The central element(s) of India's New Economic Policies, as seen in the film Lifting the Veil, was
A. expanding social spending on programs like education and housing, to bring Indian living standards up to 'First World' levels
B. privatizing the economy and attracting foreign investors by lowering government regulation and labor costs
C. returning the country to a subsistence economy to reduce environmental problems and social inequality
D. implementing an 'import substitution model' so that India produced its own goods and could reduce exports and imports
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT one of the central principles of capitalism identified by Eitzen and Zinn?
A. competition
B. pursuit of personal profit
C. private ownership of the means of production
D. democracy
E. laissez faire
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT one of the central principles of socialism identified by Eitzen and Zinn?
A. democracy
B. egalitarianism
C. public ownership of the means of production
D. planning for common purposes
E. the dictatorship of the proletariat
ANSWER: 

The U.S. is not a 'pure' capitalist system because:
A. there is no longer private ownership of property, since most companies are owned by shareholders
B. the profits of U.S. companies have steadily declined over the past decade
C. U.S. companies receive a great deal of help from the government
D. progressive taxes have eliminated the profit incentive in capitalism
ANSWER: 

When four or fewer firms supply 50 percent or more of a particular market, a(n) ---------- results.
A. monopoly
B. shared monopoly
C. interlocking directorate
D. megamerger
ANSWER: 

A person serving on the board of directors of IBM, Burger King, and Ford is an example of:
A. shared monopolies
B. interlocking directorates
C. the power elite
D. a violation of the anti-trust Clayton Act of 1914
ANSWER: 

In what way (ways) are the overseas investments by U.S. corporations detrimental for the U.S.?
A. Increased discontent of workers due to a lack of job security
B. The trade imbalance is increased with overseas investments
C. Taxes are lost, contributing further to the federal deficit
D. All of the above
E. Both A and B
ANSWER: 

How have poorer countries benefited from multinational companies locating there, according to Eitzen and Zinn?
A. Profits from the companies are returned to those countries, helping them develop
B. Employment is increased in the countries, further helping their economy
C. Multinational companies pay huge taxes to the countries without interfering in their political arrangements
D. Wages tend to rise
E. None of the above
ANSWER: 


Which of the following is TRUE about sweatshops?
A. Sweatshops are most common in the garment industry.
B. The number of white women who work in sweatshops is similar to Latino and Asian immigrant women involved in such employment.
C. Sweatshops are disappearing in today's post-industrial U.S. economy.
D. Anti-sweatshop legislation is strongly enforced.
ANSWER: 



Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons that Eitzen and Zinn cite in explaining the decline in union membership and power?
A. Unions are less necessary today, since many companies have developed management policies that share power and profits with their workers.
B. Unions were directly assaulted by Republican presidents in recent decades.
C. Public opinion has turned against unions.
D. Businesses do everything they can to block and oppose unions.
E. Jobs have declined in industries that have been traditionally pro union, while they have grown in industries that are hard to unionize.
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the primary labor market (as opposed to the secondary labor market)?
A. Developed skills
B. Higher than average representation of women and minorities
C. Relatively well paid
D. Stabile, secure employment
E. Good working conditions
ANSWER: 

Why are women and non-whites more likely to live in poverty?
A. Women and racial minorities aren't socialized to work as hard as white men
B. Government programs have been cut back
C. Women and racial minorities are disproportionately placed in the primary sector
D. Women and racial minorities are over-represented in unstable, low-paying jobs
ANSWER: 

Unemployed workers who have given up on ever finding work, and thus are not counted as 'unemployed' in the official unemployment measure, are called
A. dirty workers
B. secondary labor market workers
C. discouraged workers
D. reserve army of labor
ANSWER: 

Marxists argue that unemployment exists primarily to
A. create a reserve army of labor to keep wages down and workers in control
B. punish politically active workers
C. create artificial scarcity
D. undermine racial antagonisms within the workforce
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT one of the many products of capitalism that Marx and Engels described in 'The Communist Manifesto?'
A. Tremendous growth of productive, communication, and transportation forces
B. Growth of towns and cities
C. End of feudal, patriarchal, and idyllic relations
D. Growth of a world literature and culture
E. Greater worker control over the labor process and lower relative levels of social inequality
ANSWER: 

According to Karl Marx, overproduction (a.k.a. 'under-consumption') crises in the economy are caused primarily by
A. the tremendous productive power of capitalism
B. the lack of markets in less developed countries
C. consumer debt
D. insufficient buying power of the working class because they are paid only a fraction of the value they put into the goods they produce
ANSWER: 

