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Chapter 17: Government and Politics

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Chapter 17: Government and Politics

12 problems · 0 figures

17-1 §17.1 source ↗

Which statement best expresses the difference between power and authority?
  1. a.
    Authority involves intimidation.
  2. b.
    Authority is more subtle than power.
  3. c.
    Authority is based on the perceived legitimacy of the individual in power.
  4. d.
    Authority is inherited, but power is seized by military force.

Answer

C. Authority is based on the perceived legitimacy of the individual in power.

17-3 §17.1 source ↗

In the U.S. Senate, it is customary to assign each senator a seniority ranking based on years of government service and the population of the state he or she represents. A top ranking gives the senator priority for assignments to office space, committee chair positions, and seating on the senate floor. What type of authority does this example best illustrate?
  1. a.
    Dictatorial
  2. b.
    Traditional
  3. c.
    Charismatic
  4. d.
    Legal-rational

Answer

B. Traditional

17-5 §17.1 source ↗

Which current world figure has the least amount of political power?
  1. a.
    President Barack Obama
  2. b.
    Queen Elizabeth II
  3. c.
    British Prime Minister David Cameron
  4. d.
    North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un

Answer

B. Queen Elizabeth II

17-7 §17.2 source ↗

Many constitutional monarchies started out as:
  1. a.
    oligarchies
  2. b.
    absolute monarchies
  3. c.
    dictatorships
  4. d.
    democracies

Answer

B. absolute monarchies

17-9 §17.2 source ↗

Which of the following present and former government leaders is generally considered a dictator?
  1. a.
    David Cameron
  2. b.
    Barack Obama
  3. c.
    Qaboos bin Said Al Said
  4. d.
    Kim Jong-Un

Answer

D. Kim Jong-Un

17-11 §17.2 source ↗

Which is not a characteristic of a democracy?
  1. a.
    People vote to elect officials.
  2. b.
    A king or queen holds the majority of governmental control.
  3. c.
    One goal of this type of government is to protect citizens’ basic rights.
  4. d.
    A constitution typically outlines the foundational ideas of how this government should operate.

Answer

B. A king or queen holds the majority of governmental control.

17-13 §17.3 source ↗

In the past, Southern states discouraged African Americans from voting by requiring them to take a _____________________ test.
  1. a.
    blood
  2. b.
    literacy
  3. c.
    lie detector
  4. d.
    citizenship

Answer

B. literacy

17-15 §17.3 source ↗

Which factor does not influence voting practices?
  1. a.
    Race
  2. b.
    Social class
  3. c.
    Ethnicity
  4. d.
    Voting booths

Answer

D. Voting booths

17-17 §17.3 source ↗

Which statement best explains the meaning of “one person, one vote”?
  1. a.
    One person should not be allowed to vote twice.
  2. b.
    A voter deserves one chance to vote.
  3. c.
    A voter should vote only once a year.
  4. d.
    All people's votes should count equally.

Answer

D. All people's votes should count equally.

17-19 §17.4 source ↗

Which sociologist is not associated with conflict theory?
  1. a.
    C. Wright Mills
  2. b.
    G. William Domhoff
  3. c.
    Karl Marx
  4. d.
    George H. Mead

Answer

D. George H. Mead

17-21 §17.4 source ↗

The Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street protests, and the Tea Party movement have the following in common:
  1. a.
    They sought to destroy central government.
  2. b.
    They are examples of conflict theory in action.
  3. c.
    They can only occur in a representative democracy.
  4. d.
    They used violence as the means of achieving their goals.

Answer

B. They are examples of conflict theory in action.

17-23 §17.4 source ↗

Sociologist G. William Domhoff’s Who Rules America? asserts that wealth is often necessary to exert the most influence over social and political systems. This is a ____ perspective.
  1. a.
    conflict theory
  2. b.
    symbolic interactionist
  3. c.
    functionalist
  4. d.
    feminist

Answer

A. conflict theory

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Problems and answers are adapted from Introduction to Sociology 3e by Tonja R. Conerly, Kathleen Holmes and Asha Lal Tamang, OpenStax, and are used under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/1-introduction. Illustrations: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. This adaptation is released under the same licence, is non-commercial, and is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by OpenStax or Rice University.