Deck 13: Politics and Economic Life

Question 1

Morgan was elected to her state legislature in a close election three and a half years ago.She is a Republican.In the upcoming election,she will be running for the same office against a male candidate from the Democratic Party.Morgan's district is currently experiencing an economic boom with lower than normal unemployment.According to the text,which of the following statements is most likely to be true?

A)Morgan will lose the election.
B)Morgan will raise more money than her opponent.
C)Morgan's opponent will concentrate his campaign ads on the economy.
D)Morgan's opponent will try to focus voters' attention on the fact that she is a woman.
E)Morgan will change political parties.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Sybil lives in a country where she cannot always participate as fully as others.For example,only men can run for election to the local government council.So Sybil actively protests this restriction.What kind of right is Sybil fighting for?

A)a civil right
B)a political right
C)a social right
D)a cultural right
E)an economic right

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What term is used to describe the undisputed political rule of a state over a given territorial area?

A)nation-state
B)nationalism
C)sovereignty
D)territorialism
E)political right

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Jordi is a Spaniard who lives in Barcelona.Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia,a region of northeastern Spain.Jordi feels more loyalty to his region,Catalonia,than to his country,Spain.He prefers to speak the local language,Catalan,although he speaks Spanish equally well.Jordi's feelings for Catalonia are an example of:

A)sovereignty
B)citizenship
C)civil rights
D)authority
E)local nationalism

Question 5

Which of the following reasons is given in the text to help explain the quick spread of democracy around the world in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries?

A)Democracy tends to be associated with competitive capitalism in the economic system, and capitalism has shown itself to be superior to communism as a wealth-generating system.
B)The economic situation of emerging third-world countries changed rapidly due to the expansion of transnational corporations that offered a democratic example for the peoples of those states to follow.
C)The rising number of American students who studied abroad carried ideas of American democracy to the rest of the world.
D)The increasing prevalence of natural disasters around the globe allowed the Western democracies to demonstrate the benefits of their systems through humanitarian missions in the third world.
E)Democracy was the only political system that actively sought to expand beyond the borders of the states in which it was practiced.

Question 6

According to the text,what upset protesting Wisconsin state workers the most about the passage of the Budget Repair Bill?

A)the reduction of health benefits for many workers
B)the elimination of pensions for retired workers
C)the fact that it was signed by a Republican governor
D)the inclusion of large increases in state workers' contributions to their own pension plans
E)the efforts to limit their ability to engage in collective bargaining

Question 7

According to the text,which of the following statements may help to 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 to other countries means that potential voters have less incentive to cast their vote.
C)Voters may sometimes feel that they lack effective choices due to the domination of only two political parties.
D)The existence of well-established political freedoms and civil liberties gives voters less incentive to go to the polls.
E)The less extensive range of elections in the United States when compared to other states alienates voters who would prefer to have elections for a greater number of offices.

Question 8

On the planet Xana,aliens are able to communicate telepathically.This facilitates their making instant decisions on all important political issues.Whenever a political decision is necessary,they all telepathically relay their votes,which are tallied on vote-counting computers.From this information,what could these aliens' political system best be described as?

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

Question 9

Svetlana is a Russian who lives in Moscow.She moved from a small town to the big city to look for a job after she finished a degree in computer science.Her great-grandfather,Anton,had been a Russian serf who was legally bound to the land on which he had lived decades ago.Svetlana's ability to move about more freely than her great-grandfather demonstrates achievement of a:

A)civil right
B)political right
C)social right
D)cultural right
E)economic right

Question 10

What did the Supreme Court rule in Roe v.Wade?

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

Question 11

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

A)because direct democracies would be at a military disadvantage to other more authoritarian societies
B)because at the time when Weber wrote, no direct democracies had yet existed
C)because the costs of direct democratic rule in large-scale societies would be especially prohibitive
D)because large-scale societies have too much racial, social, economic, and cultural diversity to allow for easy consensus
E)because millions of people cannot meet to make political decisions and running a complex society demands expertise

Question 12

Marie lives in Marseilles,France.She loves to watch the Olympics to see athletes compete and is especially pleased when French athletes win events and the French national anthem is played during medal award ceremonies.She feels pride in her country and in its heritage.What term would sociologists probably employ to explain her reactions?

A)sovereignty
B)nationalism
C)alienation
D)citizenship
E)civil rights

Question 13

Nadia lives in a country with a royal family that receives money from taxpayers to live in a palace and carry out certain ceremonial functions,but the king and queen have no real political power.Instead,a parliament of elected officials makes all the important political decisions.What kind of political system does Nadia live in?

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

Question 14

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
E)socialist states

Question 15

According to the text,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)They provide about a third of the funding for congressional elections.
D)They are legally barred from giving political opinions publicly during the months leading up to an election.
E)They can raise money from individuals only, not businesses.

