his province,Quebec,than to his country,Canada.He prefers to speak the official language of Quebec,French,although he speaks English equally well.Pierre's feelings for Quebec are an example of

A) sovereignty.
B) citizenship.
C) civil rights.
D) local nationalism.

Question 5

Juan lives in Mexico City,Mexico.He loves to watch the World Cup.He is especially pleased when Mexico wins,and the Mexican flag is waved.He feels pride in his country and in its heritage.What term would sociologists probably employ to explain his reactions?

A) sovereignty
B) nationalism
C) alienation
D) citizenship

Question 6

Betty went on strike on April 15,2015 to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.What kind of right was Betty fighting for?

A) a civil right
B) a political right
C) a social right
D) a cultural right

Question 7

What is a characteristic of citizens in modern societies?

A) showing little awareness of,or interest in,those who govern them
B) feeling little sense of belonging to an overall political community
C) having no common rights and duties
D) seeing themselves as a member of a definite national political community

Question 8

In recent years,there has been a turn toward what has been described as "populist authoritarianism" in many countries,including European countries and the United States.What is a characteristic of populist authoritarianism?

A) value of civil liberties over security against threats from outsiders
B) multicultural,pro-immigrant,and pro-globalization
C) belief in popular sovereignty and direct democracy at any cost
D) creation of greater democracy

Question 9

Which group is most likely to make less than $15 an hour?

A) workers between the ages of thirty-five and forty-nine
B) Facebook workers
C) black workers
D) Latino workers

Question 10

Edward lives in the United Kingdom where the queen of England lives in a palace and carries out certain ceremonial functions.However,the queen of England has no real political power.Instead,a parliament of elected officials makes all the important political decisions.What kind of political system does Edward live in?

A) a republic
B) a participatory democracy
C) a socialist state
D) a constitutional monarchy

Question 11

When was the welfare state firmly established in most Western societies?

A) since the Civil War
B) since World War I
C) since World War II
D) since the end of the Cold War

Question 12

At the turn of the nineteenth century in the United States,Joan's great-great-grandmother could not own property.The ability of Joan to own property today demonstrates the achievement of

A) a civil right.
B) a political right.
C) a social right.
D) a cultural right.

Question 13

Which of the following statements helps explain why so many people decide not to vote in the United States?

A) Countries with high literacy rates tend to have lower voter turnout.
B) Relatively high incomes in the United States compared with other countries means that potential voters have less incentive to cast their vote.
C) Since winner-take-all elections discourage the formation of third parties,voters may sometimes feel that they lack viable choices.
D) The existence of well-established political freedoms and civil liberties gives voters less incentive to go to the polls.

Question 14

What is one advantage of proportional representation over winner-take-all electoral processes?

A) Minority political parties have a say.
B) There are fewer options for voters.
C) Parties do not need to form coalitions.
D) There are formal restrictions on the number of political parties.

Question 15

Which of the following statements best reflects the relationship between the Internet and democratization in the United States?

A) The Internet has led to much greater open-mindedness,dramatically increasing the free exchange of ideas.
B) Most people get their news and information from Internet sources that reinforce their beliefs.
C) The Internet,especially social media,proved to be a more important source of information than television in the 2016 presidential election.
D) Few adults get their news on social media.

Question 16

Countries in which voters can choose between two or more political parties,and the majority of the adult population has the right to vote,are usually called

A) absolute monarchies.
B) participatory democracies.
C) liberal democracies.
D) communist democracies.

Question 17

Jesse's grandfather worked hard to gain passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965,which outlawed discriminatory voting practices.What kind of right was Jesse's grandfather fighting for?

A) a civil right
B) a political right
C) a social right
D) a cultural right

Question 18

What term is used to describe the notion that a government possesses authority over an area with clear-cut borders,within which it is the supreme power?

A) capitalist state structuralism
B) nationalism
C) sovereignty
D) territorialism

Question 19

David lives in a small town in Maine where all members of the community come together annually to legislate policy and budgets.This kind of political system can best be described as what?

A) an absolute monarchy
B) a constitutional monarchy
C) a liberal democracy
D) a participatory democracy

Question 20

Identify which of the following rights is a social right.

A) the right to earn a minimum wage
B) the right to own property
C) the right to run for public office
D) the right to equal justice

Question 21

What did Max Weber value most about multiparty democracy?