Which of the following factors is NOT part of Wilson's explanation for the concentrated poverty in inner cities?
A. A shift to a younger population, which is more likely to be unemployed or employed at lower wage jobs
B. The departure to the suburbs by working and middle class families
C. Federal policies that withheld mortgage capital from cities while encouraging middle-class whites to flee to the suburbs
D. Urban renewal projects that dislocated low-income communities
E. None of the above, since ALL contributed to inner city poverty according to Wilson
ANSWER: 



The two main strategies McDonalds (and all other organizations) use to get employees to act according to McDonald's organizational plans are
A. financial incentives and disincentives
B. socialization and social control
C. coercion and punishment
D. good wages, benefits, and working conditions
ANSWER: 



The ability to control the behavior of others, even against their will, is Max Weber's definition of
A. authority
B. power
C. coercion
D. influence
ANSWER: 

Which of the following perspectives suggest that power in society is dispersed among a number of organizations, special interests, and voters?
A. The elitist model of power
B. The pluralist model of power
C. The 'new world order' power perspective
D. The anarchist model of power
ANSWER: 

Robert Michels argued that attempts to build democracies will always result in the establishment of an elite. He called this the
A. anti-democracy theory
B. loss of democracy theory
C. iron law of oligarchy
D. autocratic principle
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons that Robert Michels thought that efforts to build democracies always result in the establishment of an elite?
A. Leaders need to defend their organization, even when it means ignoring the interests of their members
B. Leaders come to relish the psychic and material rewards of power, and will do most anything to hold onto it
C. Followers tend to be apathetic and overly trusting of their leaders
D. The most skilled members of society always rise to the top, effectively becoming an elite, whether they desire it or not
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT true regarding elite theory?
A. Michels argued that societies are dominated by elites in part because of the societies' need for leaders and because the masses tend to accept, and even desire, leaders wielding greater power
B. Elite theorists believe that societies can get rid of elites permanently, if only they can find leaders who truly believe in democracy and won't sell out
C. Elite theorists argue that leaders of anti-elite movements will simply become the new elites should their movements be successful
D. Neo-Marxists criticize elite theories for ignoring the resistance of the non-elites and exaggerating the difficulties of ridding societies of elites
ANSWER: 

Dr. C. Wright Mills argued that the power of the 'power elite' is rooted in
A. their psychological orientation, especially their 'will to power'
B. back room manipulations of the political system
C. their charisma
D. the organizational positions they hold in increasingly powerful social institutions
ANSWER: 

According to C. Wright Mills, the three branches of the power elite are the
A. military, educational, and religious
B. military, corporations, and the executive branch of the government
C. corporations, education, and the executive branch of the government
D. corporations, banking, and the military
ANSWER: 

According to Mills, what has happened historically to increase the power of the three most powerful social institutions?
A. Each has distributed its power among many
B. Each has become enlarged and centralized
C. Each has gained international recognition
D. Each has been taken over by a few elites hungry for political power
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT consistent with Domhoff's ('neo-Marxist') explanation of how the capitalist class becomes a ruling class?
A. Capitalists dominate the candidate selection process.
B. Capitalists dominate the ideological process (e.g. they control the media and schools, and thus are able to promote ideologies that defend their class privileges).
C. Holders of top government offices (e.g. Congressional leaders, Presidents, etc.) almost always were born into the capitalist class, and therefore are sympathetic to capitalist's interests.
D. Capitalists have formed or support policy-planning organizations such as the Council on Foreign Relations that play a key role in creating government policies and laws.
E. Government officials are wary of the economic power of the capitalist class, and therefore rarely consider creating laws and policies fundamentally contrary to capitalists' interests.
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is consistent with Parenti's 'systemic imperative' theory and other structural explanations of why government tends to follow the wishes of corporations?
A. Corporations lobby government officials and pay them honoraria.
B. Corporations give government officials campaign contributions
C. Corporations convince government leaders to believe in pro-corporate ideologies
D. Government needs to keep corporations profitable, in order to keep the economy healthy, unemployment low, and tax revenues coming in
ANSWER: 

Eitzen and Zinn argue that U.S. foreign policy primarily benefits
A. political elites
B. military elites
C. corporations
D. democratic interests
E. developing nations
ANSWER: 

According to Piven and Cloward, the real reason that government programs are expanded during recessions (e.g. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal during the Great Depression) is to
A. promote social reform
B. help the millions who are in misery
C. provide favors to special interest groups
D. diffuse social unrest
ANSWER: 

'Sets of ideas used to explain and legitimize social inequality' is the sociological definition for
A. propaganda
B. sociological theory
C. ideologies
D. dogma
ANSWER: 

Government officials tend to opt for 'trickle-down solutions' to stimulate the economy because
A. many of them come from the business class and believe that what is good for business is good for the country.
B. they are much more likely to hear arguments from the powerful than from the weak.
C. they are the most effective policies for promoting economic growth, the evidence shows.
D. ALL of the above.
E. BOTH A and B.
ANSWER: 

