CHAPTER 1: Introduction: Making Sense of Government and Politics

MULTIPLE CHOICE

	1.	What are the two fundamental questions that allow us to find patterns and order in the chaos of politics?
a.	“Who governs?” and “How do they govern?”	
b.	“Who runs for office?” and “Who wins?”	
c.	“What do we observe?” and “Why?”	
d.	“What is government?” and “Who runs it?”	
e.	“Why do we need government?” and “Who runs it?”	

ANS:	C	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Can We Find Order in the Chaos of Politics? (I.A)
MSC:	Remembering		

	2.	The following question is an example of a(n) ________ question in political science: “Which political party do a majority of Latinos support in presidential elections?”
a.	empirical	d.	fundamental	
b.	analytical	e.	policy	
c.	normative	

ANS:	A	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Can We Find Order in the Chaos of Politics? (I.A)
MSC:	Applying

	3.	The following question is an example of a(n) ________ question in political science: “Why do a majority of Latinos support the Democratic Party in presidential elections?”
a.	empirical	d.	fundamental	
b.	analytical	e.	policy	
c.	normative	

ANS:	B	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Can We Find Order in the Chaos of Politics? (I.A)
MSC:	Applying

	4.	The following question is an example of a(n) ________ question in political science: “Should a majority of Latinos support the Democratic Party in presidential elections?”
a.	empirical	d.	fundamental	
b.	analytical	e.	policy	
c.	normative	

ANS:	C	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Can We Find Order in the Chaos of Politics? (I.A)
MSC:	Applying

	5.	What is the general term used to describe the formal political arrangement by which a land and its people are ruled?
a.	formalism	d.	constitutionalism	
b.	government	e.	monarchism	
c.	authoritarianism	

ANS:	B	DIF:	Easy	TOP:	What Is Government? (I.B)
MSC:	Remembering		

	6.	States and tribal councils are examples of which set of institutions and procedures?
a.	governments	d.	democracy	
b.	formal institutions	e.	bureaucracies	
c.	legislative bodies	

ANS:	A	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	What Is Government? (I.B)
MSC:	Understanding		

	7.	A form of government in which a single individual—king, queen, or dictator—rules is known as:
a.	a unigarchy	d.	totalitarianism	
b.	an oligarchy	e.	authoritarianism	
c.	an autocracy	

ANS:	C	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Autocracy (I.C.i)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	8.	Under the rule of King George, the English colonies in America exemplified the governmental system known as:
a.	a unigarchy	d.	totalitarianism	
b.	an oligarchy	e.	a democracy	
c.	an autocracy	

ANS:	C	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Autocracy (I.C.i)	
MSC:	Applying

	9.	Autocracy can best be defined as rule by:
a.	all	d.	many	
b.	one	e.	self-executing laws	
c.	few	

ANS:	B	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Autocracy (I.C.i)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	10.	If the populace has some influence over decision making, the government is most likely:
a.	pluralistic	d.	representative	
b.	autocratic	e.	democratic	
c.	constitutional	

ANS:	E	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Democracy (I.C.ii)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	11.	A system of rule that permits citizens to play a significant part in the governmental process, usually through the selection of key public officials, is called:
a.	democratic	d.	oligarchic	
b.	pluralistic	e.	totalitarian	
c.	constitutional	

ANS:	A	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Democracy (I.C.ii)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	12.	When a small group of landowners, military officers, or wealthy merchants controls most of the governing decisions, the government is said to be a(n):
a.	theocracy	d.	meritocracy	
b.	oligarchy	e.	democracy	
c.	autocracy	

ANS:	B	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Oligarchy (I.C.iii)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	13.	On the small island nation of Tamazia, the small but elite group of purple-spotted Tamazians, who own most of the land on the more fruitful north side, have invaded the less productive southern sections of the island. Now, they have taken control of all political institutions. Consequently, the pink-spotted and green-spotted Tamazians who make up the majority of the island inhabitants have to submit to the will of the purple-spotted Tamazians. This new government on the island nation of Tamazia would most correctly be classified as:
a.	oligarchic	d.	constitutional	
b.	autocratic	e.	totalitarian	
c.	democratic	

ANS:	A	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Oligarchy (I.C.iii)	
MSC:	Applying

	14.	Which term describes a system of rule in which formal and effective limits are placed on the powers of government?
a.	pluralism	d.	representative government	
b.	democracy	e.	constitutional government	
c.	monarchy	

ANS:	E	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Constitutional (I.C.iv)
MSC:	Remembering		

	15.	Suppose that a certain government may increase taxes on its citizens only if both chambers in its legislature agree to the increase with a two-thirds majority. This restriction on government power exemplifies a:
a.	procedural limit	d.	secondary restriction	
b.	substantive limit	e.	tertiary restriction	
c.	primary restriction	

ANS:	A	DIF:	Difficult	TOP:	Procedural Limits (I.C.iv.a)
MSC:	Applying

	16.	When governments are limited in terms of how control is exercised, these governments are said to have:
a.	procedural limits	d.	secondary restrictions	
b.	substantive limits	e.	tertiary restrictions	
c.	primary restrictions	

ANS:	A	DIF:	Difficult	TOP:	Procedural Limits (I.C.iv.a)
MSC:	Remembering		

	17.	When governments are severely limited in terms of what they are permitted to control, these governments are said to have:
a.	procedural limits	d.	secondary restrictions	
b.	substantive limits	e.	tertiary restrictions	
c.	primary restrictions	

ANS:	B	DIF:	Difficult	TOP:	Substantive Limits (I.C.iv.b)
MSC:	Remembering		

	18.	The limitation on government power in the United States that prohibits Americans from being forced to quarter troops in their homes is an example of a:
a.	procedural limit	d.	secondary restriction	
b.	substantive limit	e.	tertiary restriction	
c.	primary restriction	

ANS:	B	DIF:	Difficult	TOP:	Substantive Limits (I.C.iv.b)
MSC:	Applying

	19.	The kind of rule in which the power of government has only minimal legal limits but is effectively restrained by other social, religious, or economic institutions is called:
a.	autocratic	d.	constitutional	
b.	totalitarian	e.	democracy	
c.	authoritarian	

ANS:	C	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Authoritarian (I.C.v)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	20.	In many nations in Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa, the law imposes few real limits, but the government is nevertheless kept in check by other political and social institutions that it is unable to control but must come to terms with. Examples include autonomous territories, an organized church, organized business groups, or organized labor unions. Such governments are generally called:
a.	autocratic	d.	constitutional	
b.	totalitarian	e.	democracies	
c.	authoritarian	

ANS:	C	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Authoritarian (I.C.v)	
MSC:	Applying

	21.	On the eve of World War II, the National Socialist (Nazi) Party rose to power in Germany and consolidated its hold on political institutions by effectively striking down any significant opposition through violence and intimidation. Nazi Germany achieved almost absolute control over every facet of its citizens’ lives. In terms of limits on governmental power, the political system of Nazi Germany would most accurately be categorized as:
a.	totalitarian	d.	constitutional	
b.	monarchical	e.	democratic	
c.	authoritarian	

ANS:	A	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Totalitarian (I.C.vi)	
MSC:	Applying

	22.	Political scientists would most accurately classify a governing system that recognizes no formal limits on its power and seeks to absorb or eliminate other social institutions that might challenge it as:
a.	autocratic	d.	authoritarian	
b.	dictatorial	e.	totalitarian	
c.	democratic	

ANS:	E	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Totalitarian (I.C.vi)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	23.	Governments have historically included which two basic components?
a.	coercion and revenue collection	
b.	coercion and social services	
c.	police and military	
d.	taxes and welfare	
e.	revenue collection and social services	

ANS:	A	DIF:	Easy	TOP:	Foundations of Government (I.D)
MSC:	Remembering		

	24.	For which of the following reasons is government NOT necessary?
a.	to provide public goods	d.	to provide private goods	
b.	to provide national defense	e.	to protect property	
c.	to maintain order	

ANS:	D	DIF:	Easy	TOP:	Why Is Government Necessary? (I.E)
MSC:	Remembering		

	25.	Free riding occurs in collective action settings because:
a.	usually some individuals do not have an interest in the public good	
b.	the diversity of motives means not everyone wants to achieve the same goal	
c.	irrationality is prevalent in society	
d.	people do not know what the price of public goods really ought to be	
e.	individuals may be able to enjoy the benefit of others’ efforts without contributing themselves	

ANS:	E	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Free Riding (I.E.iii.a)	
MSC:	Understanding		

	26.	Your instructor has organized the class into groups of three students each and assigned each group a research project on different aspects of the workings of Congress. Regardless of the individual contributions of each member of the group, all three students of each group will receive the same grade based on the quality of the project. After numerous attempts to organize the group to work on the project, you realize the third student in your group will not participate. Instead, you and the second student get together to finish the project since both of you are very concerned about your final grade in the class. However, you are both angry that the third student is going to benefit from your hard work without contributing. Had the instructor told each group that each student’s grade on the project would be based on their individual contributions, which problem would the instructor have avoided?
a.	a delegation problem	d.	a free-rider problem	
b.	an empirical problem	e.	a principal–agent problem	
c.	a collective action problem	

ANS:	D	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Free Riding (I.E.iii.a)	
MSC:	Applying

	27.	Your instructor decides to give the class one very hard exam question. The entire class may work together to answer the question since the instructor just wants the correct answer; she does not care how the class arrives at the answer or who contributes to answering the question. The final answer that is submitted will be graded, and all students will receive the same grade. In one sense, the exam grade is a ________ since all students will benefit and cannot be denied a grade, regardless of their individual contributions to answering the question.
a.	selective good	d.	retail good	
b.	private good	e.	wholesale good	
c.	public good	

ANS:	C	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Public Good (I.E.iii.b)
MSC:	Applying

	28.	A good that may be enjoyed by anyone, if provided, and that may not be denied to anyone once it has been provided is called a(n):
a.	public good	d.	externality	
b.	private good	e.	negative good	
c.	universal good	

ANS:	A	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Public Good (I.E.iii.b)
MSC:	Remembering		

	29.	What is an example of a public good?
a.	clean air	
b.	garbage collection service	
c.	shoes sold at a shoe store	
d.	groceries sold at a grocery store	
e.	home-grown vegetables given from one person to another	

ANS:	A	DIF:	Easy	TOP:	Public Good (I.E.iii.b)
MSC:	Applying

	30.	The conflicts and struggles over the leadership, structure, and policies of government are called:
a.	government	d.	lobbying	
b.	politics	e.	war	
c.	derision	

ANS:	B	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Politics (I.E.iv.a)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	31.	In addition to competition, politics also involves:
a.	collaboration and cooperation	
b.	individual decisions to join organizations	
c.	random events	
d.	biological processes	
e.	personal characteristics	

ANS:	A	DIF:	Easy	TOP:	Politics (I.E.iv.a)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	32.	The struggle over who gets what, when, and how is known as:
a.	government	d.	lobbying	
b.	politics	e.	redistribution	
c.	authoritarianism	

ANS:	B	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Politics (I.E.iv.a)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	33.	Efforts to gain power, influence those in power, bring new people to power, or throw out the old leaders are forms of:
a.	autocracy	d.	interest-group bargaining	
b.	pluralism	e.	politics	
c.	democracy	

ANS:	E	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Politics (I.E.iv.a)	
MSC:	Understanding		

	34.	The rules and procedures that provide incentives for political behavior (thereby shaping politics) are called:
a.	institutions	d.	planning agendas	
b.	communities	e.	classifications	
c.	social culture	

ANS:	A	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Institutions (I.E.iv.b)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	35.	Which term describes rules and procedures that provide incentives for political behavior, and thereby shape policies?
a.	institutions	d.	planning agenda	
b.	communities	e.	classifications	
c.	social culture	

ANS:	A	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Institutions (I.E.iv.b)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	36.	Which of the following is NOT a reason that rulers were forced to give ordinary citizens a greater voice in public affairs?
a.	internal conflict	d.	promotion of national unity	
b.	external threat	e.	promotion of national development	
c.	economic recession	

ANS:	C	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Expansion of Democratic Politics (II.B)
MSC:	Remembering		

	37.	In American representative democracy, citizens are considered to function as:
a.	agents	d.	specialists	
b.	delegates	e.	experts	
c.	principals	

ANS:	C	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Principal–Agent Relationship (III.A.i)
MSC:	Remembering		

	38.	The relationship between a representative and his or her constituents in which constituents essentially “hire” the representative to act on their behalf is known as a(n):
a.	master–slave dilemma	d.	employee–employer dichotomy	
b.	collective action problem	e.	director–directed puzzle	
c.	principal–agent relationship	

ANS:	C	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Principal–Agent Relationship (III.A.i)
MSC:	Understanding		

	39.	Why does the “dark side” of principal–agent relationships exist?
a.	Agents are often not rational.	
b.	Institutions sometimes force principal–agent relationships “underground.”	
c.	Principals often force agents to do things against their will.	
d.	The interests of the agent and the principal may not be well aligned.	
e.	The principals usually do not know what they are doing.	