A) It made possible mass participation in politics.
B) It generated quality leadership.
C) It made direct democracy possible.
D) It made possible rule by ordinary citizens.

Question 22

In a 2011 survey,the following question was asked: "What is more important-that everyone be free to pursue their life's goals without government interference,or that the state play an active role in guaranteeing that nobody else is in need?" What percentage of American respondents favored the first option?

A) 18 percent
B) 38 percent
C) 58 percent
D) 78 percent

Question 23

Alexandria is a Democrat running as an incumbent for a seat in the House of Representatives.According to the textbook,which of the following is the most likely scenario?

A) Alexandria will win the election,but her Republican opponent will spend more money.
B) Alexandria will win the election,and she will spend more money than her Republican opponent.
C) Alexandria will lose the election,and her Republican opponent will spend more money.
D) Alexandria will lose the election,and she will spend more money than her Republican opponent.

Question 24

Samantha is a researcher who studies economic change.Her work shows clearly how forces of worldwide economic competition are changing the nature of the work we do.What term do sociologists use to describe the process she studies?

A) epistemology
B) communism
C) capitalism
D) globalization

Question 25

Elizabeth is a member of the National Organization for Women (NOW).She would most likely try to lobby for which of the following issues?

A) increasing the military budget
B) a constitutional amendment eliminating subsidized housing
C) vouchers for parents who want to send their children to private religious schools
D) gender equality in the workplace

Question 26

Premodern systems of production were mainly based on

A) agriculture.
B) heavy industry.
C) technology.
D) communication technologies.

Question 27

What is the role of interest groups,according to pluralist theories of modern democracy?

A) They collaborate with powerful people to control the government.
B) They inform the bureaucracy about specialized issues.
C) They represent the voice of the people.
D) They establish a balance of power.

Question 28

Why do roughly half of all Americans believe that government is too large?

A) It partially reflects Americans' low level of trust in government.
B) Because among the twenty-seven industrial democracies in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),the United States ranks second in terms of federal,state,and local government spending as a proportion of its total economy.
C) Because the United States spends more than half of their gross domestic product (GDP)on government at all levels.
D) This statement is not true.The large majority of Americans believe that government is too small.

Question 29

At the end of 2017,what percentage of Americans said they could trust the government in Washington always or most of the time?

A) 18 percent
B) 38 percent
C) 58 percent
D) 78 percent

Question 30

President Dwight David Eisenhower,who had been supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe in World War II,warned in his presidential farewell address

A) of the dangers of what he termed the "military-industrial complex."
B) that any decrease in military spending might put the United States "at risk of terrorism."
C) that a two-party system was unsustainable in the long term.
D) of the danger of Cuba falling to "communist insurgents."

Question 31

Teresa is a staunch believer in the right to own guns.She recently joined the National Rifle Association,a group that attempts to persuade legislators to pass laws that will protect Americans' right to own guns.What do sociologists call this kind of organization?

A) a political action committee
B) a women's group
C) collective bargaining
D) an interest group

Question 32

Sophia subscribes to the theory that government policies in a democracy are influenced by the continual processes of bargaining among numerous groups representing different interests.Sophia's ideas could best be described as

A) libertarian communist.
B) pluralist.
C) power elitist.
D) multicultural.

Question 33

Why did Max Weber assume that direct democracy is impossible as a means of regular government in large-scale societies?

A) Direct democracies would be at a military disadvantage to other,more authoritarian societies.
B) When Weber wrote,no direct democracies had yet existed.
C) The costs of direct democratic rule in large-scale societies would be especially prohibitive.
D) Running a complex society demands expertise.

Question 34

Identify which of the following descriptions BEST describes a direct democracy.

A) Voters participate in decision making by voting for or against proposed policies,without meeting face-to-face with other voters.
B) The people regularly assemble to make decisions about proposed policies.
C) Voters participate in decision making by voting for a candidate who will best represent their opinions on policy decisions.
D) The people vote for a political party in elections that best reflects their political stances.

Question 35

What term refers to carrying out tasks that require mental and physical effort,with the objective of the production of goods and services that cater to human needs?

A) technology
B) work
C) power
D) authority

Question 36

What term do sociologists use to describe the use of science and machinery to achieve greater productive efficiency?

