Government Exam 1

Sometimes the goals of different social institutions conflict, making it difficult to meet people’s needs. Which of these illustrates this idea?

• religious organizations opening homeless shelters

• federal pollution regulations affecting corporate profits

• states requiring more rigorous testing for students to graduate

• banks competing for customers by offering lower interest rates on loans

Historically speaking, the basic components of systems of governance have been based on

• an established military and an elected judiciary

• representative assemblies and a federal bureaucracy

• a reliance on industry and an empowered lower class

• a way to enforce order and method of collecting taxes

Which form of government would have the LEAST amount of citizen participation?

• a democracy

• an oligarchy

• an autocracy

• a confederation

In a simple plurality voting system, as is used in the United States,

• the single winner is the person with the most votes

• multiple winners are chosen through a majority voting system

• the single winner is the person who gains a majority of votes

• multiple winners are selected to achieve proportional representation

Which phrase describes the political condition in which a single ruler exercises absolute authority and is not bound by any law?

• Rule of Law

• Rule of Man

• Natural Law

• Social Contract Theory

The political theory that people form governments for their mutual protection and that government rules only with the consent of those people is known as

• communism

• socialism

• divine right theory

• social contract theory