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






2. 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






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






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






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






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






7. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






8. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






9. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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. Efficiency vs. representativeness

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12. Historical origins. A response to the old feudal order and the rise of modern capitalism - 'The highest good of society [is] the ability of the members of that society to develop their individual capacities to the fullest extent' (p. 26) One of the 3






13. Territorial monopoly over the legitimate use of force. Refers to the government + the people + the territory ('the country')






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






15. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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






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






18. Historical origins. Failure of liberalism to address shortcomings of capitalist industrialization; Marx - Central assumption: All persons are of equal value - but they cannot develop themselves alone






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






20. 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






21. Basically - density and quality of civil society






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






23. 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?






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






25. 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






26. 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.






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






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






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






30. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






31. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






32. 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'






33. Force + Legitimacy






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






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






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






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






38. The making of collectively binding decisions






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






40. 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






41. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






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






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






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






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






46. 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






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. 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






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






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