AP Government Chapter 1

A political system in which local citizens are empowered to govern themselves directly 

Much of American political history has been a struggle over what constitutes legitimate authority.

Which of the following statements about authority is correct?

An economist who defined democracy as the competitive struggle by political leaders for the people’s vote 

Weber assigned a significant amount of power to appointed officials in the bureaucracies of modern governments. 

System of government in which sovereignty is entirely centralized in a government with dependent states and localities

The right to exercise political power

The Framers of the Constitution did not think that the “will of the people” was synonymous with the “public good.” 

After 9/11, bipartisan homeland security policies and programs were

The logical place to begin the study of how power is distributed in U.S. politics is 

Weber’s theory suggests it would be wise for scholars who want to study power to focus on 

Authority bestowed by law or constitution

A theory that government is the reflection of underlying economic forces 

Some writers of the Constitution opposed democracy on the grounds that the people would be unable to make wise decisions

The bureaucratic view does the most to reassure that America has been, and continues to be, a democracy

Pluralists deny the existence of elites. 

The theory that appointed officials, not those elected to office, make the key governing decisions

The candidate or party that wins more than half the votes cast in an election is

The philosopher who defined democracy as the "rule of the many"

The New England town meeting approximates the Aristotelian ideal. 

The ancient Greek city-state where classical democracy was practiced was called a

If you fear people often decide issues based on fleeting passions and in response to demagogues, you likely agree with

The view that money, expertise, prestige, and political power are spread across competing groups is known as the

Max Weber felt that the dominant social and political reality of modern times was that

A system of government in which power rests within a select group of people.

Political system in which the choices of the political leaders are closely constrained by the preferences of the people

Individual who worried the new government he helped to create would be too democratic 

Which of the following is true of a Theocracy?

Power is given to those chosen by voters in a competitive election in a

Which of the following is a basic tenet of representative democracy?

The ability of one person to cause another person to act in accordance with the first person’s intentions

It is easy to discern political power at work. 

The Framers suspected even educated persons could be manipulated by demagogues who played on fears and prejudices

Marxist theory says those who control a capitalist economy hold political power over those who do the work

Today, some would add major communications media chiefs to Mills’ power elite.

The candidate or party that wins the most votes cast in an election, but not necessarily more than half is

C. Wright Mills included corporate, governmental, and labor officials in his theory of the power elite.

Politics exists in part because people differ about who should govern and the ends toward which they work. 

The text suggests that, increasingly, matters that were once considered “public” become “private,” and beyond the scope

Weber felt that bureaucrats merely implemented public policies that are made by elected officials. 

A sociologist who emphasized the phenomenon of bureaucracy in explaining political developments

Aristotle’s notion of democracy is also referred to as 

A term used to describe three different political systems in which the people are said to rule, directly or indirectly

Law that exists independently of political and state law and is considered universal and inalienable

A system of government in which political authority is divided between a national government and state governments

Which of the following statements is not consistent with Mills’ position?

Americans seem to agree that the exercise of political power at any level is legitimate only if, in some sense, it is 

Which of the following statements concerning power is correct?

A political system in which all or most citizens participate directly by either holding office or making policy 

A sociologist who presented the idea of a mostly nongovernmental power elite 

Political system in which the choices of the political leaders are closely constrained by the preferences of the people

In Aristotle’s view, democracy would consist of

Power used to determine who will hold government office and how government will behave

The system of government in which absolute political power is concentrated in one individual or elite nucleus of leaders

The kinds of answers that political scientists usually give to the fundamental political questions tend to be