ANS:	D	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Principal–Agent Relationship (III.A.i)
MSC:	Understanding		

TRUE/FALSE

	1.	The two questions that motivate the discovery of order in the chaos of politics are “What do we observe?” and “Why?”

ANS:	T	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Can We Find Order in the Chaos of Politics? (I.A)
MSC:	Remembering		

	2.	A government may be as simple as a tribal council.

ANS:	T	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	What Is Government? (I.B)
MSC:	Remembering		

	3.	A tribal council that meets occasionally to advise the chief has all the essential elements of a government.

ANS:	T	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	What Is Government? (I.B)
MSC:	Remembering		

	4.	A nation where all political authority is vested in a single individual has a totalitarian government.

ANS:	F	DIF:	Difficult	TOP:	Autocracy (I.C.i)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	5.	When large numbers of people have some influence over government decision making, the government is said to be constitutional.

ANS:	F	DIF:	Easy	TOP:	Democracy (I.C.ii)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	6.	When a small group of individuals controls most of the governing decisions, a government is said to be an oligarchy.

ANS:	T	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Oligarchy (I.C.iii)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	7.	Governments that are generally unrestrained by law but in which leaders are kept in check by other political or social institutions are called authoritarian governments.

ANS:	T	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Authoritarian (I.C.v)	
MSC:	Understanding		

	8.	The Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin was an example of a totalitarian regime.

ANS:	T	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Totalitarian (I.C.vi)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	9.	A public good is any service provided by the government.

ANS:	F	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Public Good (I.E.iii.b)
MSC:	Remembering		

	10.	A public good is a benefit that neighbors or members of a group cannot be kept from enjoying once it has been provided.

ANS:	T	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Public Good (I.E.iii.b)
MSC:	Remembering		

	11.	The term politics is defined as the decisions reached by democratic processes.

ANS:	F	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Politics (I.E.iv.a)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	12.	The conflicts and struggles over the leadership, structure, and policies of government are called politics.

ANS:	T	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Politics (I.E.iv.a)	
MSC:	Remembering		

	13.	Institutions do the public’s business while relieving communities of having to reinvent collective action each time it is required.

ANS:	T	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Institutions (I.E.iv.b)	
MSC:	Understanding		

	14.	Internal conflicts and external threats have led rulers to give ordinary citizens less of a voice in public affairs.

ANS:	F	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Expansion of Democratic Politics (II.B)
MSC:	Understanding		

	15.	The United States is a representative democracy.

ANS:	T	DIF:	Moderate	TOP:	Expansion of Democratic Politics (II.B)
MSC:	Remembering		

	16.	Because the agent’s preferences sometimes differ from those of the principal, usually the principal entirely eliminates the agent’s prospective deviations by spelling out the agent’s actions in a detailed contract.

ANS:	F	DIF:	Difficult	TOP:	Principal–Agent Relationship (III.A.i)
MSC:	Understanding		

ESSAY

	1.	Explain why American government is so complex. Can order be found in the apparent chaos of politics?

ANS:	
Answer will vary.

MSC:	Evaluating

	2.	Describe various forms of government in terms of who governs and the limitations on governmental power.

ANS:	
Answer will vary.

MSC:	Analyzing

	3.	Is government a threat to freedom, or is it necessary to protect freedom?

ANS:	
Answer will vary.

MSC:	Evaluating

	4.	Explain the rationale for representative democracy.

ANS:	
Answer will vary.

MSC:	Analyzing

	5.	Discuss the dark side of representative democracy in terms of principal–agent problems.

ANS:	
Answer will vary.

MSC:	Analyzing

	6.	What kinds of free-rider problems do we encounter in our everyday lives? How does government help solve the free-rider problem?

ANS:	
Answer will vary.

MSC:	Applying

	7.	Explain the trade-offs involved in democracy.

ANS:	
Answer will vary.

MSC:	Analyzing

	8.	What historical developments helped create modern democratic government?

ANS:	
Answer will vary.

MSC:	Analyzing