Test Bank for Analyzing American Democracy

Information Classification: General

Test Bank for Analyzing American Democracy Politics and Political Science, 4e by Jon Bond, Kevin Smith, Lydia Andrade (All Chapters)

Multiple Choice

• Misinformation in politics can be attributed to
• “Alternative facts”
• A sense of “truthiness”
• Fake news
• All of the above
• Public goods are
• Available to everyone
• Do not get used up
• Exemplified by national defense
• All of the above
• Politics can be defined as
• Who gets what, when, and how
• The authoritative allocation of values
• Both a and b
• Neither a nor b
• Government can be defined as
• The institution with the authority to make binding decisions for all of a

society

• One of the institutions authorized to make decisions for all of society
• Both a and b
• Neither a nor b
• The legitimate authority in government to wield coercive power to authoritatively allocate

values is

• Representation
• Sovereignty
• Majority rule
• Equality
• Conflict and debate over policy ideas and philosophies
• Contribute to an intractable and hostile environment in which government officials

cannot make decisions

• Must be avoided at all cost in order to prevent outbursts of violence from ordinary

citizens

• Are common, and even desirable, in a functioning pluralist democracy
• Is infrequent, and does not hinder government officials from making decisions 1 / 4

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• According to the text, each of the following are among the “core principles” of American

democracy, EXCEPT

• Unitary government
• Majority rule
• Political freedom
• Political equality
• The framers of the Constitution believed that minority rights must be respected in order

to achieve all the following goals EXCEPT

• Contribute to a political culture where the minority will respect majority decisions
• To prove that slavery was unjust
• Instill a sense that decisions have been arrived at fairly
• Promote government legitimacy and stability
• Which of the following is an example of direct democracy?
• A ballot initiative
• Congress
• An opinion poll
• The presidential election
• The term “pluralism” describes a governmental philosophy in which
• Power is divided between a single national government and several national

subunits

• A handful of elites control the actions of government
• Groups of competing interests vie for the attention of government
• Power is divided between several branches of government
• In Polisciland blue-eyed people are not allowed to vote, a policy approved by the

majority brown-eyed people. What core democratic values are in conflict here?

• Majority rule against political equality
• Political equality against minority rights
• Majority rule against popular sovereignty
• Direct democracy versus representative democracy
• State voters are asked to approve a ballot initiative legalizing beer sales in Flagship

University Stadium. What is this an example of?

• Representative democracy
• Direct democracy
• Oligarchy
• Purposive benefits
• What are the core principles of democracy?
• Majority rule, political equality, and popular sovereignty
• Popular sovereignty, elections, and political equality
• Majority rule, political equality, and political freedom
• Political equality and majority rule
• Partisanship is
• Best exemplified in party structure
• The formal membership in political party
• Caused by rational deliberation and debate on many issues 2 / 4

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• A psychological attachment to political party
• A form of government in which the power to make decisions and allocate resources is

given to a small number of persons is called

• Autocracy
• Oligarchy
• Direct democracy
• Representative democracy
• Pluralists argue that in American government, power should be
• Fragmented among different branches
• Given to the majority because democracy requires majority rule
• Given to the most educated because they will make the right decisions
• Given to the richest because they have earned it
• The pluralist model of democracy has been criticized for
• Its slowness and conservative bias
• Its over emphasis on restraining majorities
• Its failure to protect the rights of unpopular and unorganized minorities
• All of the above
• Which of the following would pluralists probably agree with?
• Tyranny of the majority is to be feared more than tyranny of the minority
• Elections provide an adequate check on government
• Power should be concentrated in the hands of the majority
• All of these
• Which of the following characteristics differentiates government from other organizations

that resolve conflict?

• Using the power of admonitions
• Teaching certain beliefs
• Legitimate use of coercion
• Resolving conflicts over values
• In which type of election do voters have an opportunity to make specific policy

decisions?

• Recall elections
• Initiative and referendum
• Issue election
• Amending election
• As a core democratic principle, majority rule is more important than
• Political freedom
• Political equality
• Both of the above
• None of the above
• Political scientists who adopt science as the best means to gain useful knowledge about

politics and government are most interested in

• Identifying which form of government is best
• Constructing empirical theories and testing explanation of why politics

works the way it does 3 / 4

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• Normative theory
• Using the scientific method to indoctrinate students
• The idea that people believe their views are “normal” and “common sense” and

therefore shared by most people is known as

• Null hypothesis
• False consensus
• Truth
• Normative
• The idea that people should be free from discrimination and class or social barriers is

called

• Social equality
• Democracy
• Political freedom
• Popular sovereignty
• Which of the following is NOT considered a basic form of government?
• Oligarchy
• Constitutional monarchy
• Democracy
• Autocracy
• A form of government in which the power to make decisions and allocate resources is

vested in one person is called

• Oligarchy
• Autocracy
• Democracy
• None of these
• In which form of government do all the citizens have the opportunity to participate in the

process of making authoritative decisions and allocating resources?

• Oligarchy
• Direct democracy
• Representative democracy
• Autocracy
• The largest percentage of a vote, when no one has a majority is known as

50% plus 1 of all members or all eligible voters is known as

• Absolute majority
• Plurality
• Simple majority
• minority
• In a direct democracy, who is responsible for political decision making?
• Citizens
• Educated elites
• Economic elites
• Representatives
• ________ means each individual should receive the same amount of material goods

regardless of their contribution to society.

• / 4