A) mathematics
B) power
C) authority
D) technology

Question 37

According to the textbook,which of the following statements is true about political action committees (PACs)?

A) They are committees made up of senators who work together on financial issues that the president recommends.
B) They have little influence on presidential elections.
C) More than 40 percent of the funding in congressional elections comes from PACs.
D) They are legally barred from giving political opinions publicly during the months leading up to an election.

Question 38

U.S.military spending

A) today is lower than before 1989 because of the almost complete collapse of communism.
B) continues to lag behind countries such as Russia and China.
C) accounted for 35 percent of total world military spending in 2017.
D) is some of the lowest in the world.

Question 39

In 1973,women achieved a legal victory when the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v.Wade that

A) women had a legal right to abortion.
B) federal money could not be used to subsidize facilities that carried out abortions.
C) states could restrict abortions as they saw fit.
D) women who could not afford an abortion had the right to receive subsidies.

Question 40

Many sociologists argue that large numbers of Americans are dissatisfied with the U.S.political system today because

A) the capitalist economies have failed to generate sufficient wealth compared with other economic systems.
B) the United States has a worse record of civil rights abuse than most underdeveloped states.
C) even though capitalist economies have proved to generate more wealth than any other type of economic system,that wealth is unevenly distributed.
D) more people are unemployed today than ever before in the United States.

Question 41

Since share ownership of corporations is so dispersed,actual control has passed into the hands of managers who run firms on a day-to-day basis.This statement echoes those of

A) Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations.
B) Karl Marx in The Communist Manifesto.
C) Adolf Berle and Gardiner Means in The Modern Corporation and Private Property.
D) Wright Mills in The Power Elite.

Question 42

Who designed his first auto plant at Highland Park,Michigan,in 1908,where specialized tools and machinery were designed for speed,precision,and simplicity of operation?

A) John Pierpont Morgan
B) Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca
C) Henry Ford
D) John Davison Rockefeller

Question 43

Why did state and local workers-ranging from firefighters to teachers-protest in Wisconsin and several other states?

A) They were upset that the government was going to make unions illegal.
B) They feared that the state would force them to join expensive,ineffective unions.
C) They were upset that their jobs were being outsourced to other countries.
D) They feared the loss of their pensions,a reduction in their health benefits,and a loss of their right to collective bargaining.

Question 44

What is one of the major outcomes of institutional directorates,or linkages among corporations created by individuals who sit on two or more corporate boards?

A) They reverse the process of increasing managerial control.
B) Instead of investing in a money market,people now directly buy business shares.
C) Americans have renewed faith in pension funds following the most recent economic crisis.
D) Blocks of shares owned by other corporations are dwarfed by manager shareholdings.

Question 45

According to the theory of alienation,how does the division of labor alienate human beings from their work?

A) by forcing many immigrant workers to become illegal aliens in other countries and to work without the basic protections offered to documented workers
B) by dividing workers into separate industries and thus disallowing them from uniting in common causes
C) by separating workers on the basis of racial,economic,and social differences into ghettos far from their places of work
D) by giving workers little control over their jobs,only contributing a fraction to the creation of the overall product.

Question 46

Emma notices how people could not survive in the modern world by themselves because they simply do not have the knowledge to carry out certain basic tasks,such as growing food.The process that Emma notices is known to sociologists as

A) class conflict.
B) scarcity society.
C) economic interdependence.
D) informal economy.

Question 47

What primary role does technology play in economic change and development?

A) Technological innovations help companies produce more goods and services at a cheaper cost.
B) Technology helps businesses communicate across the globe,building their networks.
C) Technological inventions are sold faster and at higher prices than other kinds of goods.
D) Technological innovations are particularly important for the move from agricultural to industrial societies,spurring initial economic growth.

Question 48

Steve's job is to install the left-side door handles as the car bodies move along the assembly line.What term would sociologists use to describe the specialization of Steve's work tasks?

A) globalization
B) credentialism
C) division of labor
D) economic independence

Question 49

Cathy works in a factory that manufactures hair dryers.She tightens four screws on each unit that passes on an assembly line belt.She performs this task on more than 1,500 hair dryers per day.Her work is an example of whose innovation in industry?