The main idea of the Clawson et al reading is that
A. business has more power and influence on politics than individuals have
B. PACs control politics through lobbying and contributions and forcing politicians to support their special interests
C. politicians are self-interested actors who accept 'dirty money' from corporations
D. we have 'the best congress money can buy'
ANSWER: 

Clawson et al argue that the best way to think about power in order to understand how corporate Political Action Committees (PACs) affect government policy, is to see power as
A. the ability to force people to do things they don't want to (the Weberian definition of power)
B. the ability to prevent actions you oppose from taking place (the 'two-dimensional view' of power)
C. the ability to influence another merely by one's powerful presence (the 'field theory' of power)
D. the ability to influence another by threatening force (the 'stick theory' of power)
ANSWER: 


According to Eitzen and Zinn (and Parenti), the mass media's typical portrayal of poverty blames
A. structural factors, such as high rents, low wages, and regressive taxes
B. poor peoples' behavior, including lack of motivation and a dependence on welfare
C. government, for not doing more to reduce poverty and social inequality
D. religion, for encouraging people to focus on the afterlife and seeing poor people as suffering due to their own sins
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT one of the values that Herbert Gans found commonly portrayed by the mass media?
A. ethnocentrism
B. collectivism
C. altruism
D. individualism
E. small-town pastoralism
ANSWER: 

Mike Males' study of the effects of violence in television and film on society concluded that it
A. is a major cause of violence in society.
B. has little or no effects on the levels of violence in society.
C. produces high levels of violence in poor communities, but has little impact on wealthier communities.
D. is part of a conspiracy to prepare people to be willing to join the military and fight in wars.
ANSWER: 

The term for political ads used by corporations to influence the public on political and ideological issues is 
A. political advertising
B. propaganda
C. political puffing
D. advocacy advertising
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT one of the 'lessons' that Parenti says the media teach us?
A. Collective action is preferable to individual effort
B. Free enterprise (a.k.a. capitalism) is the best economic system in the world
C. Private monetary gain is a central and worthy objective of life
D. United States military force is used for good goals, such as civilizing the world and promoting democracy
E. Affluent professionals are more interesting than members of the working class
ANSWER: 

Parenti argues that the political impact of watching soap operas is it 
A. undermines traditional values and norms by portraying people breaking them
B. promotes traditional values and norms by presenting stories with moral dilemma where virtue typically wins out
C. promotes critical insights into how societies should work by encouraging people to think critically about their society
D. undermines critical insights into society, by overtly portraying conservative political ideas
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT true regarding Parenti's analysis of how workers are portrayed in the mass media?
A. They are underrepresented
B. They are portrayed in negative, marginal, and patronizing ways
C. Economic hardship faced by workers is portrayed as being solved by individual ingenuity, not collective actions
D. Workers are portrayed as racist, sexist, homophobic, and bigoted
E. Workers are seen as having more complex and genuine personalities
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is FALSE, regarding Eitzen and Zinn's discussion of the media's portrayal of women?
A. Women are underrepresented and misrepresented in television
B. It has improved in recent years, although women are often still portrayed as sidekicks, sexual objects, or helpless imbeciles
C. The media send the message that women today should be superwomen, managing the multiple roles of wife, mother, and career women
D. None of the above, since all are true.
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT one of the four 'vital functions' that Marger thinks the mass media serve today?
A. They are agents of socialization
B. They are sources of information
C. They promote democracy
D. They function as propaganda machines for powerful units of the government and economy
E. They serve as agents of legitimacy for dominant political and economic institutions
ANSWER: 

According to the Marger article, the theory that argued that television has little impact on viewers is called
A. minimal effects theory
B. class dominance theory
C. culturalist theory
D. 'see no evil, speak no evil' theory
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT one of the ways that Mantsios thinks the mass media portray the poor?
A. The poor are victims of modern capitalist economics.
B. The poor are undeserving.
C. The poor only have themselves to blame.
D. The poor are down on their luck.
E. The poor are an eyesore.
ANSWER: 

Todd Gitlin argues that the popularity of American mass media around the world is primarily due to 'American political, economic, and cultural imperialism.' 
A. True
B. False 
ANSWER: 

Today, approximately 28 percent of the entire U.S. workforce is unionized.
A. True
B. False 
ANSWER: 

Those nations with strong unionized working classes have a social democratic conception of society, which leads to universal health care, progressive income taxes, and more equitable government programs.
A. True
B. False 
ANSWER: 

True of False: According to Leidner, McDonalds is extremely successful because it trains its workers to be able to make good decisions.
A. True
B. False 
ANSWER: 

Scientific management (a.k.a. Taylorization) emphasizes the importance of workers receiving psychological satisfaction from the work that they do.
A. True
B. False 
ANSWER: 
