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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. Energy or righteous zeal wins large numbers of participants - Nimble in framing issues and changing tactics






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






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






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






5. 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






6. The organized study of government and politics. It borrows from the related disciplines of history - philosophy - sociology - economics - and law.






7. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






8. Efficiency vs. representativeness


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






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






11. 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.






12. 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






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






14. A consideration of how nations interact with each other within the frameworks of law - diplomacy - and international organizations such as the United Nations.






15. Think of this as 'gender as cause'. Gender roles change and/or mix of women in politics changes; what is the consequence? Key finding: having more women in public office changes the policy agenda - i.e. - more focus on women's issues






16. 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






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






18. 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






19. Identities are malleable - and anything can become politicized. Struggles to explain fundamental patterns in political identity or their grasp on our souls. Can't really explain which identities become politicized either






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






21. 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






22. A political organization that primarily uses lobbying - Currency/instrument: money - information - numbers






23. 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.






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






25. A historical exploration of the major contributions to political thought from the ancient Greeks to the contemporary theorists. It also involves the philosophical and speculative consideration of the political world.






26. 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






27. 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.






28. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






29. 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)






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






31. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






32. The making of collectively binding decisions






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






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






35. 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'






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






37. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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






39. Shared sets of meanings






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






41. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






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






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






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






45. A non-meritocratic system in which jobs and contracts are distributed according to partisan support - (The U.S. 'spoils system' of the 19th century')






46. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






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






48. 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






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






50. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance