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






2. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






3. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






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






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






6. 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






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 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. 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






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






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






12. 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






13. Force + Legitimacy






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






15. 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)






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






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






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






19. 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






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






21. 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.






22. The making of collectively binding decisions






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






24. 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






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






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






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






28. 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






29. 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






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






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






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






33. Basically - density and quality of civil society






34. 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






35. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






36. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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37. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






38. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






39. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






40. Efficiency vs. representativeness

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41. Shared sets of meanings






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






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






44. 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






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






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






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






48. 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.






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






50. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance