Exam 14: Power and Politics

Parenti believes that through cultural biases the institutions of society are patterned to produce prearranged results regardless of the personalities of decision makers.

In the past, the U.S. government extended military support only to democratic foreign governments, while withholding such support from the tyrannical regimes.

Mills claims that there is a psychological similarity among the power elite due to________.

Mills' concept of the power elite does NOT include any consideration of pressure groups, such as the American Medical Association.

A basic criticism of the pluralistic model is that________.

Mills' theory is strengthened by the substantial evidence that indicates the sub-elites are relatively equal to each other.

The most powerful lobby in the U.S. Congress is the automotive industry.

The government's attempts to solve economic problems often obey the principle that the poor must bear the burden.

The key argument of the pluralist model of power is that there is a pyramid of power and the people at the apex control the rest of the pyramid.

The ________ model of power sees power as dispersed rather than concentrated; power is broadly distributed among a number of organizations, special interests, and the voters.

The unity of the power elite, as described by Mills, is a result of________.

The ________ view holds that the ruling class gets its way because in a capitalist society it is imperative that the government serves the needs of business to avoid economic crises.

The pluralist view of power argues that the power of wealthy individuals and the largest corporations is translated into public policy that disproportionately benefits the power elite.

Identify which of the following is not controlled by the dominant class as defined by Domhoff.

Domhoff argues that the ________ has more influence on (but not formal control of) Congress and state and local governments than any other group.

The most important component of a democratic society is that________.

Congress, in the eyes of C. Wright Mills, is________.

The most powerful lobby in the U.S. Congress is the ________ industry.

________ identified the dominant class as the approximately 1% of the population which owns a disproportionate share of the country's wealth and contributes a disproportionate number of its members to the controlling decision-making positions and groups in the country.

The powerless mass of unorganized people is exploited economically and politically and is controlled from above by the power elite.