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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. 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






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






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






4. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






5. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






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






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






8. 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






9. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






10. The making of collectively binding decisions






11. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






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






13. 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'






14. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






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






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






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






18. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






19. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






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






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






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






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






24. 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






25. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






26. 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






27. 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






28. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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






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






31. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






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






33. 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






34. 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.






35. 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?






36. 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






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






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






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






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






41. Basically - density and quality of civil society






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






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






44. Efficiency vs. representativeness

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45. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






46. 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.






47. 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)






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






49. 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






50. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.