CH 2 Gov Test Review

Democratization is the

A process of transition as a country attempts to move from an authoritarian form of government to a democratic one

Why do most democracies give power to representatives rather than directly to citizens?

Bringing large numbers of citizens together for discussions and votes is difficult. Decisions may require specialized knowledge not possessed by the average citizen. Discussion of political issues takes more time than most people are willing to spend

Which of the following is not an assumption of the majoritarian model of democracy?

Citizens

_______ theorists have a narrower view of the scope of social and economic rights that should be guaranteed by a ​democratic government than _______ theorists.

Conservative & Substantive

New England town meetings are an example of

Direct Democracy

The idea that the most important government decisions are made by an identifiable and stable minority that shares certain characteristics -- particularly wealth and business connections -- is called

Elite theory

Americans tend to define democracy in terms of

Freedom, Rights, and Liberties

The concept of democracy was initially defined centuries ago in ancient

Greek/Greece

The procedural view of democracy is most concerned with

How government decisions are made

Although they are instruments of majoritarian democracy, initiatives are often sponsored by

Interest groups

Compared with majoritarian thought, the pluralist model of democracy shifts the focus of democratic decision making from __________ to _________.

Mass electorate, organized groups

What rules govern the use of referenda at the federal level?

No rules, just state

Based on polls testing how closely Americans follow news about politics, the text implies that policymakers should

Not very closely, unless it is a very contraversal issue

A form of government that puts power in the hands of an elite is a(n)​

Oligarchy

An autocracy is a political system ruled by

One Person

The text suggests that the United States fulfills the ________ model quite well.

Pluralist

Whereas majority rule is defined as decision making by 50 percent plus one person,____________ is defined as decision making by most participants.

Plurality Rule

A country abiding by the principle "one man, one vote" is practicing

Political Equality

Studies on decision making concerning public policy issues suggest that much of the elite's power comes from the ability of elites to

Politics

____________ theory prescribes that a group should decide to do what the majority of its participant wants to do.​

Procedural

The ancient Greeks classified governments as autocracies, oligarchies, or democracies based on

The number of citizens involved in the process

The idea that all adults within the boundaries of a political community should be allowed to vote is known as

Universal Participation

Studies of the congressional agenda demonstrate that it is characterized by

an emphasis on business related legislation

Whether a political system is "democratic" is chiefly defined by

competitive elections

A referendum is best described as a(n)

election on a policy issue

Participatory democracy today

emphasizes the broad participation of constituents in the direction and operation of political systems and they imply that the people are in power and thus that all democracies are participatory

The principle of responsiveness requires that legislators

follow the general contours of public opinion

A citizen's group gathers enough signatures on a petition to force a popular vote on a statewide lottery proposal. This proposal would represent a(n)

initiative

An organized group that seeks to influence government policy is called a(n)

interest group

​In a system of participatory democracy,

most citizens participate directly by either holding office or making policy. The town meeting, in which citizens vote on major issues, is an example of participatory democracy

The Greek word kratos, one of the roots of the word democracy, means

power

Which of the following can be considered an institutional mechanism in politics?

refers to the procedures laid down in the constitution for a particular task

All of the following are principles of procedural democracy except

relies on four main principles: universal participation, political equality, majority rule, and responsiveness of representatives to the electorate

According to procedural theory, the government should

respond to the public's opinion- the majority

According to the text, in the past few years, there has been ________ in the number of democracies around the world.

slight decline

Agreement among substantive theorists breaks down when the discussion moves from civil rights to

social rights and economic rights

The Bill of Rights is at the core of our

substantive theories of democracy

A popular election is the primary mechanism for democratic government in which model?

the majoritarian model

According to the text, it is difficult for a country with a market economy to remain _________ in its internal politics.

undemocratic