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






2. Force + Legitimacy






3. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






4. 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






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






6. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






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






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






9. The making of collectively binding decisions






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






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






12. 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






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






14. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






15. 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






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






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






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






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






20. 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






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






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






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






24. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






25. 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






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






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






28. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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29. 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






30. 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.






31. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






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






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






34. Shared sets of meanings






35. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






36. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






37. Basically - density and quality of civil society






38. 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






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






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






42. 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






43. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






44. Efficiency vs. representativeness

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45. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






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






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






48. 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.






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






50. 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