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






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






3. Basically - density and quality of civil society






4. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






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






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






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






8. Shared sets of meanings






9. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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






11. 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)






12. The making of collectively binding decisions






13. 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.






14. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






15. A government with a one house legislature.






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






17. 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






18. 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






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






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






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






22. Concentration vs. dispersal of power


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






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






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






26. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






33. 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






34. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






35. Force + Legitimacy






36. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






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






38. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






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






40. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






47. 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






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






49. 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'






50. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy