POLS 206 TAMU CORRECT TEST PAPER QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔representation - ✔✔The relationship between elected leaders and citizens
✔✔Three Contemporary Theories of American Democracy - ✔✔1. Pluralist theory
states that groups with shared interest
2. Elite and class theory contends that our society (like all societies) is divided among
class lines.
2. Hyperpluralism is pluralism gone sour.
✔✔Robert Dahl expresses - ✔✔all active and legitimate groups in the population can
make themselves heard at some crucial stage in the process
✔✔Alexis de Tocqueville - ✔✔pointed to the high level of associational activities as one
of the crucial reasons for the success of American democracy.
✔✔Robert Putnam - ✔✔argued that a decline in social capital has led to a decline in
political participation. Mid-20th century societal changes fueling the decline in social
capital: mobility and urban sprawl; technology and mass media; generational change.
✔✔Challenges to Democracy - ✔✔1. Increased complexity of issues
2. Limited participation in government
3. Escalating campaign costs
4. Diverse political interests
✔✔Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt argued that American democracy was showing
signs that democracy had been extinguished - ✔✔(1) a rejection of some established
rules of the game; (2) a denial of the legitimacy of political opponents; (3) tolerating or
encouraging political violence; and (4) a willingness to curtail civil liberties.
, ✔✔James Curry argues - ✔✔in Legislating in the Dark, the problem of information is
often acute for policymakers
✔✔Winning a House seat these days usually requires - ✔✔war chest of at least $1
million
✔✔PAC - ✔✔Political Action Committee
✔✔policy gridlock - ✔✔A condition that occurs when interests conflict and no coalition is
strong enough to form a majority and establish policy, so nothing gets done.
✔✔Marc Hetherington and Thomas Rudolph argue - ✔✔policy gridlock has become
more common due to the rising distrust that Democrats and Republicans
✔✔political culture - ✔✔an overall set of values widely shared within a society
(holds America together)
✔✔G. K. Chesterton and Seymour Martin Lipset - ✔✔American creed can be
summarized by five elements: liberty, individualism, laissez-faire, populism, and
egalitarianism
✔✔American creed can be summarized by five elements - ✔✔liberty, individualism,
laissez-faire, populism, and egalitarianism
✔✔GDP - ✔✔Gross Domestic Product- the total market value of all final goods and
services produced annually in an economy
✔✔Medicare - ✔✔1/10 of the national budget
✔✔When expenditures grow - ✔✔tax revenues must grow to pay the additional costs
✔✔Texas v. Gregory Lee Johnson - ✔✔Johnson burned an American flag in front of
Dallas City Hall, Supreme court ruled that Johnson's action was expressive conduct and
the fact that an audience takes offense to certain ideas and expression does not justify
as prohibitions of speech (5-4, Johnson's favor, 1989)
✔✔United States v. Eichman - ✔✔Declared Flag Protection Act, which made flag-
burning illegal, unconstitutional, 1990
✔✔Constitution - ✔✔A nation's basic law. It creates political institutions, assigns or
divides powers in government, and often provides certain guarantees to citizens.
Constitutions can be either written or unwritten.
AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔representation - ✔✔The relationship between elected leaders and citizens
✔✔Three Contemporary Theories of American Democracy - ✔✔1. Pluralist theory
states that groups with shared interest
2. Elite and class theory contends that our society (like all societies) is divided among
class lines.
2. Hyperpluralism is pluralism gone sour.
✔✔Robert Dahl expresses - ✔✔all active and legitimate groups in the population can
make themselves heard at some crucial stage in the process
✔✔Alexis de Tocqueville - ✔✔pointed to the high level of associational activities as one
of the crucial reasons for the success of American democracy.
✔✔Robert Putnam - ✔✔argued that a decline in social capital has led to a decline in
political participation. Mid-20th century societal changes fueling the decline in social
capital: mobility and urban sprawl; technology and mass media; generational change.
✔✔Challenges to Democracy - ✔✔1. Increased complexity of issues
2. Limited participation in government
3. Escalating campaign costs
4. Diverse political interests
✔✔Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt argued that American democracy was showing
signs that democracy had been extinguished - ✔✔(1) a rejection of some established
rules of the game; (2) a denial of the legitimacy of political opponents; (3) tolerating or
encouraging political violence; and (4) a willingness to curtail civil liberties.
, ✔✔James Curry argues - ✔✔in Legislating in the Dark, the problem of information is
often acute for policymakers
✔✔Winning a House seat these days usually requires - ✔✔war chest of at least $1
million
✔✔PAC - ✔✔Political Action Committee
✔✔policy gridlock - ✔✔A condition that occurs when interests conflict and no coalition is
strong enough to form a majority and establish policy, so nothing gets done.
✔✔Marc Hetherington and Thomas Rudolph argue - ✔✔policy gridlock has become
more common due to the rising distrust that Democrats and Republicans
✔✔political culture - ✔✔an overall set of values widely shared within a society
(holds America together)
✔✔G. K. Chesterton and Seymour Martin Lipset - ✔✔American creed can be
summarized by five elements: liberty, individualism, laissez-faire, populism, and
egalitarianism
✔✔American creed can be summarized by five elements - ✔✔liberty, individualism,
laissez-faire, populism, and egalitarianism
✔✔GDP - ✔✔Gross Domestic Product- the total market value of all final goods and
services produced annually in an economy
✔✔Medicare - ✔✔1/10 of the national budget
✔✔When expenditures grow - ✔✔tax revenues must grow to pay the additional costs
✔✔Texas v. Gregory Lee Johnson - ✔✔Johnson burned an American flag in front of
Dallas City Hall, Supreme court ruled that Johnson's action was expressive conduct and
the fact that an audience takes offense to certain ideas and expression does not justify
as prohibitions of speech (5-4, Johnson's favor, 1989)
✔✔United States v. Eichman - ✔✔Declared Flag Protection Act, which made flag-
burning illegal, unconstitutional, 1990
✔✔Constitution - ✔✔A nation's basic law. It creates political institutions, assigns or
divides powers in government, and often provides certain guarantees to citizens.
Constitutions can be either written or unwritten.
