Chapter Twelve: Power and Politics
Which of the following is NOT one of the circumstances cited by Domhoff as showing the impact of individuals and
subgroups within the elite on the decision-making structure of the United States?
a. Control of presidential nominations through the financing of political campaigns
b. Control of both major political parties
c. Psychological similarity among the members of the elite
d. Almost total staffing of important appointive governmental positions
Learning Objective: LO 12.2: Critique the elitist model of power.
Topic/Concept: The Elitist Model of Power
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q12.2.31
Which of the following noted in his Dominant Class model of power that appointees to influential, unelected
positions are either members of the upper class or people who have held positions in major corporations, and
are thereby people who accord with the wishes of the upper class?
a. Karl Marx
b. C. Wright Mills
c. Michael Parenti
d. G. William Domhoff
Learning Objective: LO 12.2: Critique the elitist model of power.
Topic/Concept: The Elitist Model of Power
Difficulty Level:
Skill Level:
TB_Q12.2.32
How did Domhoff’s view of the military differ from Mills’s view?
a. Domhoff saw the military as having much less power and being dominated by the corporate rich through
the executive branch.
b. Domhoff saw the military as having much more power and dominating the executive branch via the
corporate rich.
c. Mills saw the military as having much less power and being dominated by the corporate rich through the
executive branch.
d. Mills saw the military as having much more power and dominating the executive branch via the corporate
rich.
Learning Objective: LO 12.2: Critique the elitist model of power.
Topic/Concept: The Elitist Model of Power
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q12.2.33
In Conflict and Order, 14th edition
Which of the following is the author of the Bias of the System theory?
a. Karl Marx
b. C. Wright Mills
c. Michael Parenti
d. G. William Domhoff
Learning Objective: LO 12.2: Critique the elitist model of power.
Topic/Concept: The Elitist Model of Power
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q12.2.34
Parenti asserted that the wealthy and powerful are served because of the way society is organized. Which of the
following is NOT one of the three ways he identified as how this bias occurs?
a. By their influence over elected and appointed governmental officials at all levels
b. Through systemic imperatives
c. Through the ideological control of the masses
d. By means of democratic elections and public education
Learning Objective: LO 12.2: Critique the elitist model of power.
Topic/Concept: The Elitist Model of Power
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q12.2.35
Between 2001 and 2007, Philip Morris, the leader in the tobacco industry, spent over $75 million on _____ to keep
tobacco regulations and increased cigarette taxes at a minimum.
a. lobbying
b. advertising
c. bribery
d. research
Learning Objective: LO 12.2: Critique the elitist model of power.
Topic/Concept: The Elitist Model of Power
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q12.3.36
According to the journalists Barlett and Steele, there are two ways to get favorable treatment by Congress and the
White House. Those two wars are
a. petition your local congressperson and technology.
b. contribute generously to the right people and spend lavishly on lobbying.
c. be a military war hero and an astronaut.
d. conduct secret meetings with journalists and rise in the ranks of the Masons.
Chapter Twelve: Power and Politics
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q12.3.37
Which of the following tech companies mentioned in the chapter is new to lobbying and spent only about $350,000
on this process in 2010?
a. Microsoft
b. Apple
c. Facebook
d. Google
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q12.3.38
Which of the following is an area in which Facebook hopes to influence Washington, DC?
a. New regulations regarding Facebook hardware purchases by minors
b. Investigation as to whether Facebook’s search practices merit legal action
c. Investigation of Facebook on charges of being a monopoly
d. Regulatory actions regarding privacy that might hinder Facebook’s revenue from ads targeted at users
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
TB_Q12.3.39
Despite paying lip service to laissez-faire capitalism, the U.S. government actually _____ big business.
a. greatly subsidizes
b. completely ignores
c. closely regulates
d. overtaxes
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q12.3.40
In Conflict and Order, 14th edition
Which of the following is NOT one of the various subsidies that state and local governments offer to woo
corporations?
a. Tax breaks
b. Relatively toxin-free land
c. Low-interest loans
d. Infrastructure improvements
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
TB_Q12.3.41
The shipping industry, railroads, airlines, and exporters of iron, steel, textiles, paper, and other products receive
direct subsidies from
a. several state governments.
b. local chambers of commerce.
c. the federal government.
d. the members of NAFTA.
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q12.3.42
The idea that giving money to wealthy businesses will benefit everyone below them on the social ladder is
known as
a. fair and balanced redistribution of wealth.
b. subsidizing poverty.
c. socialism.
d. trickle-down economics.
