Chapter 1.3 Engagement in a Democracy Book Questions

1. Supporting the actions of the Democratic Party simply because one identifies oneself as a member of that party is an example of ________. A. Partisanship C. Latent preference B. Ideology D. Social capital

A. Partisanship

8. Which pathways of engagement in U.S. government do you plan to follow? Why do you prefer these approaches?

An example for an answer: Well I'd like to *instert what you want to do* (ex: help improve things around me). So I plan on... (ex: voting when eligible, keeping myself up to date with events/ news, staying out of illegal activities, ect.).

2. When a person is asked a question about a political issue that he or she has little interest in and has not thought much about, that person's answer will likely reflect ________. A. Ideology C. Intense Preferences B. Partisanship D. Latent Preferences

D. Latent Preferences

4. What political activities can people engage in other than running for office?

People can pay attention to the news in order to be aware of the most important issues of the day. They can contribute money to a campaign or attend a rally in support of a political candidate whose views they favor. They can write letters to members of Congress and to state and local politicians. They can vote.

3. What kinds of people are most likely to become active in politics or community service?

People who are 18 or older and want too contribute to society by engaging in political activities.

7. Are all Americans equally able to become engaged in government? What factors make it more possible for some people to become engaged than others? What could be done to change this?

Pretty much anyone can be involved in the Government to an extent. Even if someone isn't able to vote there are other things they could do such as: Going to a political rally, listening to the news/ knowing what's going on, volunteering to help with something that you believe will make your society better. From what I've seen, Government is about protecting the society (aka citizens), and distributing scarce goods and services. So making the society around you even slightly better is at least doing SOMETHING.

9. Are there any redeeming qualities to elitism and any downsides to pluralism? Are there benefits to having elites rule? Are there problems with allowing interest groups to exercise influence over government? Explain.

There aren't really any redeeming qualities to elitism, with that there's only a specific group of people who more than likely agree with one another most of the time. Only downside to Pluralism would be when so many people have so many different opinions they are unable to compromise and things, like the Government getting shut down, happens. Elites would probably struggle to be open minded causing them to although disagree less, will tend to not care about what the citizens want. When it comes to Interest Groups they would most likely make decisions based solely on their own benefits rather than the citizens as a whole.

6. Which is the more important reason for being engaged: to gain power or improve the quality of life? Why?

To improve the quality of life. The whole point, in my perspective, of saying any of ones opinions at all is to try to get changes that make things around someone better. I mean, why say or do anything if you don't care about things that effect both you and your peers? There wouldn't be anything "good" if everything was dislikable to everyone.

5. Is citizen engagement necessary for a democracy to function? Explain.

Yes, because the whole point of a democracy is to get the citizens opinions to assist with the decisions a government decides to make.