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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. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






2. The making of collectively binding decisions






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






4. Efficiency vs. representativeness


5. 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






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






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






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






9. Basically - density and quality of civil society






10. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






11. 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






12. 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.






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






14. 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






15. 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






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






17. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






18. Concentration vs. dispersal of power


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






20. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






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






22. 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






23. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






32. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






33. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






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






35. 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'






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






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






38. 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






39. 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






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






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






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






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






45. 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.






46. 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






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






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






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






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