Exam 17: Critical Thinking and Political Culture: Becoming a Responsible Citizen

A) America's origins as a wilderness society led to the belief that government is responsible for providing material assistance to its citizens.
B) Americans place a greater emphasis than Europeans on personal advancement through education.
C) Never has an American majority expressed a willingness to entrust health insurance fully to the government.
D) America has a strong individualistic culture.
E) America's individualistic culture has not proven to be an absolute barrier to government assistance programs.

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A) Germany
B) Canada
C) France
D) the United States
E) Great Britain

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A) unwillingness of citizens to make the effort
B) lack of access to governmental institutions
C) elite control of political power resources
D) the failure of politicians and government institutions to communicate policy details to the public
E) the lack of access to news media sources outside of sensationalist television or Internet content

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A) is evidenced when government officials use their right to exercise power.
B) is by definition not coercive.
C) does not include the power to arrest and imprison.
D) ensures that lawlessness prevails most of the time.
E) is based on pluralism.

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A) activist organizations.
B) labor unions.
C) business firms.
D) foreign-based political action groups.
E) nonprofit organizations.

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A) a guarantee of freedom of speech.
B) a division of governmental authority into three branches.
C) checks and balances among the three branches of government.
D) restrictions against the power of corporations to influence the election process.
E) term limits for elected officials to reduce their power.

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A) social welfare
B) military
C) subsidized housing for the poor
D) public works
E) public health care

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A) Lyndon Johnson made an all-out attempt to achieve it in the 1970s but failed to acquire the necessary congressional support.
B) Bill Clinton chose not to propose it in the 1990s because he felt it would not pass,though it was one of his political goals.
C) Both Bill Clinton and Franklin Roosevelt made strong attempts to achieve it during their presidencies,but were defeated by congressional opposition.
D) Harry Truman made an all-out but failed attempt to achieve it in the 1940s.
E) Franklin Roosevelt made an all-out but failed attempt to achieve it in the 1930s.

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A) Under socialism,the government owns some firms,but under communism,the government does not own any major assets.
B) Under communism,the government takes responsibility for overall management of the economy,whereas under socialism,the government does not try to manage the overall economy.
C) Under socialism,the economy operates mainly through private transactions,but under communism,the government owns a number of major industries and tries to provide for people's basic economic needs.
D) Under communism,the government manages the economy completely but does not attempt to provide for people's basic needs; under socialism,the government does not manage the economy completely,but does attempt to provide for people's basic needs.
E) Under socialism,the government owns more industries than a communist government,but provides less direct benefit for individuals' welfare.

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A) He felt that well-funded private interest groups and lobbyists had taken the true majoritarian power of democracy away from the voting public.
B) He felt that modern democratic government had become an unhealthy,pluralistic enterprise.
C) He believed that among forms of government,only democracy could provide a citizen with the ability to be a "progressive being."
D) He worried that most citizens are too uninformed to play the role democracy assigns them.
E) None of these answers is correct.

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A) admits to no limits on its power.
B) may control the media and direct the economy,but maintains public support by allowing such social rights as freedom of religion.
C) controls through one-party rule,though it may allow some semblance of party opposition.
D) controls through multi-party rule,in which it controls the electoral process to ensure its own party always achieves a majority.
E) is often overthrown by opposition political parties or popular movements because it lacks legitimacy.

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A) offer the individual a "plethora of policy options" in the democratic process.
B) transfer power peacefully from one set of governing officials to the next.
C) provide social services for its citizenry.
D) maintain peace and order in the territory over which it has control.
E) promote the individual as "a progressive being."

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America's strong belief in individualism developed early,through the country's origins as a wilderness society in which there was no aristocracy or social structure to limit the ambitions of individuals.Democratic institutions and the government's role in the economy developed in accordance with these early established views.In Europe,there was an aristocracy,a tiny middle class,and a huge peasant mass,fomenting the belief that a person's fortunes were dictated by society and that the individual had little control over them.Thus when democratic governments developed,they held the belief that government had responsibility for the economic well-being of the less fortunate.

A) Apathy
B) Politics
C) Power
D) Liberty
E) Political culture

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A) there are no restrictions on the lawful uses of power,as long as this power is obtained by majority rule.
B) there are lawful restrictions on a government's power.
C) the economy is based on the free enterprise system.
D) officials govern according to the traditions established by their predecessors.
E) all citizens have absolute free speech rights.

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A) the state is run by corporate interests and companies instead of individuals.
B) control rests with a small group of popularly elected individuals.
C) control rests with a single individual,such as a dictator.
D) control rests with a small group,such as military officers or a few wealthy families.
E) the state controls all forms of individual's lives,including family relations and the practice of religion.

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A) creates a less powerful executive.
B) places more power over policy in the hands of the voting public.
C) dictates a more rapid turnover of leadership.
D) places a fewer number of restraints on majority power.
E) places a greater number of restraints on majority power.

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Politics is the means by which society settles its conflicts and allocates the resulting benefits and costs.Those factions or people who prevail in getting their values accepted are said to have power.When power is exercised through the laws and institutions of government,authority is involved.Authority is defined as the recognized right of an official or institution to exercise power.