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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. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






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






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






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






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






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






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






8. 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






9. 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






10. 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






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






12. 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






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






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






15. 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.






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






17. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






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






19. 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'






20. 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






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






22. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






23. Force + Legitimacy






24. Shared sets of meanings






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






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






27. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






28. 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






29. 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.






30. 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)






31. 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.






32. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






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






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






36. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






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






38. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






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






40. 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






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






42. 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






43. The making of collectively binding decisions






44. 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






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






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






47. 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






48. 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






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






50. 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.