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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. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






2. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






3. 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






4. 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.






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






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






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






8. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






9. A government with a one house legislature.






10. 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






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






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






13. 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?






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






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






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






17. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






18. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






19. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






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






21. Basically - density and quality of civil society






22. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






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






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






25. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






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






27. 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






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






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






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






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






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






33. 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.






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






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






36. 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






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






38. 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






39. 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.






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






41. Force + Legitimacy






42. 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.






43. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






44. Efficiency vs. representativeness

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45. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






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






47. 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






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






49. 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






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