Chapter 1 - Review Questions
One type of linkage institution is
an interest group
According to The Communist Manifesto, the specter haunting Europe was
communism
The writers of the U.S. Constitution
had no fondness for democracy
Which of the following is NOT general characteristic of public goods?
most businesses provide them for a profit
Hyperpluralism can lead to
muddled and inconsistant policy
A government's policy agenda changes infrequently.
FALSE
Critics of the pluralist theory contend that it
WRONG
Political Action Committees usually care only about how members of Congress vote on issue that particularly affect them.
TRUE
Political issues get government's attention through linkage institutions.
TRUE
The closer the correspondence between representatives and their electoral majority, the closer the approximation to democracy.
TRUE
Single-issue groups
WRONG
Public Policy
all of the above***
One of the primary reasons for the limited scope of government in the United States is the prominence of
wealthy elites
The media usually focuses on the
"who" of politics
Winning a congressional seat these days requires a campaign war chest of at least
1,000,000
The age group with the lowest voter turnout rate is
25 years old or younger
Elite and class theory holds that
American society is divided along class lines
According to the theory of hyperpluralism, government has become more effective with time.
FALSE
America has one of the highest voter turnout rates in the world.
FALSE
Democratic theory requires citizens to become experts on most everything.
FALSE
The idea of powerful groups and weak government is most closely associated with
Hyperpluralism
Who said, the people "should have as little to do as may be with the government"?
Roger Sherman
Most advanced industrial democracies have a system of national insurance that provides most health care.
TRUE
One of the basic functions of governments is to socialize young citizens into the political system through schooling.
TRUE
Which of the following statements about the scope of our national government is TRUE?
WRONG
A policy agenda is
a list of problems to which serious attention is paid
Public policies include
all of the above***
Compared to most Western democracies, the United States
devotes a smaller percentage of its resources to government
The institutions that make authoritative decisions that apply to all of society are collectively known as
government
The basic principles of traditional democratic theory include all of the following EXCEPT
government control of information
In the democratic theory, the principle of minority rights accompanies the principle of
majority rule
The percentage of federal budget devoted to national defense is about
one-sixth
The percentage of the gross domestic product currently spent by our government is about
one-third
A common consequence of the situation in which different parties control the president and Congress is
policy gridlock
The last part of the policy system concerns
policy impacts
All governments
provide services
Pluralists argue that
the American political system is a competition among many groups
Which of the following is NOT an example of a linkage institution?
the Social Security Administration
Which of the following policymaking institutions was NOT established by the Constitution?
the bureaucracy
Which of the following is NOT an example of public good?
welfare benefits
Harold Lasswell's definition of politics is
who gets what, when, and how