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
TB_Q12.3.43
Chapter Twelve: Power and Politics
Which of the following is NOT a reason that the government opts for trickle-down solutions?
a. Trickle-down spending is the most efficient and effective way to get government money to the places
where it will do the most good.
b. Government officials believe in the conservative ideology that says what is good for business is good for
the United States.
c. Government officials are more likely to hear from business leaders who are organized and have access to
the halls of power.
d. Because the weak, by definition, are not organized, their voice is not heard or, if heard, not taken
seriously in decision-making circles.
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
TB_Q12.3.44
Who is most likely to bear the burden of decisions made by the powerful?
a. Rival power brokers
b. The poor
c. Corporations
d. Small business
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
TB_Q12.3.45
After the Great Recession hit in late 2007, federal and state governments had to reduce or eliminate programs.
Where were the biggest cuts made?
a. Congressional pay
b. Subsidies to corporations
c. Public schools
d. The military
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
TB_Q12.3.46
In Conflict and Order, 14th edition
During the Viet Nam war, the chances for getting killed while in the service were about _____ for the less
educated than for the college educated.
a. four times lower
b. about equal
c. twice as great
d. three times greater
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q12.3.47
In the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the government relied on military volunteers rather than a draft. Who were
the most likely to volunteer based on economic incentives?
a. Young men and women from the working and lower classes
b. Young men and women from the upper classes
c. Older men from the working and lower classes.
d. Older men and women with previous military experience
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
TB_Q12.3.48
What legal practice took place during the Civil War?
a. The affluent were overrepresented in the Union Army.
b. The affluent who were drafted could hire someone to take their place in the service.
c. The disadvantaged were underrepresented in the Confederate Army.
d. The affluent could pay to take the place of someone else in the service.
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Easy
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q12.3.49
Which U.S. president first said, “The business of America is business”?
a. Theodore Roosevelt
b. Herbert Hoover
c. Calvin Coolidge
d. Rutherford B. Hayes
Chapter Twelve: Power and Politics
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
TB_Q12.3.50
Michael Parenti noted in 2008 that the U.S. government has directly intervened in the domestic affairs of
foreign governments to
a. protect any government based on an alternative to the capitalist model.
b. prevent the rise of any government based on the capitalist model.
c. protect the interests of the disadvantaged.
d. protect U.S. corporate interests.
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Essay Questions
TB_Q12.1.51
Discuss structural barriers to democracy. How do these barriers affect who is represented and who votes?
Learning Objective: LO 12.1: Critique the pluralist model of power.
Topic/Concept: The Pluralist Model of Power
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q12.1.52
In Conflict and Order, 14th edition
Discuss the characteristics of the pluralist model of power.
Feedback:Pluralists see power as dispersed rather than concentrated. Power is broadly distributed among a number of
organizations, special interests, and the voters. The pluralist model is consistent with the world view of order theorists,
Pluralists support the idea that the United States is a true democracy (the form of government in which the people have
the ultimate power, where the will of the majority prevails, where there is equality before the law, and decisions are
made to maximize the common good). In a complex society, the people must elect representatives to make most
decisions. So, decision making is concentrated at the top, but it is to be controlled by the people who elect the decision
makers. The pluralist model assumes that there are a number of sectors of power (interest groups). The most powerful
people in each sector are usually wealthy—probably upper class, but the upper class is not a unified group—there is
considerable disagreement within the upper-class category because of differing interests. Power is not concentrated but
is viewed as a shifting coalition depending on the issue.
Source ID: 3.0.2
Learning Objective: LO 12.1: Critique the pluralist model of power.
Topic/Concept: The Pluralist Model of Power
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q12.2.53
Discuss the elitist model of power. How does this view relate to the thinking of Karl Marx? Describe the
instrumentalist and structural views.
Learning Objective: LO 12.2: Critique the elitist model of power.
Topic/Concept: The Elitist Model of Power
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q12.2.54
Compare and contrast the views of C. Wright Mills and G. William Domhoff on the concept of power.
Learning Objective: LO 12.2: Critique the elitist model of power.
Topic/Concept: The Elitist Model of Power
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It
TB_Q12.3.55
Chapter Twelve: Power and Politics
Discuss trickle-down economic policies. What are the pros and cons? Why does the government opt for this
system?
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Summarize the consequences of concentrated power in the United States.
Topic/Concept: The Consequences of Concentrated Power
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Skill Level: Analyze It