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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. 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.






2. 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






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






4. 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?






5. 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






6. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






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






8. 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.






9. Force + Legitimacy






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






11. 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






12. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






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






14. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






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






16. 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.






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






18. A historical exploration of the major contributions to political thought from the ancient Greeks to the contemporary theorists. It also involves the philosophical and speculative consideration of the political world.






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






20. Efficiency vs. representativeness

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






22. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






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






24. 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






25. 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






26. 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)






27. 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






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






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






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






31. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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






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






34. The making of collectively binding decisions






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






36. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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






38. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






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. 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






41. 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






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






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. 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'






45. 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






46. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






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






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






49. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






50. 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