Question 16

As a member of the National Organization for Women (NOW),Mercedes would be most likely to try to lobby for which of the following issues?

A)increasing the military budget
B)a constitutional amendment to provide free universal housing
C)vouchers for parents who want to send their children to private religious schools
D)equality in the workplace
E)decriminalization of soft drugs

Question 17

According to the text,what is a typical characteristic of multiparty political systems?

A)There is a greater concentration of political ideas on the "middle ground" than in two-party systems.
B)Coalitions in which no one party has a clear majority can result in stalemate and deadlock.
C)Legal restrictions are placed on the number of political parties.
D)There is a closer resemblance among the various political parties than in two-party systems.
E)It is easy for one party to dominate the system.

Question 18

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

A)in the seventeenth century
B)in the eighteenth century
C)in the nineteenth century
D)in the twentieth century
E)in the twenty-first century

Question 19

Eduardo lives in Montevideo,Uruguay.Recently he has seen the pay that he receives for his work as a hotel clerk reduced significantly as a result of legislation that reduced the minimum monthly wage for workers.Eduardo and his colleagues have taken to the street to protest against this law.What kind of right are Eduardo and his colleagues fighting for?

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

Question 20

Monica has always loved animals,but just a few months ago,she decided to take a more active role in protecting them.So she joined an organization that defends animals through political action.Now she regularly travels to her state capital to try to persuade legislators to pass laws to protect certain types of animals.What do sociologists call this kind of organization?

A)a political party
B)a women's group
C)a political action committee
D)an interest group
E)an animal shelter

Question 21

Eugenia has worked in the same company for fifteen years repairing ice makers.She drives from town to town in a few counties in California and sees to the maintenance of the machines that her company has in different supermarkets,convenience stores,and gas stations.Although her company manufactures other machines,she only repairs the ice makers that they make.What term would sociologists use to describe the specialization of Eugenia's work tasks?

A)globalization
B)specific specialization
C)informal economy
D)economic independence
E)division of labor

Question 22

Premodern,as opposed to modern,systems of production were based above all on:

A)agriculture
B)heavy industry
C)technology
D)communication
E)globalization

Question 23

What author's most famous work,The Wealth of Nations,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
E)Henry Ford

Question 24

Frederick works in a university studying the extent to which individuals depend on others to produce many or most of the goods they need to sustain their lives.He is struck by the fact that many people could not survive in the modern world because they simply do not have the knowledge to carry out certain basic tasks such as growing food.The process that Frederick studies is known to sociologists as:

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

Question 25

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
E)work

Question 26

Joseph Schumpeter argued that:

A)democracy ensured that the will of the people trumped that of politicians
B)democracy is more important as a method of generating effective and responsible government than as a means of providing significant power for the majority
C)only through the separation of government into three branches-the legislative, the judicial, and the executive-can people be protected from tyrannical dictators
D)democracy was impossible to achieve until technological achievements rendered it possible
E)Weber's ideas were mired in the past and needed to be completely rejected

Question 27

Laura is a researcher who studies technological and economic change.Her work shows clearly how the nature of the work we do is being changed by forces of global economic competition.What term do sociologists use to describe the process she studies?

A)materialism
B)communism
C)capitalism
D)globalization
E)occupation

Question 28

Max spends most of his time in the house taking care of his children and his sister's children.He cooks for them,takes them to school,and keeps an eye on them when they get out of school in the afternoons and in the summertime.In exchange for this help,his sister lends his family an extra apartment she has in her multi-family home.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)socialism
E)applied work

Question 29

Jennifer works in a factory that manufactures microwave ovens.During her eight-hour shift,she tightens four screws on each unit that passes on an assembly line belt.She performs this task on more than 1,500 microwave ovens per day.Her work is an example of whose innovation in industry?

A)Max Weber
B)Karl Marx
C)Adam Smith
D)Henry Ford
E)Ernst Young

Question 30

According to the text,which of the following statements best describes old-style terrorism?

A)It is global in scope.
B)It functions through autonomous local cells.
C)Its proponents carry out acts designed to kill as many people as possible.
D)It seeks to restructure world society.
E)Its point is to establish states in areas where nations do not have control of the territory's state apparatus.

Question 31

In 1908,who designed his first auto plant at Highland Park,Michigan,to manufacture only one product,thereby allowing the introduction of specialized tools and machinery designed for speed,precision,and simplicity of operation?

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

Question 32

A terrorist attack on a major metropolitan area in an industrialized society kills thousands of people.Investigators establish with certainty that the aim of the attack was to kill as many people as possible.According to the text,which of the following statements is most likely to be true?

A)The terrorists were trained in a religious school.
B)Sociologists would label this kind of attack as an example of old-style terrorism.
C)The terrorists had global geopolitical aims.
D)The terrorists will be caught and tried in a court of law.
E)The terrorists aimed to kill fewer people.

