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CLEP Political Science

Subjects : clep, political-science
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Individual rationality does not always lead to collective rationality - Walking on the grass - Policy implementation is problematic - Voting; protests; interest groups; etc. are underprovided (Olson's point)






2. The use of force by states or non-state actors to achieve political goals






3. Number of Parties 2 - Constitutional Review: Parliamentary supremacy - Number of chambers: Unicameral/weak bicameral - Federalism: Unitary






4. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






5. In social movements - rational choice and culture come together - Culture: the sense of a righteous - popular will that has been subverted ('framing'/'grievance') - Motivates collective action - But also determines the choice of organization and tact






6. Compiling a body of data based on direct observation that can be utilized both to explain what has been observed and to form valid generalizations.






7. it works better in the long run - less risk/variability






8. when you must get a minimum percent of votes to have your votes count or (sometimes) to retain your party registration






9. You see a puzzle - You come up with a potential explanation (a 'theory') - You test it with evidence (data drawn from the 5 senses) - You share the results with others and get their feedback - Repeat steps 2 through 4 until you publish






10. A subset of culture - based on our ability to attach labels to ourselves and others - or to define ourselves in terms of the groups we belong to - Some political examples: Partisan identity - Class identity - Ethnic identity - National identity






11. Utility: self-interest - but what constitutes self-interest? Material self-interest? Economics - Politics. Example: vote maximization - The gospel Failures of rationality - Really incomplete information & satisfaction - Intransitivity and other cogni






12. Process or moment of changing from one regime type to another Ex: Arab Springs (Causes: cultural or economice - or military culture) - (int'l factors: U.S. foreign policy - Soviet foreign policy - Changes to Catholic doctrine - EU accession - Globali






13. Selective incentives - Small group size - Social (solidary) incentives - Homogeneity - Others? Duty and altruism? Love?






14. Utility maximization - Preferences: Comparability/Completeness - Transitivity - Probability - Incomplete information and uncertainty about future - Mathematical modeling






15. Efficiency vs. representativeness


16. Force + Legitimacy






17. Long-lived - Extreme lack of social pluralism - Well-defined ideology - Against capitalism - Based on Marxist arguments about class solidarity - economic determinism - Socialism run amok?






18. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






19. Concentration vs. dispersal of power


20. An organization that seeks elective office - Currency/instrument: votes






21. Shared sets of meanings






22. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






23. The rules about making the rules - often embodied in a constitution.






24. No or low citizen accountability ('subjects' rather than 'citizens') - Reciprocal relationship between leader and selectorate - Totalitarianism vs. authoritarianism






25. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






26. Monarchies - Single-party regimes - Military regimes - Oligarchies - Theocracies - Personalistic regimes






27. A systematic study of the structures of two or more political systems (such as those of Britain and the People's Republic of China) to achieve an understanding of how different societies manage the realities of governing. Also considered are politica






28. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






29. Public vs. private goods - Non-exclusivity. The owner can't deny access - Inexhaustability. The good is never used up - Jointness of supply. Its existence depends on our combined contribution; truly 'collective' - Free riding. We generally fail to co






30. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






31. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






32. Number of Parties 2 - Constitutional Review: Judicial Review - Number of chambers: bicameral - Federalism: Federal






33. Comparative Politics - International Relations - American Politics - (normative) theory or Political Philosophy






34. Basically - synonymous for statistical method - Large numbers of observational data - 'Control' for confounding factors






35. equality in political decision making: one vote per person - with all votes counted equally






36. The making of collectively binding decisions






37. Warfare and military technology - Economic: development of trade and manufacturing and new financial/fiscal instruments - Cultural: Enlightenment - (There are also Environmental/geographic factors)






38. State of nature (collective action problem) - Hobbes' solution: the social contract






39. Hard to amass resources (money and information) - Short-lived - The dilemma of formalization






40. A basic plan that outlines the structure and functions of the national government. Clearly rooted in Western political thought - it sets limits on government and protects both property and individual rights.






41. America's two ideologies (Liberal and Conservative) are two versions of classic liberalism






42. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






43. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






44. A civil war (...) in which one party is the state - the insurgents win - the insurgents have a lot of popular support - and the insurgents implement 'wholesale political change'






45. The identities that can become political are those formed very early in life or perhaps vaguely racial/genetic. Struggles to explain (rapid) cultural change - or which identities become politicized






46. Analyzing the data that has been collected and offering plausible general principles that can be drawn from what has been observed.






47. Historical origins. Failure of liberalism to address shortcomings of capitalist industrialization; Marx - Central assumption: All persons are of equal value - but they cannot develop themselves alone






48. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






49. Think of this as gender as outcome; what factors - esp. political ones - lead to changes in gender roles? Key finding: politics does matter - especially who has an organized voice. Formal rules - number/identity of parties - etc.






50. Situation where all fully qualified citizens have an equal say