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






2. Shared sets of meanings






3. A government with a one house legislature.






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






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






6. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






7. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






14. 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






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






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






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






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






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






20. The making of collectively binding decisions






21. 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






22. 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'






23. 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






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






25. 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






26. 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






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






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






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






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






31. 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)






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






33. 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






34. 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?






35. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






36. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






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






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






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






40. 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






41. 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.






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






43. 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.






44. An identity-based community - where the identity is strong enough that we think we should probably be sovereign...






45. 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






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






47. 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






48. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






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






50. 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.