Social Problems Test 1 Study Guide Chapter 2

At the national level, lobbying in 2011 was a __________ business.

$3.3 billion

In 2011, the average CEO of a Fortune 500 company was paid __________ times more than the average worker.

380

In 2009, the richest 5 percent of U.S. households owned over __________ percent of the nation's private wealth.

63

Which of the following is an example of a shared monopoly?

Company X, Company Y, and Company Z together supply 60 percent of all beds in the United States.

__________ is a political system in which the will of the majority prevails and decisions are made to maximize the common good.

Democracy

Contributors of large sums of money to political campaigns expect to receive which of the following benefits?

Influence over the positions of politicians on public issues

Which of the following is an example of a direct interlock?

Jones sits on the board of Company A and Company B.

Which of the following represents an example of the argument that the powerless bear the burden of U.S. government policy?

Only 10 percent of college-aged men were drafted in the Vietnam War.

According to the text, which of the following is a means through which power can be wielded?

Persuasion

Which of the following is an example of an indirect interlock?

Smith serves on the board of Company A, and Jones serves on the board of competing Company B. However, Smith and Jones both serve on the board of Company C.

The relationship between U.S. foreign policy and corporate interests is demonstrated by which of the following actions?

The government support of tyrannical governments if they support U.S. multinational corporations

Which of the following is a characteristic of the systemic imperatives the authors discuss?

The inertia of institutions that happens because no change is easier than change

The authors of your text point out that the flood of election money sabotages democracy in which of the following ways?

The influence of campaign donors makes it harder for legislators to solve social problems.

__________ are corporate enterprises with holdings and subsidiaries in several different countries.

Transnational corporations

In the Citizens United case the Supreme Court interpreted political donations as __________.

a form of speech protected by the Constitution

Contrary to classical economic theory, capitalism is now dominated by huge corporations that __________.

control the demands of the market

There is a(n) __________ connection between the growth of multinational corporations and the reduction of semi-skilled and unskilled jobs in the United States.

direct

Megamergers affect the entire economy in that they __________.

eliminate jobs

Recent tax policies in the United States have __________.

exacerbated the unequal distribution of wealth

The high cost of financing a political campaign __________.

favors independently wealthy candidates

527s are advocacy groups that __________.

finance political ads while not directly campaigning for a specific candidate

In contrast to socialism, capitalism is characterized by __________.

free market competition

The principles of "trickle-down" economics are adopted by the government because __________.

government officials, who tend to come from the business class, bring a conservative ideology to office with them

The bailout of airlines by Congress shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 2001, without similar relief to fired airline workers, represents an example of a __________.

government subsidy

Requiring a __________ in order to register to vote is an example of a recent tactic states use that disenfranchises certain groups of potential voters.

government-issued ID

One of the reasons that the government tends to be pro-business is because government officials are more likely to __________.

hear arguments and receive contributions from the powerful

By paying less in taxes, the affluent are in effect reducing their support from programs that __________.

help the poor

The high cost of financing political campaigns favor __________, who have an easier time raising money.

incumbent candidates

Critics argue that capitalism, because its objective is profit and not enhancing the human condition, promotes __________.

inequality

The linkage between corporations when an individual serves on the board of directors of multiple companies is called a(n) __________.

interlocking directorate

The McCain-Feingold law __________.

limited the use of "soft" money in federal elections

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act __________.

limited the use of soft money in federal elections

According to your text, the power elite are engaged in __________.

making decisions that advantage the haves at the expense of the have-nots

The authors argue that many of the problems of U.S. society largely result from the __________.

maldistribution of power

The average U.S. worker would have to work nearly one __________to make a CEO's hourly salary.

month

According to your text, Adam Smith would __________.

not recognize capitalism in America today

According to Marx's theory of capitalism, the social class in power controls the economy primarily by __________.

owning the means of production

The implication in Chapter 2 is that oligarchs are likely also __________.

plutocrats

According to Piven and Cloward, the government institutes massive aid to the poor only when the __________.

poor constitute a threat

The popular belief in democracy works to the advantage of the __________.

power elite

According to Marx, capitalism will produce a class of oppressed people called the __________, bent on destroying it.

proletariats

The U.S. government has directly intervened in the domestic affairs of foreign governments to __________.

protect U.S. corporate interests

The popular will is sometimes thwarted in the Senate by the extraordinary power of small states with __________.

small populations

After the Great Recession hit in late 2007, federal and state governments cut ____________.

social programs for the poor

By building roads for logging, the government is providing a __________ to the timber industry.

subsidy

The economic and social constraints on political decision makers that promote the status quo refers to __________.

systemic imperatives

The power elite can get its way without actually being mobilized because the choices of decision makers are often limited by __________.

systemic imperatives

Marx asserted that capitalism has within it the seeds of its own destruction because of __________.

the inevitability of monopolies

According to your text, the government has the power to expand or reduce the gap between the haves and the have-nots but politicians have prioritized __________.

the reduction of taxes for the wealthy

One strategic reason that multinational corporations move to developing countries is that __________.

there are fewer regulations, which translates into more profits