POLS 1000 Module 1 Quiz

What percentage of Americans live in urban areas today?

80%

According to Rogers Smith, American political development can be characterized as _____.

A "more serpentine" path, at times liberal and democratic, at other times fiercely exclusionary and ascriptive.

Socialism

A belief in spreading the costs and benefits of economic fluctuations across the entire population; in practice this generally means the blending of economics and politics with state control of certain sectors of the economy that markets cannot regulate or which require massive infrastructure such as health care, the military, and public utilities.

Democracy

A form of governmental sovereignty based on popular sovereignty and mass rule.

Metropole

A hub city or state from which colonial dependencies are managed and governed.

Conservatism

A political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization; central tenants include tradition, human imperfection, organic society, hierarchy, and authority; supports a variety of political forms from monarchy to democracy in the greater aim of promoting social stability.

Liberalism

A political, moral, and economic philosophy based upon formal liberty, equality, and individualism; also a form of governance through rule of law; generally understood as a form of government that places limits or restraints on state power.

Polis the root of the terms "Political" and "Politics" was what?

A public gathering place for free men.

Marxism

A radical economic and political philosophy that sees the violent overthrow of the capitalist system—and the eventual ownership of capital—to be a historical inevitability.

Fascism

A radical form of aurthortarian ultra-nationalism that has historically been fiercely anti-liberal and racist; this ideology draws its name from the Roman symbol of magisterial might.

Colony

A territory ruled in an authoritarian manner by a foreign power for the purpose of resource extraction.

Montesquieu referred to the system of giving each branch of government a distinctly different constituency as ________? A. A mixed regime B. A federalist arrangement C. A confederation D. A bicameral structure

A. A mixed regime

By "the political" Carl Schmitt did not mean _________. A. A set of parliamentary institutions that could be studied empirically. B. A fundamental and distinct category of human activity distinct from the economic, the religious, and the scientific. C. The real (rather than metaphoric) possibility of fighting and dying. D. An existential relationship defined by making distinctions between friends and enemies.

A. A set of parliamentary institutions that could be studied empirically.

Which of the following best describes the process of amending the Constitution? A. It is difficult and has rarely been used successfully to address specific public problems. B. It is easy and for that used frequently. C. It is difficult but has been used frequently to address specific public problems. D. It is easy yet rarely used.

A. It is difficult and has rarely been used successfully to address specific public problems.

According to Slavoj Zizek, which type of violence is structural? A. Objective violence B. Symbolic violence C. Domestic violence D. Subjective violence

A. Objective violence

Libertarianism

Also referred to as fiscal conservatism, a generally right-leaning ideology in so far as it espouses a belief in minimal government and the ability of markets to provide most public goods; can be distinguished from conservatism by a distaste for governmental attempts to impose traditional belief systems, values, and culture.

Neo-Conservatism

An American movement to the political right that was largely an outgrowth of two political contexts: the Cold War and Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society social programs; this movement has sought to dismantle the American welfare state, deregulate all sectors of the economy, and put forth a hawkish idealism in foreign policy.

What is the difference between a totalitarian government and an authoritarian government?

Authoritarian governments require participation while totalitarianism governments do not.

Which of the following is not part of the core values that underlie the American political system? A. Belief in economic freedom B. Belief in economic equality C. Belief in political equality D. Belief in personal freedom

B. Belief in economic equality

Which of the following describes the history of income inequality in the United States? A. The top 1% has never earned more than 10% of the nation's annual income. B. Income inequality has increased considerably since the late 1970s. C. Income inequality has remained fairly constant since the late 1970s. D. The top 1% has never earned more than 10% of the nation's overall income.

B. Income inequality has increased considerably since the late 1970s.

Which of the following are not structural variables? A. The real estate market B. Individual choice C. Aggregate preferences D. Objective violence

B. Individual choice

Which quality or qualities of the political world make "path dependence" more likely to have enduring continuity? A. The Constitution B. Institutional opacity C. Power asymmetries D. Competition

B. Institutional opacity

Which of the following statements best describe changes in America's age profile since 1900? A. The number of adults over age 65 has remained about the same. B. The percentage of adults over the age of 65 has increased dramatically. C. The number of children under age 18 has increased dramatically. D. The percentage of children under age 18 has remained about the same.

B. The percentage of adults over the age of 65 has increased dramatically.

What institition(s) provided for in the U.S. Constitution is/are explicitly democratic? A. The appointment of Supreme Court justices B. The Electoral College C. The House of Representatives D. The Senate

C. The House of Representatives

Which proposal called for equal state representation in the national legislature (i.e. congress)? A. The Great Compromise B. The Supremacy Clause C. The Virginia Plan D. The New Jersey Plan

C. The Virginia Plan

Which of the following were the Antifederalists most concerned with? A. Interstate commerce B. The protection of private property C. The potential for tyranny in the central government D. Abolishing slavery

C. The potential for tyranny in the central government

Although not present at the national level, a number of cities and states permit citizens to vote directly on laws and policies. What is this form of rule called?

Direct democracy

By the term "state" we mean an entity that ________.

Exercises territorial sovereignty and prohibits violence

In their fight against British taxes such as the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act of 1764, New England merchants and southern planters allied with which of the following groups? A. Former enemies: shopkeepers, small farmers, laborers, and artisans. B. Laborers only. C. Shopkeepers only. D. Artisans only.

Former enemies: shopkeepers, small farmers, laborers, and artisans.

By "path dependence" Pierson means what?

Historical facts that inhibit change.

The treatment of indigenous Americans as "wards" of the state, The fact that Puerto Rico does not participate in the U.S. Presidential elections, and state laws creating "separate but equal" facilities for black and white Americans are all examples of _________.

Institutions and practices derived from ascriptive ideologies

Subjective Violence

Interpersonal violence from fist fights to war crimes.

The day-to-day, competitive actions of individual actors within established state institutions is called ________.

Politics

According to Rogers Smith, racialism and racism are or were ________.

Sophisticated and at times respectable doctrines espoused by researchers at America's most prestigious universities.

How did the British attempt to raise revenue in the North American colonies?

Tarrifs, duties, and other taxes on commerce.

Domestic

That which pertains to policies, activities, and governance within the boundaries of a nation state.

Foreign

That which pertains to policies, activities, and governance within the boundaries of a nation state.

The paradox of economic markets—as with all manner of structure—is ______.

That while they feel externally imposed they are actually creatures of our own making.

The Normal condition

The necessary precondition for a system of laws, generally the absence of interpersonal violence established by the state's monopoly on violence.

According to Rogers Smith, the coexistence of multiple traditions in American politics has led to what?

The politicization of excluded groups forcing the United States to live up to its democratic values.

The Ancient Greeks understood "freedom" to mean _______.

The satisfaction of material neeeds that enabled one to contemplate philosophy, record history, and make art.

The Exception

The sovereign decision to suspend laws constraining governmental power.

Structural or Objective Violence

The violence behind, or necessary to creat, the normal condition and the smooth functioning of political and economic systems.

In a constitutional government ________.

formal and effective limits are placed on the powers of government

Americans' trust in their government has _______.

has declined significantly since the 1906s

The percentage of foreign-born individuals living in the United States _____.

has increased significantly since reaching its low point in 1970.

Latinos now make up _____.

more than 15% of the American public.

Political efficacy is the belief that_____.

ordinary citizens can influence what government does.

The first governing document in the United States was_____.

the Articles of Confederation.