Political Science 1: chapter 1

Which of the following statements about recent immigration trends and the foreign-born population in the United States is accurate?

People born in Asia constitute the second-largest group of foreign-born residents. -FEEDBACK: After residents born in Latin America and the Caribbean, people born in Asia constitute the next-largest group of foreign-born residents, making up over one-quarter of the total.

Which of the followings statements about trust in government is accurate?

Public trust in government in the United States dipped to historically low levels during the fight over the Affordable Care Act. -FEEDBACK: When political differences over the Affordable Care Act led to a government shutdown in 2013 and yet another dramatic showdown over raising the national debt limit, public trust once again dipped to historically low levels.

Which of the following was true of digital citizenship in 2015?

Sixty-five percent of Americans have used the Internet to find data or information about the government. -FEEDBACK: A 2015 Pew survey found that over the previous year, 65 percent of Americans had used the Internet to find data or information about government. These include visiting a local, state, or federal government website

Which of the following was revealed in the documents leaked by Edward Snowden?

The National Security Agency had been secretly collecting information on Americans for years. -FEEDBACK: The Snowden documents revealed, among other things, that the NSA had been collecting information on the private communications of Americans for three years without public knowledge.

The term autocracy refers to

a form of government in which a single individual rules. -FEEDBACK: Autocracy is a form of government in which a single individual-for instance a king, queen, or dictator- rules a country.

Which of the following can be said to have characterized American politics for much of the past half-century?

a pervasive sense of apathy and cynicism -FEEDBACK: Low turnout for elections and a pervasive sense of apathy and cynicism characterized American politics for much of the past half-century. The 2008 presidential election brought a small reversal in this trend.

Political efficacy is the

belief that citizens can affect government. FEEDBACK: A trend in American views about government has been a declining sense of political efficacy, the belief that ordinary citizens can affect what government does and that they can make government listen to them.

Which of the following wanted to promote political participation for the middle classes?

bourgeoisie -FEEDBACK: The bourgeoisie were the middle class of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century France, and they sought to increase political participation for themselves by embracing the institution of Parliament.

Governments whose powers are limited through a system of rules and institutions are known as ____ governments.

constitutional -FEEDBACK: Governments vary considerably in terms of how they govern. In the United States and a small number of other countries, governments are limited as to what they are permitted to control and how they go about it. These are called liberal or constitutional governments.

A system that permits citizens to vote directly on laws and policies is often called a(n) ____ democracy

direct. FEEDBACK: A system that permits citizens to vote directly on laws and policies is often called a direct democracy. States in the United States incorporate some aspects of direct democracy through actions such as ballot referenda.

Liberty, democracy, and ____ are the United States' core political values.

equality. FEEDBACK: The key American political values of liberty, equality, and democracy are easy for most Americans to affirm in principle, though in practice they can be much more difficult to agree on and implement.

A government is made up of the

formal institutions that rule a people. FEEDBACK: Government refers to the formal institutions through which a land and its people are ruled; it may be as simple as a tribal council that meets occasionally to advise the chief, or as complex as the vast establishments of large nations.

Political equality means that each citizen

has one, and only one, vote. -FEEDBACK: Political equality is the right to participate in politics equally, based on the principle of "one person, one vote."

Political knowledge is a complex concept usually referring to

knowing the rules and strategies that govern political institutions and the principles on which they are based, and how they relate to one's own interests. -FEEDBACK: Knowledge and Participation - Knowledgeable citizens are more attentive to and engaged in politics because they understand how and why politics is relevant to their lives.

Compared to Europeans, Americans are ____ supportive of government actions to ensure economic equality.

less. FEEDBACK: Many Americans regard economic differences as the consequence of individual choices, virtues, or failures. Because of this, Americans tend to be less supportive than most Europeans of government action to ensure economic equality.

Personal and economic freedom are both definitions of

liberty. FEEDBACK: For Americans, liberty means both personal freedom and economic freedom. Both are closely linked to the idea of limited government, a valued concept in American political culture.

A belief in equality of results is

not a part of U.S. political culture. FEEDBACK: Most Americans share the ideal of equality of opportunity, but very few Americans have wholeheartedly embraced the ideal of full equality of results.

Who gets what, when, and how is a definition of

politics. -FEEDBACK: Noted political scientist Harold Lasswell once famously described politics as the struggle over "who gets what, when, how."

The idea that political authority ultimately rests in the hands of the people is known as

popular sovereignty. -FEEDBACK: In a democracy, political power ultimately comes from the people, essentially making the people the sovereign power. The idea of placing power in the hands of the people is known as popular sovereignty.

Totalitarianism entails government having unlimited political

power. -FEEDBACK: A totalitarian government recognizes no formal limits on its power and will typically seek to eliminate any challenges to that order.

____ refers to a system that allows very little room for the national government to regulate trade or restrict the use of private property, even in the public interest.

Laissez-faire capitalism -FEEDBACK: Laissez-faire capitalism allows very little room for the national government to regulate trade or restrict the use of private property, even in the public interest. Americans strongly embrace capitalism, but they do endorse some restrictions in the interest of protecting the public.

Religious objections to the Affordable Care Act were allowed through a 2014 Supreme Court case involving a major company called

Hobby Lobby. -FEEDBACK: In 2014 Hobby Lobby successfully challenged the contraceptive care provision of the Affordable Care Act when the Supreme Court ruled that family firms could be exempted on the basis of religious objections.

Which of the following statements is true concerning race and ethnicity?

By 2014 the total Hispanic proportion of the population was 17.4 percent. -FEEDBACK: In 1965 Congress lifted the tight immigration restrictions of the 1920s, allowing for much-expanded immigration from Asia and Latin America. By 2000 immigration had profoundly transformed the nation's racial and ethnic profile. One consequence of this shift has been the growth in the Hispanic, or Latino, population.

Over the last century, which of the following statements is accurate concerning age in America?

America's median age tends to be lower than that of many other industrialized countries. FEEDBACK: Since the year 1900, the percentage of the American population aged 18 or younger dropped significantly, while the percentage of the population aged 65 or older has risen. Even though the median age of Americans has increased, Americans tend to be younger than citizens of many industrialized countries, mainly because of the large immigrant population in the United States.