A) Max Weber
B) Karl Marx
C) Joseph Schumpeter
D) Henry Ford

Question 50

Corporations are increasingly stateless,loyal to no country.This is an element of

A) the knowledge economy.
B) freelance labor.
C) global capitalism.
D) communism.

Question 51

John Davison Rockefeller was an American industrialist who founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870.He later founded and bought several other companies and became the world's richest man.He also founded and donated large amounts of money to philanthropic organizations.Rockefeller's career is an excellent example of what the textbook refers to as

A) welfare capitalism.
B) managerial capitalism.
C) family capitalism.
D) institutional capitalism.

Question 52

In what chronological order did capitalism develop?

A) managerial capitalism,family capitalism,and institutional capitalism
B) institutional capitalism,managerial capitalism,and family capitalism
C) family capitalism,institutional capitalism,and managerial capitalism
D) family capitalism,managerial capitalism,and institutional capitalism

Question 53

Wei babysits in exchange for a room in his friend's house.What is the term that sociologists use to refer to this kind of transaction?

A) informal economy
B) tax-evasion planning
C) dual goods exchange
D) capitalism

Question 54

Capitalistic societies share which of the following traits?

A) shared ownership of the means of production
B) highly decentralized government decision making for all economic issues
C) profit as incentive
D) social equality and very little division between different socioeconomic groups

Question 55

According to the textbook,capitalism began to spread with the growth of the Industrial Revolution in the

A) seventeenth century.
B) eighteenth century.
C) nineteenth century.
D) twentieth century.

Question 56

A temporary stoppage of work by a group of employees to express a grievance or to enforce a demand is known as

A) alienation.
B) a strike.
C) a bargaining agreement.
D) liberal democracy.

Question 57

Which of the following explanations would most likely explain the difficulties faced by labor unions since 1980?

A) The loss of once-unionized manufacturing jobs to low-wage countries.
B) There have been high levels of unemployment.
C) The intensity of international competition has decreased.
D) Trends toward less flexible production have begun.

Question 58

Who wrote the The Wealth of Nations,a book that opens with a description of the division of labor in a pin factory?

A) Karl Marx
B) Max Weber
C) Frederick Winslow Taylor
D) Adam Smith

Question 59

According to the textbook,why did labor unions develop?

A) to ensure that business owners could control unruly workers
B) to provide a pool of unskilled labor that business owners could draw on in times of economic depression
C) to redress the imbalance of power between workers and employers
D) to force politicians to invest heavily in certain strategic sectors

Question 60

Which of the following scenarios is the best example of worker alienation according to Marx's view?

A) Kim is a social worker in a large city and copes with feelings of stress about not being able to get all of her work done in a 40-hour work week.
B) Andre feels angry about his inability to secure a full-time job.Despite a college degree,and some prior work experience,he has only been able to find part-time work in a small office.
C) Sergio works in a warehouse pulling products people have ordered from an online merchant to be shipped to them the next day.His accuracy and speed are closely monitored by his immediate supervisor,which he resents.
D) Shawnda found,after completing law school and securing work at a midsized law firm,that she did not enjoy legal work.She is planning her next career move.

Question 61

Suppose a country spiraled into economic recession.What would John Maynard Keynes recommend to fight the recession?

A) cut subsidies to agricultural businesses to encourage cheap imports
B) invest in public infrastructure to create jobs
C) slash welfare programs for the poor
D) reduce government unemployment benefits

Question 62

A global "race to the bottom" is when

A) clothing retailers and manufacturers race to get out new products before anyone else.
B) retailers and manufacturers go any place on earth to pay the lowest wages possible.
C) competition for workers gradually bring wages up in the Southern Hemisphere.
D) large northern retailers compete against southern manufacturers.

Question 63

According to the textbook,how are power and authority different? Explain your answer in two to three sentences.

Question 64

Jose has been working on an assembly line in a U.S.car-manufacturing factory for the past thirty years.Which of the following trends is he most likely to have witnessed?

A) An increasing number of the parts assembled at the plant are made in the United States.
B) The factory has increased its production in the plant,which has required management to hire more blue-collar workers.
C) Many of the activities that were formerly carried out in the plant have been outsourced to other countries.
D) The new workers who are hired in the plant are more skilled than he was when he began.

Question 65

Why are U.S.employers increasingly relying on part-time and temporary workers?