Question 33

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 to other economic systems
B)the United States has a worse record of civil rights abuse than most other states
C)even though capitalist economies such as that of the United States have proved to generate more wealth than any other type of economic systems, that wealth is unevenly distributed
D)more people are unemployed today than ever before in the United States
E)most American politicians today lack the charisma and character of the gifted orators of previous generations and thus have been unable to "sell the system" to the American people

Question 34

United States military spending today:

A)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)is greater than that of the next fifteen countries combined
D)is about the same as China's
E)has spiked as a result of terrorist attacks on the United States after having decreased significantly after World War II

Question 35

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"
E)that the election of a Democrat would be a calamity for the United States

Question 36

Stan just turned eighteen.His parents are both fifty-five.Stan's father expresses continuing trust in government,but Stan and his mother are highly suspicious of government.According to the text,which of the following statements is most likely to be true?

A)Stan's parents are more concerned about environmental issues than their son.
B)Stan is more likely to vote than his mother.
C)Stan is more likely to vote than his father.
D)Stan is more likely to vote than both his mother and father.
E)Stan's father is more likely to vote than Stan's mother.

Question 37

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
E)organization

Question 38

Miriam is a sociologist who has great faith in the U.S.political system.She subscribes to the theory that government policies in a democracy are influenced by continual processes of bargaining among numerous groups representing different interests.Miriam's ideas could best be described as:

A)democratic elitist
B)pluralist
C)power elitist
D)multicultural
E)apolitical

Question 39

Which of the following statements is true according to C.Wright Mills in The Power Elite?

A)Those who are in the highest positions in politics, the economy, and the military come from similar social backgrounds, have parallel interests, and often know one another on a personal basis.
B)The consolidation of power in Western societies during the twentieth century led to the proliferation of democracy around the world through the projection of military, economic, and political power globally.
C)The elite nuclear energy transnational corporations dominated American policy during the twentieth century and pushed the United States into various wars that were largely rejected by the American people.
D)The United States elite forces, especially the Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, constitute the most highly trained special operations forces in the world.
E)The greatest hope for democracy in the near future lies in society's elite since they possess the best education and intellectual capacity.

Question 40

Sally has a well-paying job and is a voter who is more interested in being able to say what she thinks freely on the Internet than any other single issue.Some sociologists would describe her attitude as an example of:

A)extreme voter antipathy
B)the shift in political values in democratic nations from "scarcity values" to "post-materialist values"
C)power elitism
D)direct democracy
E)the dangers inherent in young voters' fixation on a single issue related to technological or scientific progress

Question 41

Pat has worked in a transnational corporation for the last five years.According to the text,which of the following statements is most likely to be true?

A)The transnational corporation for which Pat works is family-owned and operated.
B)The transnational corporation for which Pat works is based in China.
C)The transnational corporation for which Pat works is based in Japan.
D)The transnational corporation for which Pat works is based in the United States.
E)The transnational corporation for which Pat works is based neither in the United States nor in Japan.

Question 42

Rick is a sociologist who specializes in the study of labor issues.Which of the following explanations would he probably be LEAST likely to cite to explain the difficulties faced by labor unions since 1980?

A)Older manufacturing industries have declined while the service sector has risen.
B)There has been a recession in world economic activity associated with high levels of unemployment.
C)The intensity of international competition has increased.
D)Trends toward more flexible production have begun.
E)Increased globalization has strengthened workers' bargaining power.

Question 43

Sofia is a sociologist who sees capitalism as developing through three distinct phases.In what chronological order would she probably put these three phases of capitalism?

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
E)managerial capitalism, institutional capitalism, and family capitalism

Question 44

Tamara studies modern societies,which are defined by most researchers as capitalistic.She would probably assert that these capitalistic societies share all the following traits EXCEPT:

A)private ownership of the means of production
B)highly centralized government decision making for most economic issues
C)profit as incentive
D)free competition for markets to sell goods, acquire cheap materials, and utilize cheap labor
E)expansion and investment to increase capital

Question 45

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.
E)The failure of technology to advance sufficiently in these decades crippled Western economies and forced them to invest more heavily in innovation.

Question 46

According to the text,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
E)twenty-first century

Question 47

What do Edna Bonacich and Richard Appelbaum mean when they write about a global "race to the bottom" in the retail-dominated production of clothing?

A)Clothing retailers and manufacturers race to get out new products before anyone else and thus foment innovation and increasing quality in the sector.
B)Retailers and manufacturers will go anywhere on earth to pay the lowest possible wages, which results in dismal wages for workers-who are often mere children.
C)As the manufacture of clothing for large retailers was increasingly centered around areas of the Southern Hemisphere, competition for workers gradually brought wages up in these parts of the world.
D)A manufacturing race has been on for more than twenty years, and it pits large northern retailers against southern manufacturers.
E)The racial composition of workers in the manufacture and retailing of clothing has changed dramatically by including more people of color.

