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Introduction to Politics, 1Ce – Chapter 2

Instructions: For each question, click on the radio button beside your answer. When you have completed the entire quiz, click the 'Submit my answers' button at the bottom of the page to receive your results.

Question 1:


a) on the voluntary support of all of their citizens.
b) entirely on brute force.
c) entirely on brainwashing techniques.
d) on a mixture of power and authority, with more of the former than the latter.

Question 2:


a) political authority always reflects economic power.
b) only people with hereditary titles can exercise authority.
c) whatever its origin, authority is necessary because people need to be led and protected.
d) authority is damaging because it implies social deference.

Question 3:


a) power is usually undesirable because it limits the freedom of the individual.
b) power always tends to corrupt those who hold it, at least to some degree.
c) in certain circumstances (e.g. the abolition of slavery) the exercising of power is legitimate.
d) all of the above.

Question 4:


a) harsh punishments are necessary to make people obey the law.
b) if people were more conscious of their rights they could eradicate power inequalities forever.
c) power is a quality reserved for government institutions.
d) power is inherent in all social relations, and is, therefore, impossible to eradicate even though its abuses should always be attacked.

Question 5:


a) the Divine Right of rulers.
b) skilful manipulation of the ruled.
c) the recognized authority of certain offices of state.
d) the personal traits of rulers.

Question 6:


a) A exercises power over B when A makes B do something she wouldn’t otherwise have done.
b) A exercises power over B when she gives B a series of unambiguous orders.
c) A exercises power over B when A affects B in a manner contrary to B’s interests.
d) A exercises power over B when A provides B with compelling reasons to act in accordance with majority opinion.

Question 7:


a) the inability of politicians to make up their minds.
b) the tendency of members of the public to change their minds on key policy issues.
c) a refusal of politicians to compromise in the national interest.
d) the ability of powerful groups to prevent certain issues from being discussed.

Question 8:


a) “real” interests are subjective and open to endless contestation.
b) ordinary people are too irrational to realize where their real interests lie.
c) ordinary people are always the best judges of their real interests.
d) politicians are too out of touch to recognize the “real interests” of ordinary people.

Question 9:


a) assumes that powerful economic interests enjoy dominance in decision-making.
b) argues that ordinary people are taught to think that the interests of powerful economic groups are identical to their own self-interest.
c) focuses on the outcomes of decisions rather than the way in which they are made.
d) all of the above.

Question 10:


a) the ability of the people to create law.
b) an absence of normative rules.
c) an acceptable alternative to capitalism.
d) the ability of elites to decide what counts as normal and abnormal.