A) Many workers are not interested in working as permanent,full-time employees.
B) It offers workers additional benefits and protections.
C) Corporations save money by using part-time and temporary workers.
D) By using part-time and temporary workers,corporations are able to screen these employees for potential placement in longer-term positions.

Question 66

According to the textbook,what are three types of rights associated with the growth of citizenship? Explain each in one sentence.

Question 67

_______ entities roam freely around the planet in search of lower costs and higher profits,regardless of where they might be headquartered.

A) Transnational
B) Civil rights
C) Unionized
D) State-owned

Question 68

In 1900,approximately three-quarters of the employed population was in manual work,either farming or blue-collar work such as manufacturing.In 2016,the manufacturing workforce was only 8 percent,while white-collar professional and service employment accounted for 80 percent.What is a reason for the transformation of the occupational structure in the United States?

A) the introduction of labor-saving machinery
B) the decline of white-collar professional and service employment in other parts of the world,primarily Asia
C) the increase in full-time paid employment with the same employer over a long period of time
D) the aging labor force

Question 69

Which of the following methodological approaches to a research project on interlocking directorates and global capitalism would be comparative research?

A) A researcher conducts a series of interviews with individuals on corporate boards to understand how business decisions for one firm may have to take into account the impact on other firms.
B) A researcher asks individuals on the street their opinions about (randomly)only one of the two following conditions: corporate misconduct in a U.S.-based firm,or corporate misconduct in a transnational corporation.
C) A researcher examines the differences in individuals' multiple memberships on corporate boards in the United States vs.in Europe.
D) A researcher distributes paper questionnaires to corporate board members at forty major transnational corporations asking them about their strategies to lower costs.

Question 70

Automation has led to

A) many jobs being rendered obsolete.
B) increased need for creative human input at all levels of work.
C) most jobs having a high degree of flexibility and autonomy.
D) a sharp decline in jobs lacking autonomy.

Question 71

Amal and Bridget both work in the same company;Amal is a full-time worker,and Bridget is a temporary worker.Based on this information,which of the following statements is most likely to be true?

A) Bridget has a higher salary than Amal.
B) Amal shirks her responsibilities more than Bridget.
C) Bridget has more paid vacation time than Amal.
D) Amal is covered by medical insurance from the company,but Bridget is not.

Question 72

What change in investment strategies has contributed to our economic system evolving into institutional capitalism,according to some analysts?

A) Investors are now able to invest directly into corporations,rather than going through intermediaries.
B) The rise of technology allows investors much more information,and therefore autonomy,in tracking stocks and predicting future sales.
C) Investors now bundle money into grouped accounts,and this money is then used to invest in several corporations.
D) The expansion of investing from the very wealthy to a large swatch of the population has made individuals much more tightly tied to the stock market than ever before.

Question 73

In a short paragraph,compare and contrast two of the three forms of democracy discussed in the text.

Question 74

According to the textbook,why is voter turnout so low in the United States? Explain your answer in a short paragraph.

Question 75

What is a welfare state? Can the United States be classified as a welfare state? Explain your answer in a short paragraph.

Question 76

What are the three main characteristics of the modern nation-state? Describe each in one sentence.

Question 77

Which statement best characterizes the nature of work today?

A) Over the past twenty years,in all the industrialized countries except the United States the average length of the working week has become longer.
B) Most governments are removing limits on permissible working hours.
C) In most countries,there is a general tendency toward lengthening the average working career.
D) The reality for most is that regular paid work remains the key to day-to-day survival.

Question 78

The World Bank recently developed the Knowledge Economy Index (KEI),which rates countries based on their overall preparedness to compete in the knowledge economy.Which country ranked number one?

A) The United States
B) Sweden
C) China
D) Mexico

Question 79

In a short paragraph,compare and contrast pluralist theories of modern democracy and the power elite model.

Question 80

Why did most countries largely abandon Keynesian policies in the 1970s and 1980s?

A) In the face of economic globalization,governments lost the ability to control economic life as they once had.
B) The publication of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations pushed governments toward more liberal economic policies.
C) High rates of unemployment forced governments to admit that Keynesian policies had failed and to look for alternatives.
D) The fall of the Berlin Wall demonstrated the failure of communist economic policies in general and Keynesian economics specifically.