Question 48

Shirley has worked for more than twenty years in a factory where automated machines recently took over some of the more onerous work that she had been required to perform.As a result,her job has become a bit less repetitive and easier to carry out,and she feels less alienated.What author's conclusions about automation would most likely be supported by Shirley's experience?

A)Robert Blauner
B)Harry Braverman
C)Richard Sennett
D)Max Weber
E)Karl Marx

Question 49

According to the text,the combined sales of what kind of corporations accounted for over half of the value of goods and services produced by the entire world in 2007?

A)transnational
B)energy
C)financial
D)state-owned
E)engineering

Question 50

Miles has been working on an assembly line in a car manufacturing factory in the United States for the last thirty years.Which of the following trends is he most likely to have witnessed?

A)An increasing amount 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 less skilled than when he began.
E)Strikes by workers are more common now in the factory than before.

Question 51

Why were workers powerless to be helpful and make things work again in sociologist Richard Sennett's study on the skill debate that was cited in the text?

A)They lacked a university education.
B)Labor unions refused to allow them proper training.
C)Their employers fired them before they could do so.
D)As employees of large transnational corporations, they changed location of employment too often to really get a handle on how to do their jobs properly.
E)Automation had diminished their autonomy.

Question 52

According to the text,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
E)to reduce the alienation of shareholders in large corporations

Question 53

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

A)alienation
B)a strike
C)socialism
D)Marxism
E)the division of labor

Question 54

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 text refers to as:

A)welfare capitalism
B)managerial capitalism
C)family capitalism
D)institutional capitalism
E)state capitalism

Question 55

All of the following terms are more or less synonymous to sociologists EXCEPT:

A)the postindustrial society
B)the information age
C)the Neolithic age
D)the "new" economy
E)the knowledge economy

Question 56

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 and no influence over how or to whom their products are sold
E)by forcing workers to divide their labor between several jobs instead of allowing them to work at one job

Question 57

Molly is a Keynesian economist,which means that she subscribes to the ideas of John Maynard Keynes.She recently began working as an economic advisor to the president.Just when she started her new job,the country spiraled into economic recession.What would Molly probably recommend her boss do 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
E)lower the voting age

Question 58

Merle is a student who believes that 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.Merle's ideas echo 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)C.Wright Mills in The Power Elite
E)Robert Blauner in Alienation and Freedom

Question 59

According to the text,all of the following factors help to explain why levels of unemployment increased in Western societies in the 1970s and the 1980s EXCEPT:

A)the rise of international competition in industries on which Western prosperity used to be founded
B)the worldwide economic recession of the 1980s, which has still not fully abated
C)the increasing use of microelectronics in industry
D)the widening income gap between blue-collar and white-collar workers
E)increasing numbers of women in the labor force

Question 60

Mary and Bridget both work in the same company,but Mary 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 Mary.
B)Mary shirks her responsibilities more than Bridget.
C)Bridget has more paid vacation time than Mary.
D)Mary does not have a retirement plan, but Bridget enjoys an excellent retirement pension from the company.
E)Mary is covered by medical insurance from the company, but Bridget is not.

Question 61

Explain the three different forms of democracy.

Question 62

Compare and contrast pluralist theories of modern democracy and the power elite model.

Question 63

Why is it important for sociologists to study economic institutions?

Question 64

What is a labor union? Why have unions in the United States suffered from a decline in membership since the 1980s?

Question 65

What are the main features of capitalism?

Question 66

Using the concept of division of labor,describe the key differences in the nature of work in traditional versus modern societies.

Question 67

Describe the role interest groups play in U.S.politics.

Question 68

According to the text,all of the following factors help sociologists to explain why some people find it more difficult to find employment than others EXCEPT:

A)their race or ethnic background
B)their age
C)the industry they work in
D)the geographic region they live in
E)the number of children they have

Question 69

According to the text,why is voter turnout so low in the United States?

Question 70

What are the three main characteristics of the modern nation-state?

Question 71

How are power and authority different according to the text?

Question 72

John is an American who works in the United States,and Jacques works in his home country of France.According to the text,which of the following statements can be inferred to be most likely to be true regarding their future working lives?

A)Both men will increasingly work more hours per week.
B)Only Jacques will increasingly work more hours per week.
C)Both men will be forced by their employers to work an average of over 200 hours per year of overtime.
D)Only Jacques will be forced by his employer to work an average of over 200 hours per year of overtime.
E)Both men will retire earlier than their fathers.

Question 73

What is a welfare state? Can the United States be classified as a welfare state?

Question 74

According to the text,what are three types of rights associated with the growth of citizenship?

Question 75

Compare and contrast old- and new-style terrorism.