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CLEP Political Science

Subjects : clep, political-science
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
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  • 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. 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






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






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






4. About agency: we deserve freedom and need to be held meaningfully accountable






5. 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.






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






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






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






9. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






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






11. Regime where the rulers are accountable to the ruled.






12. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






13. 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.






14. Process tracing through case studies. Requires a well-developed theory and minute examination ('process tracing')






15. Situation of stability - no party has incentive and ability to undermine the regime (Causes: cultural or economice - or military culture) - (Int'l Factors: U.S. foreign policy - Soviet foreign policy - Changes to Catholic doctrine - EU accession - G






16. (Voluntary) allocation (production and distribution) of goods and services






17. Describes the principal characteristics of what has been studied.






18. Historical origins. A reaction to liberalism - Central assumption: 'The highest good of society [is] the maintenance of ordered community and of common values' (p. 28) One of the 3 big idealogies






19. 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






20. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






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






22. A political system controlled by rulers who deny popular participation in government






23. A government with a one house legislature.






24. Political violence by non-state actors against civilian targets






25. Shorter-lived - Slightly less repressive - Ideology not so clear - In favor of capitalism - though with state involvement - Based more on Social Darwinism/racism/nationlsm - Conservatism run amok?






26. The set of relationships among parties in a country - Often categorized by the effective number of parties.






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






28. A consciously derived - coherent set of beliefs that offers a comprehensive political program






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






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






31. The mathematical formula used to allocate the seats according to the vote - Plurality or 'first-past-the-post' - various PR formulas - such as D'Hondt - largest remainders - St. Lague - etc.






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






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






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






35. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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36. 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






37. Territorial monopoly over the legitimate use of force. Refers to the government + the people + the territory ('the country')






38. 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






39. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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. Tactics An organization that seeks to influence government through 'contentious' or 'disruptive' politics - Currency/instrument: show of force - numbers - brinkmanship - Organization A (non-hierarchical) network of organizations and individuals worki






42. 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'






43. A formal document that sets up the basic rules of the political game






44. Public administration (civil service). All (non-military) government workers not elected to their posts - but hired (United States beginning in 1880s)






45. 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






46. Efficiency vs. representativeness

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47. Basically - density and quality of civil society






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






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






50. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.