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






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






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






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






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






6. 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






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






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






9. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






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






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. 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






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






14. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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






16. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






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






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






19. Ideology An ideology that seeks the active reshaping of minds of individuals and believes this can/must be done by force - Coercive mobilization - No social or political pluralism






20. Force + Legitimacy






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






22. A government with a one house legislature.






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






24. 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






25. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






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






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






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






29. 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






30. 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






31. Efficiency vs. representativeness

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32. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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






34. 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






35. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






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






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






38. 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'






39. 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






40. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






41. 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






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






43. 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






44. 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.






45. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






46. Basically - density and quality of civil society






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






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






49. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






50. 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