Chapter 1 - Review Questions

One type of linkage institution is

an interest group

According to The Communist Manifesto, the specter haunting Europe was

communism

The writers of the U.S. Constitution

had no fondness for democracy

Which of the following is NOT general characteristic of public goods?

most businesses provide them for a profit

Hyperpluralism can lead to

muddled and inconsistant policy

A government's policy agenda changes infrequently.

FALSE

Critics of the pluralist theory contend that it

WRONG

Political Action Committees usually care only about how members of Congress vote on issue that particularly affect them.

TRUE

Political issues get government's attention through linkage institutions.

TRUE

The closer the correspondence between representatives and their electoral majority, the closer the approximation to democracy.

TRUE

Single-issue groups

WRONG

Public Policy

all of the above***

One of the primary reasons for the limited scope of government in the United States is the prominence of

wealthy elites

The media usually focuses on the

"who" of politics

Winning a congressional seat these days requires a campaign war chest of at least

1,000,000

The age group with the lowest voter turnout rate is

25 years old or younger

Elite and class theory holds that

American society is divided along class lines

According to the theory of hyperpluralism, government has become more effective with time.

FALSE

America has one of the highest voter turnout rates in the world.

FALSE

Democratic theory requires citizens to become experts on most everything.

FALSE

The idea of powerful groups and weak government is most closely associated with

Hyperpluralism

Who said, the people "should have as little to do as may be with the government"?

Roger Sherman

Most advanced industrial democracies have a system of national insurance that provides most health care.

TRUE

One of the basic functions of governments is to socialize young citizens into the political system through schooling.

TRUE

Which of the following statements about the scope of our national government is TRUE?

WRONG

A policy agenda is

a list of problems to which serious attention is paid

Public policies include

all of the above***

Compared to most Western democracies, the United States

devotes a smaller percentage of its resources to government

The institutions that make authoritative decisions that apply to all of society are collectively known as

government

The basic principles of traditional democratic theory include all of the following EXCEPT

government control of information

In the democratic theory, the principle of minority rights accompanies the principle of

majority rule

The percentage of federal budget devoted to national defense is about

one-sixth

The percentage of the gross domestic product currently spent by our government is about

one-third

A common consequence of the situation in which different parties control the president and Congress is

policy gridlock

The last part of the policy system concerns

policy impacts

All governments

provide services

Pluralists argue that

the American political system is a competition among many groups

Which of the following is NOT an example of a linkage institution?

the Social Security Administration

Which of the following policymaking institutions was NOT established by the Constitution?

the bureaucracy

Which of the following is NOT an example of public good?

welfare benefits

Harold Lasswell's definition of politics is

who gets what, when, and how